The Priest King is Consumed | John 2:13-25
Notes
Transcript
Find the “BIG IDEA” >> a. What is the author talking about? b. What is he saying about what he is talking about?
a.
b.
Find the FCF >>
1. What does the text say?
2. What spiritual concern(s) did the text address (in its context)?
3. What spiritual concerns do listeners share in common with those to (or about) whom the text was written?
[Kids Time!]
Jesus is our Priest King
>> “Makes the wrong things right and the dark things light”
[Summarize story today]
Why don’t we run in the church? >> God’s place (where His people are)
What’s special about the Sunday Gathering? >> God’s people, God’s presence
3. Jesus makes people right and sends us to do the same… How can we do that?
[Introduction]
Who is Jesus? >> The Priest King
[Introduce Text]
13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
[Prayer]
This is an interesting story...
[Tell of sad and somber dramatization vs Rallied up Christians who love to talk this story when justifying their actions]
Questions often asked...
>> Did Jesus overreact?
>> What’s wrong with this “house of trade”?
>> What is going on with Jesus in this moment?
Context of Passover:
[Explanation]
13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.
>> What’s the Passover? Why go to Jerusalem?
>> Why the selling animals in the temple and the money-changers?
Passover:
Exodus 12, God warns Moses of the Final Plague, that God would go out and that every firstborn in Egypt would die…
Passover commemorates the deliverance of the Jews from slavery in Egypt when the angel of death “passed over” Jewish homes in Egypt whose “doorposts” were sprinkled with blood (Ex. 12:23–27).
-MacArthur Commentary
>> Imagine what the outer courts of the temple would have looked/smelled/sounded like…
[Compare to visiting the fair… w/ animals. Or, visiting the nativity scene reenactment, walking through the “city square”]
15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”
>> Jesus always does and says out of who He is...
>> Jesus makes three important distinctions here:
>> “God is my Father, and this is His house”
>> “His house is not a marketplace!”
>> “You are to honor and protect my Father’s house”
If you haven’t noticed, this story is found in all four gospel accounts…
>> Difference in timing… why?
>> Happened TWICE…
Are you one who honors and protects or do you profane?
17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
>> Disciples are often “remembering” things…
>> What Jesus does and says points us back to things still true today, and forward to things that will be true tomorrow
Comes from Psalm 69:9
9 For zeal for your house has consumed me,
and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
>> Psalm of lament, King David is persecuted…
>> As RC Sproul summarizes:
“Because I have proclaimed Your word, O God, I have become a reproach in my own family. Because of my zeal for Your house, a zeal that consumes me, a passion that eats me up, I’m despised.”
>> When I think Zeal, I think of any younger, 20+ yo Male…
Paul also talks about his “Zeal”…
4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
“Consume” is the word that captures my attention…
28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.
The Priest King prepares His Place
——————————————————————————————
18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”
>> The Jews questions Jesus’ authority… “Who are you to do these things? What proof do you have to enact with authority, while claiming the Holy God as our “Father”
>> Reminds me of when kids would say “I’ve met so and so” to impress you. and you say, “Prove it!” (Meh. Not sure I love this illustration.)
>> The Jews are confounded by this response. “3 days? Are you kidding me?”
>> Disciples also don’t understand… as we’ll see:
Interpretation:
21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
>> Jesus foretells His death and resurrection
>> Temple was destroyed majorly, twice: Once in 586BC by Babylonians and again in AD 70 by the Romans (after Jesus time). Both happened in Judgement to the people of Israel.
>> Jesus would take the Judgement for His people upon Himself, His temple and dwelling place of God, on the cross… and three days later, that very dead temple would be “raised up”
Paul uses this language often in His letters:
His Body = His Temple = His Dwelling Place = His People
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
The Priest King provides His Presence
———————————————————————————————————
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
>> John makes one final statement of Jesus’ deity and intent. Jesus “knew people”… he “knew what was in man”… He didn’t need any lesson on the psychology of man or his philosophy… He knew the perfect timing needed for His ministry, before His death.
>> This was still early on in His ministry.
>> The people would repurpose Jesus…
How do you repurpose Jesus?
Priest King repurposes His People to be like Him
1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.
>> “Who can stand when he appears?”…
12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.
1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
Peter is repurposed after Pentecost to do as the Priest King did before Him…
Peter would later write:
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”
8 and
“A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
[Worship Team can come up]
Who is Jesus? >> Our Priest King
He prepares a place/tabernacle/home of worship and communion with God
He provides His presence
He repurposes His people today to do as He did, to be like Him
>> Just like the disciples remember, we remember what Jesus does and says points us back to things still true today, and forward to things that will be true tomorrow
Today, we do this work as we look forward with hope to the day:
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
[Pray]
[Communion]
1 Corinthians 11:23–26
“23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
