Jesus Cleanses the Temple

Sermon Style Sheet

Write that down in your formation Journal

Illustration

Sermon Text

Sermon Text: Scripture

Call to Worship

Psalm 149:1 CSB

1 Hallelujah! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful.

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Passage:

Formation Journal Page Number: 1:50-2:30 5:13-6:00 6:25

John 2:12–25 CSB

12 After this, he went down to Capernaum, together with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples, and they stayed there only a few days. 13 The Jewish Passover was near, and so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and he also found the money changers sitting there. 15 After making a whip out of cords, he drove everyone out of the temple with their sheep and oxen. He also poured out the money changers’ coins and overturned the tables. 16 He told those who were selling doves, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!” 17 And his disciples remembered that it is written: Zeal for your house will consume me. 18 So the Jews replied to him, “What sign will you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days.” 20 Therefore the Jews said, “This temple took forty-six years to build, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the statement Jesus had made. 23 While he was in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. 24 Jesus, however, would not entrust himself to them, since he knew them all 25 and because he did not need anyone to testify about man; for he himself knew what was in man.

Opening Illustration:

Romanian translator - foot washer

What are you passionate about

You should be passionate about worship

Worship is valuing something as the greatest good so that we organize our attention, emotions, loyalty and behavior around it.

When we come to church, during the worship service, that’s what we are doing, we are stiring our hearts so that we would value God as the greatest good, we are moving our hearts to organize our attention, emotions, loyatly and behavior around God.

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Getting into the Sermon

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John 2:13–16 CSB

13 The Jewish Passover was near, and so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and he also found the money changers sitting there. 15 After making a whip out of cords, he drove everyone out of the temple with their sheep and oxen. He also poured out the money changers’ coins and overturned the tables. 16 He told those who were selling doves, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”

Ok, so let’s set the stage here… population would potentilly tripple there could be over a hundred thousand people visitng a city that normally had a population, some estamites say of about 50,000

The temple was big, they had a lot of employees, they had priests, they had guards, they had to pay for repairs, the needed to buy incense, they had a lot of expenses.

So how did the temple pay for this?

The temple ran on the tithe and the tax

the tax was a flat fee that men would pay each year at the temple. In Jesus’ day that had to use a specific coin because of its purity.

The first way they paid for this was through the tithe

10% of a person’s income was supposed to go to God - now why was that?

It was an act of worship - God makes a claim on all of your life and he’s not ashamed of it. I mean he would tell the people who they could have sex with, who they could marry. He tells people what they are allowed to think and fantasize about.

Part of that is our finances. It has a grip on us, it can control the way we think, it’s easy for that to be what controls our lives.

God cares about your wallet because he cares about your heart.

That can easily control our lives even more than romance.

One thing I hear a lot is men who say I that they don’t want to get married because they are afraid that divorce would ruin them financially. What does that reveal? What’s closer to their heart?

So one aspect of the tithe was what it did to the people but the other is that it helped pay for the temple.

The temple existed in the real world and their are expenses involved in it.

“Live by faith, operate on a budget”

We need to do that.

This is true for us as a church plant too

Jesus affirms both the tithe and the temple tax. He wasn’t against them.

Here’s what’s really going on - The market became more important than worship.

So here is what is going on - people were coming from afar and they needed two things - sacrificial animals and the right coins.

There were other sellers, but this was super convenient - it was right there. It seemed to have been started by the high priest.

On top of that, you could get your coins exchanged right there, for a convenience fee of course.

Where did the profit go? It seems like a lot of the money was going to the high priest and his family. So the priests that allowed it were less concerned about worship and more concerned about profits.

what’s more is that by setting up the marketplace in the temple, people couldn’t worship.

The problem wasn’t money it was worship

People needed to sell sacrificial animals and people needed to exchange money - they didn’t need to do it in the temple!

Look at this diagram

Here was Jesus’ concern - the market was taking place in the court of the gentiles. Now the temple was divided up in a way that God didn’t even prescribe, but the outer court where this was taking place was the court of the genitles.

This is where people were expected to come and pray. It’s also where most people would have gone. There were too many people to fit everyone deeper into the temple.

But they didn’t care about the people trying to worship. They didn’t care about the people who were kept out. But not only did they not care about the people they didn’t care about God. They weren’t concerned whether God got the proper worship or not.

Jesus is upset because they cared more about convenience and money than worship

John 2:17 CSB

17 And his disciples remembered that it is written: Zeal for your house will consume me.

psalm 69

Jesus was upset because he loved people and wanted what was best for them. So he wanted them to find their joy in God.

People love to worship - we were made to worship -

Our hearts are empty until it is filled with worship.

but our hero’s let us down.

Celebrities, sports heroes, even church leaders at time.

People are not worthy of your worship - but Jesus is.

So we should worship the one who never let’s us down.

Becasue we were made to worship God. We were created for that. The hole in our life that we fill with worship was meant to be filled with the worship of God.

People are incomplete without the worship of God

He wants the people he loves to be connected to the God he loves in worship.

we want to Enjoy God forever. -

If we love people - we would want them to worship God.

we want unchurched people to know God. We want our future land to be a place of worship.

This was one of the big problems. The one place that the gentiles were allowed to go - was blocked by animals and money changers.

But it wasn’t just the gentiles, it was the non elite.

Sometimes we can exclude

Nicaragua - do your hair like a man.

I do have to say this, one of the things that I love about Mercy Hill, about you guys is that I believe that you are all very welcoming.

We want to see God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven, in winter haven as it is in heaven.

we always have to be on our guard, they we don’t put up walls, and start to think about those people.

If worshiping God is good for us, we should want more people worshiping God.

2. It’s what God deserves.

God deserves worship

Missions exists because worship doesn’t -

Imagine someone else getting credited for your work - or your friend. Who invented Facebook?

We want people to get the proper credit.

We worship, because God deserves it.

The merchants were robbing people and God. they were turning sacrifice into mere ritual, heartless, lifeless, ritual.

John 2:18–22 CSB

18 So the Jews replied to him, “What sign will you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days.” 20 Therefore the Jews said, “This temple took forty-six years to build, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the statement Jesus had made.

the temple was the place where sinful people could connect to the holy God.

the Gospel

ABC’s of repentance

Because of GOd’s great love, and sacrifice, He is worthy of worship.

But we are still weak and we still struggle with sin. Ad we often don’t worship God like we should.

So the passage ends with an invitation to examine our worship.

John 2:23–25 CSB

23 While he was in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. 24 Jesus, however, would not entrust himself to them, since he knew them all 25 and because he did not need anyone to testify about man; for he himself knew what was in man.

Look - Jesus wasn’t primarily concerned about the temple - he was concerned about people’s hearts and god’s glory.

Jesus was assessing the temple and the people.

So it’s a good time to ask - do you have passion for worship?

How do you come to church? Are you worshiping?

I know that there is a lot of things that go on in our lives, and it can create noise that crowds out our worship

CALL TO Worship at the beginning

ceremony that we do - it’s a moment of surrender

Here’s the other question - are there people you don’t want to come in ?

People need the benefits of worship and God deserves everyone’s worship

Unchurched people - so here is part of how I want you to be praying

When you have the unchurched you are praying and you to pray that they would get the benefits or worshiping God. Desire that for them.

God deserves their worship. You should be jealous for God that they are putting their hope and trust and organzing their lives aroudn something other than the one who created it all.

As part of your prayer as God to bring to himself, the worship that he deserves.

Would you work so that you get the worship you deserve from this person.

And pray for us as a church, that Mercy Hill would be about the worship of God. That we would desire anyone and everyone to walk through those doors so they can encounter christ.

And pray for our future, as church, that we could one day build on that land and that that would be a place worship.

So let’s praying, let’s be fighting for the worship of God together.

Lord’s Supper:

On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, 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, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 

Benediction:

The LORD bless you and keep you;

the LORD makes his face shine upon you and be gracious to you:

The LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.