Let’s Get Real about Jesus

Series: That Ye May Believe

Scripture: John 2:13-25

Subject: Relationship

Central Theme: Relationship with God through Jesus

Objective Statement: Our relationship with God should be shaped by these three realities about who Jesus is revealed in the beginning of His ministry.

Keyword: Realities

Points

Righteous Anger: Jesus is rightly angry at sin. (v.13-17)

Resurrection Authority: Jesus' authority is demonstrated by His resurrection. (v.18-22)

Revealed Authenticity: Jesus knows the hearts of people, and the nature of sincere faith. (v.23-25)

Introduction:

Connection:

When was the last time you were really angry? What makes you angry?

Have you ever been mad at your tv? At the talking heads on there?

Have you ever been angry at yourself? (Backing into a light pole)

Now here is another question, and it may seem like I’m changing the topic, but just play along with me for a minute.

What is the first story you think about when you think about Jesus?

Christmas baby

Hung on a cross

Resurrection

Walking on Water

When you try to imagine him, what do you see? What mood is he in?

Some have a perspective of Jesus as lowly, meek and mild to the point that he is milk-toast. They see him as nice, elway affirming, never raising his voice, and never getting mad about anything. Some may see Jesus as a forgiving Savior that is just cool with whatever happens.

Tension

Though we may not state it that way, even Bible believing Christians can emphasize God's love and Christ's forgiveness without also emphasizing Christ's holiness and hatred of sin.

To love something necessitates anger at something else.

Love kids-Child exploitation& abuse angers you.

Love women and families-Hate pornography

Love God-Despise my own sin...

One way to know if you have the right perspective on Jesus is do you have His mind?

Let this mind be in you...

Do the things that make Christ rejoice make you rejoice?

Do the things that make Christ angry make you mad?

In today’s text we find ourselves at the beginning of Jesus ministry.

Last week we saw Jesus’ first miracle in Cana of Galilee. It was a beautiful passage.

Jesus brings life and joy to the celebration. He turned water into wine.

People like that Jesus. He’s keeping the celebration going, and that should absolutely shape our picture of Him.

In today’s text we get another perspective that should shape our thinking about Jesus.

Our relationship with God should be shaped by these three realities about who Jesus is revealed in the beginning of His ministry.

John 2:13–15 KJV 1900

13 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

The context here is that it’s Passover, and Jesus went to the Passover to celebrate with the Jews.

What was the “jews passover”?

Exodus 12:1–13 KJV 1900

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. 10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. 11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

Do you see the foreshadowing?

Sacrifice- Blood spilled from the life of a perfect lamb and stricken on the door frames.

Substitute- The lambs life instead of the life of the firstborn

Lamb- John called Jesus the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

It says that He went up to Jerusalem.

This is common phraseology describing how people went to Jerusalem. Even though they were going south, they always went up to Jerusalem because Jerusalem was a city that was elevated, and there was a sense of honor too that they went up there.

When you go to the Passover, you go to the temple.

The temple at the time of the passover was the place to make sacrifices.

When you think of priests during this time, in the offering of sacrifices they would have been like butchers- killing animal after animal.

With this understanding of the background, look where Jesus went and what he found in Jerusalem.

John 2:14 KJV 1900

14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

Now in the temple there were different sections.

Different courts had different access.

The Holy of Holies

The Holy Place

Priests Courtyard

Women’s Courtyard

Gentiles Courtyard

It is most likely that this market had come to be in the court of the gentiles.

Illustration-

Movie Theatre Popcorn

Theme Park Dinners

Have you ever bought a ticket over the phone or online, and you see a little item called a “convenience fee”.

This is what was going on at least in some part with the sales of the animals for sacrifices.

Many of the people that would go to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover came from out of town, and so they were coming to make sacrifices.

In doing that, it was much more convenient to not travel with the sacrifice you would bring, but to buy the sacrifice once you got there.

All of the animals sold their would be pre-approved by the priests, so you weren’t going to be rejected.

It made the worship and the sacrifice more convenient, and it was a money maker.

People would also come with their local currency, or Roman currency, but to pay the temple fees they would have to exchange their money.

The jews hated the Roman currency because it bore the image of Caesar. They would scoff at it as idolatry, and so they would only receive their currency for payment.

Every male had to bring an annual temple tax, and so they would need to pay that in the currency that the temple leaders- the priests would receive.

In doing so, the changers of money would give them exploitative rates of exchange—predatory fees, that kind of thing.

When Jesus got there, He sees these practices going on of people selling these oxen, sheep, and doves.

They had turned the court that was supposed to be a place for the gentiles to see God’s people worshipping God in truth, reverencing God in worship, and going to God in prayer, and it had turned into a bazar.

And like so many in the marketplace, even today, they were ripping off customers, and exploiting people with exorbitant prices.

Passover was supposed to be a time where the substitutionary atonement of the coming Messiah was to portrayed, and the people of God would rightly worship Him, and here comes the Lamb of God.

He sees this bazaar and He is rightly angry.

Reality #1- Righteous Anger: Jesus is rightly angry at sin. (v.13-17)

John 2:15 KJV 1900

15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

You see Him in verse 15 making a scourge of small cords, and He drives all of them out of the temple.

He drives out the sheep, the oxen, He pours out the money, and He overthrows the tables.

There is such a thing as righteous anger, and that’s what we see here exhibited by Jesus.

There are some things that if we’re like Jesus should move us to action. That’s what we see going on here.

You may be thinking, this seems different than the Jesus portrayed so often.

People want a Jesus that is ok with them and their lifestyle.

He is loving and forgiving. He is merciful, meek and mild.

Yes, this is true.

But He is also righteous.

He came to this earth for a purpose.

He came to glorify God, and to redeem fallen mankind to Himself.

They were using part of God’s rescue plan for mankind to enrich themselves.

And so Jesus starts turning over tables and driving out the merchants and moneychangers.

He gives an explanation.

John 2:16 KJV 1900

16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.

He tells them that they have made this place of prayer, this place of sacrifice, this place of devotion to God, into a house of merchandise.

The word for merchandise is emporion. An emporium. A bazzar. A mart.

This means that they were all about profit. They were all about making a dollar.

As we have seen earlier, they were exploiting people who were coming to worship.

They were using the obedience and desire of the people coming to worship to enrich themselves in the wrong kind of ways.

Notice he says “my Father’s house”.

He claims that God is His Father. He claims that this is His Father’s house.

He is enforcing what should be in the temple—what should be done in the temple with these people. He is literally kicking them out.

One commentator that I heard claims this to be a miracle in that the language says that he clears out the whole courtyard, and it seems as if he was successful. Everyone obeyed. I don’t know that it had to miraculous, but it must have been something to see.

The disciples later ended up remembering when this happened, and that’s what John notes here from Psalm 69.

John 2:17 KJV 1900

17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

The Bible describes—or predicts—exactly this about Jesus.

It says…

Psalm 69:9 KJV 1900

9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; And the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

John essentially remembers this part of a lyric of the Psalms that they used to sing, which predicted that this kind of attitude is something that Jesus would have.

Application

Notice what makes Jesus angry.

Temple and the church.

The temple and the church are not exactly the same. We don’t really have sanctioned buildings like the temple was sanctioned by God.

The church really isn’t the building—the church is the people.

Yet the church does use buildings as a tool to practice what God’s told us to practice as the local church.

We’re told to assemble.

We’re told to pray.

We are told to read and help people understand the Scriptures.

We’re told to proclaim the gospel, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.

And we use buildings to do that.

But the church is not a money-making venture.

The church uses money to accomplish its mission, but it does not use its mission to make money.

Jesus makes it clear that this ought to be the case, at least in principle.

And if we’re gonna be like Jesus, then we want to make sure that we don’t do that.

Exploitation

Another time that Jesus does this same thing he says that they have made His Fathers house a “den of thieves”.

What do thieves do? They steal. They exploit.

Proverbs 20:10 KJV 1900

10 Divers weights, and divers measures, Both of them are alike abomination to the Lord.

Proverbs 20:23 KJV 1900

23 Divers weights are an abomination unto the Lord; And a false balance is not good.

Irreverence

God made the temple for a reason.

God had the court of the gentiles for a reason.

God gave His law and expects to be obeyed.

John 1–11: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Jesus’ Passion for Reverence

What had begun as a service to the worshipers had, under the corrupt rule of the chief priests, degenerated into exploitation and usury. Religion had become external, crass, and materialistic; the temple of God had become a “robbers’ den” (

Yes, there are some things that make Jesus mad.

Proverbs 21:27 KJV 1900

27 The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: How much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?

Reality #2- Resurrection Authority: Jesus’ authority is demonstrated by His resurrection. (V.18-22)

The most obvious question that could be asked gets asked in verse 18.

John 2:18 KJV 1900

18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?

After overturning the tables, running out the exchangers, and claiming that His Father's house should not be a house of merchandise, those that were there had the question about authority.

But notice the nature of the question.

The word translated "sign" is the same word often translated "miracle".

If any other person would have done this, would they have asked for a "sign" of his authority?

It's as if they kind of believe, or they have some sense of his reputation. The question was essentially this- What right do you have to do this in the temple?

Jesus answers with a sign in the form of a prophecy.

John 2:19 KJV 1900

19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

He speaks of "this temple" being destroyed. He speaks of raising the temple again.

That certainly would be some kind of a sign to destroy something that large and imposing, and to rebuild it in three days.

When you think about building almost any kind of structure of any magnitude, three days would certainly be very quick.

We know that he was not referring to the literal temple that they occupied at this moment .

The truth that we see here is that Jesus is claiming authority to do this. He is able to back up the fact that He has this authority.

He does so by predicting the destruction and resurrection of "this temple".

John 2:20 KJV 1900

20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

The idea that it would only take Jesus 3 days to re-raise the temple was preposterous to those who demanded a sign from Him.

They give an accurate accounting as to how long it took to erect the temple at the time of this writing.

John though helps us to understand what Jesus was referencing.

John 2:21–22 KJV 1900

21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

He called his body the temple, and announced that He would raise it up in three days.

This would not have been in their mind at all.

It seems that Jesus is concealing the sign for future understanding.

They seemed to demand a sign to signify His authority in the moment, and He does not satisfy what they want.

He gives them a sign for sure, but does not yield His authority to them by submitting to their request in their way.

Verse 22 points again to the purpose of the book, to help the reader believe on Jesus.

He points out that the disciples remember this after Jesus rose. It says they "believed the scripture".

It could have been scripture like Psalms 16:8-11.

Psalm 16:8–11 KJV 1900

8 I have set the Lord always before me: Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: My flesh also shall rest in hope. 10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Not only has the Old Testament predicted Jesus resurrection, but Jesus himself predicted it here and in other instances recorded in the Gospels.

This gave the disciples great courage later. They went from being fearful after his death, to being bold after His resurrection once they had the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and believed in the reality of what they had seen and heard.

Reality #3- Revealed Authenticity: Jesus knows the hearts of people, and the nature of sincere faith. (V.23-25)

John 2:23–25 KJV 1900

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.

This text speaks of the response of the mob, the crowd, in Jerusalem to the miracles of Jesus.

There was an excitement and acceptance of Jesus based on the miracles that he did.

It was the popular thing to talk about and accept what he was doing, but Jesus did not want to be treated like a passing fad.

Notice all the plural language talking about multiple people.

Many, they, them, all men, any.

Even the word "man" is used like we would use "mankind".

It's not that this didn't manifest itself individually.

It's that Jesus was not driven by popularity. He didn't want to be received only as the latest new thing.

He did not "commit himself" or place his trust in their acceptance of him.

Why?

"Because he knew all men".

His hope for success was not based on the acceptance of the crowd.

These couple of verses flows thematically into John 3, where Nicodemus is coming by night admitting that the miracles of Jesus were making many realize that Jesus was from God.

This conversation that follows shows that Jesus knew what was in the heart of Nicodemus individually, as well as the crowd that had an opinion of him.

Jesus knows our hearts.

This is a terrible and ferocious reality. He knows every thought, motivation, and feeling that I have. He knows everything about me, and died for me anyway. He is the only hope for cleansing and leading my heart in righteousness.

Jesus wants genuine faith.

When it comes to our spiritual lives, we must not be swayed by the crowd. We don't follow Jesus more when its popular to do so than when it will lead to persecution. The cultures of men ebb and flow, but individually we must be steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

We should be more concerned with what God thinks than what men think.

It matters what God thinks of us infinitely more than what man thinks of us. We are eternal beings living forever somewhere. We should live accordingly.

Conclusion

I made this proposition at the beginning of this message.

Our relationship with God should be shaped by these three realities about who Jesus is revealed in the beginning of His ministry.

Reality #1- Righteous Anger: Jesus is rightly angry at sin. (v.13-17)

We shouldn’t think that Jesus is ok with our sin.

We shouldn’t think that our sin is no big deal.

It’s such a big deal that Jesus came and died for it.

The things that anger Jesus should anger me.

One definition of repentance is a change of mind. The way I think about my sin is the way that Jesus thinks about it.

There are some things that we should be rightly indignant over.

Reality #2- Resurrection Authority: Jesus’ authority is demonstrated by His resurrection. (V.18-22)

Jesus can be angry at sin, and a loving merciful Saviour at the same time.

He didn’t just die for our sin, but He conquered death when He rose again.d

He’s the only one that can save us from our Sin, and that was proven by His glorious, and Historically verifable resurrection.

Reality #3- Revealed Authenticity: Jesus knows the hearts of people, and the nature of sincere faith. (V.23-25)

We have a responsibility to respond in sincere faith to Jesus Christ.

The one who comes to Jesus in sincere faith will be saved!

You must believe!