Turning Tables

Introduction

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The purpose of the temple: “I will be your God, you will be my people, and I will dwell in your midst.” 1 Kings 6:13 “13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.””

There is one major unifying theme throughout this passage. God promises, “I will be your God, you will be my people, and I will dwell in your midst.” There are those who yearn for this, and those that oppose it. No middle ground. One day all of God’s people will be vindicated and his enemies will be judged.

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We like to feel as though we are a part of something bigger than just ourselves. It’s easy to lose ourselves in at a concert with a crowd, to take pride in being a part of a nation with a lot of gold medalists, to take in a breath taking view. All of these things can make us feel as though we are a part of something much bigger that just ourselves.

We know theologically that we are apart of something much, much bigger. We are the people of God. The people with whom God himself desires to dwell. And yet, we can attend church services so often and for so long that we lose the appeal, the excitement, and the feeling of being a part of something bigger. We get caught in the mundane of the service. And we begin to think, “I bet I can guess what songs we’re going to sing, what the preacher is going to say.” I mean, you can guess what text I’ll preach next.

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The passage we are looking at today reveals that every single person is a part of something infinitely bigger than just themselves. They are either for God’s mission to dwell with his people or against it. And whatever side a person chooses has eternal consequences.

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Matt. 21:12-22

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A Cleansed Temple

A Cleansed Temple

Matthew 21:12–13 ESV

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.”

Revelation

When you open up the story of the Bible you see God creating all things good and in harmony. He creates a lush garden, on a mountain that joins heaven and earth. God himself with man walking in the cool of the day.

Humanity is commanded “Be fruitful and multiply” “Fill the earth and subdue it.” This are not arbitrary commands, they are royal and priestly duties: to make the whole earth this temple garden. God made the universe so big so that it would be his great temple dwelling with his people.

Yet sin broke into the picture.

Instead of dwelling there was division

Instead of the earth being filled with God’s glory, it became filled with man’s corruption

Humanity was exiled from paradise and the way back guarded by a cherub.

But God did not stop working. He set aside one family and began a plan to dwell with them. When this family grew into a nation he established a tabernacle.

The tabernacle was filled with cosmic imagery and even trees like the garden. But the image was broken. Cherub were embordered in the tabernacle curtains. God was dwelling with his people, but there were limits. Then one day, because of his people’s corruption, his glory departed (1 Sam 2)

But not all hope was lost. The temple was built and dedicated by Solomon. His glory again filled the temple (1 Kgs. 6-8). The fabric curtains were replaced with stone and lumber. The beauty of the design was still there, but the image of separation still prevailed. There was still the priesthood, there was still the massive veil that stood between all people, there were still the sacrifices.

The Temple stood as a symbol for people to come and commune with God, to be with him. But it was a fragile picture.

Not only was it fragile, the ones in charge of the temple did not honor its purpose. The shepherds of the temple were more interested in slaughtering the sheep than ushering them closer to God.

Jesus went in the temple and drove out those who “sold and bought” in the temple. The idea of “sold and bought” is that there are those who are raising animals, bringing them into the temple in order to sell them. Then the buyers are turning around and selling the animals at a higher price to people who are coming to the temple to sacrifice. The shepherds of this temple have turned worship into a money-making enterprise.

This is similar to what Zechariah pictures in:

Zechariah 11:4–5 “4 Thus said the Lord my God: “Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. 5 Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them.” - A Condemnation of the leaders for benefiting themselves at the expense of others.

Matthew brings attention to the ones who sold pigeons/doves at the end of v. 12. Pigeons were for the poorest of people. Instead of the temple being a welcoming place to all who wish to approach God, the leaders have set up a paywall, a toll booth, that people have to get through to get to God. Perhaps many turn away hopeless instead of coming to God.

Jesus directs his condemnation toward the leaders rather than the buyers and sellers or the idea of commerce. As one commentator notes:

The Gospel of Matthew 2. The Messiah Asserts His Authority in the Temple Court (21:12–17)

It is where the trade is being carried out rather than how that is the focus of his displeasure. And that means that the protest is directed not so much against the traders themselves but against the priestly establishment who had allowed them to operate within the sacred area

Jesus quotes from Isaiah 56 when he talks of the temple as “a house of prayer”. And the context brings further condemnation

Matthew Exegesis

Matthew may have wished to call attention especially to the following context instead.

God had a beautiful purpose for his temple and the shepherds—the leaders of the temple ruined it and turned it into something to build themselves instead.

Relevance

Here is the picture of God’s heart, “I will be your God, you will be my people, and I will dwell in your midst.” Eden was a picture of that. The tabernacle was a picture of that. The temple was a picture of that. And now so is the church. All of these pictures pointing forward to the hope that one day we will be with God. 2 Corinthians 3:18 “18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.

Picture yourself standing before God in all his glory and splendor, you yourself being made spotless in the blood of the lamb. And there you are standing before him with all his people. What do you do? What wells up in you? What feelings that do you feel? I feel such a gratitude welling up in me that feels that it will burst out in worship.

Picture the temple. God’s very dwelling place on earth.

What does man do to approach such a place? What does sinful man do to approach such a place? There’s trembling. There’s blood splattering from the sacrifices. There’s prayers being muttered aloud. Then, through the repentance and faith God forms his people into those who can approach him. And then those people humbled in repentance find comfort in God’s arms. Why? Because they’ve met with God. Picture the humble man broken under the weight of his sin finding hope in the arms of his loving God. Do you see the restoration?

Now picture this broken man comes into the temple. His shaking. Tears are streaming down his face. He approaches the temple, walks into the court, muttering to himself, “My God, my God, have you forsaken me?” While pouring his heart out to God his met with loud cries of people bartering. The bleating of animals being sold. Coins being weighed on scales. A man chasing after a animal he just purchased shoves the trembling man over. Confused, angry, and even more dejected, he walks away from the temple, unresolved.

Do you get the sense of why it is said of Jesus, “Zeal for his house will consume him?” Do you feel the righteous anger that Jesus felt as he flipped the tables and drove out those who were buying and selling?

The shepherds of Israel did not abolish the temple — they repurposed it. They kept the structure, the sacrifices, the language — but they shifted the center. The temple was no longer about communion with God. It became about transaction, access, control, profit.

And we should tremble here. Because something similar has happened in our day.

What is church?

This is how God pictures the same idea today: “I will be you God, you will be my people, and I will dwell in your midst.”

Church is the people; us gathered together today. All of us in here in the room. We gather as God’s people. What would God’s people naturally want to do as we gather together? I hope it’s the same thing that would well up in you has you picture yourself in heaven with God’s people: that overwhelming sense of gratitude that comes out in worship. This is why God’s gathered people sing.

Yet there is something wrong. Perfection is still not reached. There was a picture of that in the temple when they would sacrifice. We know that Jesus is our one true sacrifice. But we still desperately need to hear from God’s word. So we search the Scripture together.

The things we do together when we meet are things that are natural when God’s people gather together. And its in our gathering that we commune with God.

That is the church: the people.

And yet, there has been a major shift. This shift took place in large part due to 18th century pietism and the revivalism of the last few centuries.

The shepherds of our churches have stopped asking, “What, Lord, should we do as we gather that will please you?” Shepherds stopped falling all their knees trembling before God and praying, “God, I just want to do your will, Lord may this people, may this church be pleasing to you.”

And instead they started asking, “How can I make people feel like they’ve experienced God?” And so they plan to manipulate people to feel as though they’ve experienced God.

They build large stadiums where no one trembles.

They engineer services to manufacture experience.

They dim the lights to manufacture awe.

They play swelling music to manufacture tears.

They craft sermons to entertain with barely enough on the hook to convince the crowd the whole experience wasn’t pointless.

That’s not church! That’s an auditorium where an audience sits and watch performers give them an experience. And the startling thing is, that experience that the performers provide replaces God’s communion with that audience. They would rather have an experience with God than God himself! And the greatest irony of it all is that all these people sitting in these large auditoriums so hungry for God’s presence, God could walk right out the door and no one would notice! That’s not church, that’s idolatry!

Consider this question: Is it possible to want a spiritual experience more than God himself? Yes, it is possible. And what is it called when someone years for something more than God? Idolatry.

Listen to this picture of our Lord Jesus from the book of Revelation: Rev. 1:12-18

Revelation 1:12–18 ESV

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

That’s your king! That’s your God. Do you hear this?

And yet there are stadiums across our nation that call themselves “churches” filled with crowds this morning who would rather have a performance than this person. They would rather have a spiritual experience than have their sin exposed. They would rather have a gut feeling than seeing God’s face.

Sunday morning has become the greatest hour of idolatry in our nation.

What tables would Jesus turn if he walked into those auditoriums? Or even more startling, would he even care? Just because they call themselves a church doesn’t mean they are one. And if they aren’t really churches I would be more fearful that he would walk in with a sword and not a whip.

But we should make this even more personal. What sort of tables would Christ turn in this assembly?

What sort of tables would Christ turn in my heart?

Yes, I can wax eloquent all day about problems I see “out there” with idolatry, but the greatest problem for me is not “out there” but “in here:” the idolatry in my own heart.

Bridge

Just as Christ is the Lord of the temple, so he is Lord of the church and our hearts. And its once those tables are turned that his promise for his people begins to take shape. It really starts to become clear: who are the people of God and who are his enemies?

A Confronted Authority

Matthew 21:14–17 ESV

14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” 17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

Revelation

Matthew is purposefully drawing the battle lines in this passage. He jams into this section four things that identify the enemy and four things that identify Jesus. I’m going to cover these things fairly quickly, and it’s a lot.

Verse 13: Jesus is The Son of David - not allowing the enemies to “enter the house” but bringing in the weak (2 Sam. 5, 2 Sam. 9); the chief priests and scribes are the “blind and the lame” in a figurative sense

First of all, Matthew identifies Jesus as the Son of David by specifically mentioning the blind and the lame entering the house and being healed. The phrase “the blind and the lame” were used as a taunt against David used by the Jebusites in 2 Sam. 5. The Jebusites said that they would use their weakest to prevent David from taking the city of Jerusalem. In response, David called the strongest of them the blind and the lame and uttered a saying that became a Proverb, “The Blind and the Lame shall not enter this house.” Essentially this Proverb was saying he would not allow his enemies to do as they please. David, of course, meant the “blind and the lame” to refer to his enemies, not the literal blind and the lame. He allowed to the lame son of his friend Jonathan to dine at his table daily in his house (2 Sam. 9) When the enemies of God attempted to prevent the weakest among them from approaching God’s presence, Jesus saw to it that they could, and he turned and healed them, just like David would.

This means the chief priests and scribes and scribes are the enemies: the “blind and the lame” in a figurative sense. And Jesus, being the Son of David will not allow his enemies to do as they please forever.

2. In v. 15 Jesus is revealed as the “prophet like Moses” mentioned in Dt. 18 and the chief priests and scribes are like the rebellious generation growing angry

It says in v. 15 that the chief priests and scribes saw “the wonderful things that he did” which sounds like Moses in Dt. 34:12. And what is the right response to seeing such wonderful things? Psalm 98:1 “1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.” And yet, the chief priests and scribes do not worship, they grow angry.

3. Jesus is revealed as the Messianic figure of the children’s praise from Psalm 118:25. The children’s praise is said to silence God’s enemies in Psalm 8. Psalm 8:2 “2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.” Though Jesus does not quote this verse in its entirety in v. 16, the rest of the verse implies that the chief priests and scribes are the enemies being stilled by the children’s praise.

4. Jesus identifies himself as YHWH by allowing the exclusive worship of God by the children mentioned in Psalm 8:2 to be applied to him. This is perhaps the most startling of all. The children are crying out to Jesus, “Hosanna!” a way of expressing worship of Jesus. Not like hero worship, but these children are worshipping Jesus as if he is God himself. The chief priests and scribes know exactly what the children are doing and they believe it is inappropriate. Just as you would think it inappropriate if I asked you all to start singing hymns to me, it would be insane. They are probably prompting Jesus to rebuke the children when they ask in v. 16 “Do you hear what these are saying.” But instead of rebuking the children, he quotes Psalm 8. Listen to Psalm 8:1–2 “1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established praise.” One commentator notes:

The Gospel of Matthew 2. The Messiah Asserts His Authority in the Temple Court (21:12–17)

The most striking feature of this quotation, however, is the bold assumption by Jesus that what the psalm says about the

Jesus is not claiming to be the Father, but Jesus is claiming to be God. Yahweh, the divine name is a name that is applicable to the Father, the Son and the Spirit. And here we see the Son claiming to be Yahweh.

And just as Yahweh departed the temple because of its corruption, so we see Jesus departing the chief priests and scribes in v. 17; again identifying them as the enemy.

Relevance

There is a lot of Old Testament types and imagery jammed packed into this one short passage. And what’s the point of it all? Matthew is drawing battle lines. It is clear who Jesus truly is. Jesus has made his claim to authority over the city by riding in on the donkey. He has made his claim on the temple by turning the tables. But the leaders of Jerusalem do not want him. They do not want God himself in their midst.

It seems as though just when God is making good on that promise, “I will be your God, you will be my people, and I will dwell in your midst” that his people would rather keep their establishment, their comforts, their profits, than to turn the tables in their hearts and dwell with their God. And so instead of being God’s people, they have fortified themselves as his enemies. But God has also promised to judge all his enemies. Earlier I read Psalm 98:1 which mentions praising God for the wonderful things he has done. The last verse mentions judgement. Psalm 98:9 “9 for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.”

Bridge

Judgement is what is promised for those who are not God’s people. And that’s what we see a picture of in the fig tree.

A Cursed Tree

Matthew 21:18–22 ESV

18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. 20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

Revelation

The cursing of the fig tree is closely related to the temple in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Fruit is often a figure of speech for righteous action that is pleasing to God. John the Baptist at the beginning of this gospel warned the Pharisees and Sadducees that “the ax is already at the root of the trees” and that they should bear “fruit consistent with repentance.” Otherwise, “every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Jesus’s actions here have been described by commentators as an “enacted parable.” Prophets often acted things out to prophecy what God was going and what would take place. Here I believe, Jesus is doing more than just enacting a parable, he’s predicting the destruction of the temple in judgement.

Micah 7:1 “1 Woe is me! For I have become as when the summer fruit has been gathered, as when the grapes have been gleaned: there is no cluster to eat, no first-ripe fig that my soul desires.”

Jeremiah 8:13 “13 When I would gather them, declares the Lord, there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree; even the leaves are withered, and what I gave them has passed away from them.””

Jesus is hungry. He desires that “first ripe fig.” He sees a fig tree that is “full of leaves” which means it shows promise to have fruit on it. And yet there is none. Then Jesus exercises judgement, “May no fruit ever come from you again” and the tree withers.

This is a picture of Jerusalem and the temple. Jesus went to find fruit there, but he found none. And it will be judged. The city will crumble and the temple will be destroyed.

The disciples are astonished. Then Jesus says, ““Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.”

Silly American Christianity loves to latch on to this verse as some sort of strange promise that we can just ask for anything and it will happen like a genie. It’s the same people who chase the spiritual experience rather than God himself who interpret this verse to mean God is a genie, our cosmic butler for us to order around as we please.

But that interpretation ignores the fact that the context of this saying is judgement on those who have identified as God’s enemies. Notice the “lesser to greater” in 21 the “fig tree” is the lesser and the mountain is the greater. The mountain being thrown into the sea is apocalyptic imagery. In other words, if the fig tree is representing judgement on the temple and Jerusalem, the mountain is representing judgement on the nations and the world. Jesus is teaching that the prayers of the saints bring judgement to the nations.

V. 22 furthers that point. All the times the word “you” is used it is plural. V. 22 is not an individual promise to one person, it is a promise to the church praying together, in unity.

Relevance

So what do we do with this passage? We have to know that judgement is coming. And so we must examine our fruit.

We live in a day and age where there are a lot of silly gimmicks in our religion. How many people out there do you think believe they are saved because one day they made a superficial decision and got dunked in water?

I’m sorry, but this passage says it goes a little deeper than a one-day decision that has not impact on the rest of someone’s life.

Jesus will be coming to inspect the fruit of our lives. “Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire”

But several of you, I’m am sure, have had a one-day decision that changed everything. You had a moment when you gave your life to Christ. Your not perfect, there are still some things you deal with, but there are some fruits of repentance growing in your life today. Why? Because you didn’t just repeat a prayer and get dunked so your name would be counted and an evangelist’s ego could be stroked. No, you heard about Jesus, you heard of his perfect life. His life so sinless that all that would rise up in you is guilt. A guilt which brought so much dread and sorrow that it would be unbearable if it weren’t for the cross. The cross that Jesus bore. He took the weight and burden of our sin while he died on that cross. And yet he did not stay dead. He rose from the grave, ascended to heaven, and took his place on his throne. And now we yearn to one day be with him. We long for the promise to be fulfilled, the promise, “I will be your God, you will be my people, and I will dwell in your midst.”

Application

Summary

There are only two groups in this passage:

The leaders protecting their system.

The blind, lame, and children running to Jesus.

There is no neutral ground.

You are either protecting something from Christ…

or running to Him.

So the first application is simple and unavoidable:

Are you God’s people — or are you defending your own kingdom?

Not what did you pray once.

Not where is your name on a roll.

But when Christ exposes your heart — do you resist Him or worship Him?

Tell

Jesus is still hungry.

He still inspects trees.

Leaves are easy:

Church attendance

Christian vocabulary

The right political opinions

Emotional worship moments

Fruit is harder:

Repentance

Obedience

Love for holiness

Hatred of sin

Perseverance when no one is watching

So ask plainly:

If Christ came to your life looking for fruit, would He find substance — or leaves?

Show

Real communion with God looks like:

Trembling at His Word.

Confessing sin quickly.

Singing because you’re grateful, not because the bridge swelled.

Listening to Scripture as if it is oxygen.

Praying as if you need Him.

When God dwells among His people, three things mark them:

Holiness

Humility

Hunger for God Himself

Not hunger for stimulation.

Not hunger for novelty.

Hunger for Him.

Image (Gospel)

Because here is the hope:

The temple was corrupt.

The fig tree was fruitless.

But there was One tree that did bear fruit.

There was One who was cut down.

There was One who was judged.

Christ became the withered tree.

He absorbed the curse.

He was cut down outside the city.

Why?

So that barren people could become fruitful.

So that idolaters could become worshipers.

So that enemies could become sons.

The promise — “I will dwell in your midst” — is fulfilled in Him.

The veil tore.

Access is open.

But it is open to the repentant.

Challenge

Have you settled for religious leaves?

If Christ turned over the tables in your heart, what would He scatter?

Your reputation? Your comfort? Your secret sin?

Let Him cleanse you now — before He judges you later.

The question is not, “Is our church impressive?”

The question is, “When Jesus walks among the lampstands, does He find fruit?”

And the deeper question:

When He walks into your heart, does He find worship — or a marketplace?