The Father’s House

Introduction: In the late 1900s there was a Christian rock band called Audio Andrenaline and they had a hit song among the young people of that day of which I was one.

It was called Big House and it attempted to talk about what heaven would be like in the Father’s House!

The song was based on Jesus’ words to His disciples in John 14:2

John 14:2 ESV

2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?

The which is obviously not scripture depicts a place of joy. I’ll admit looking back on it now, it was a very me-centered view of heaven that lacked one very important thing….worship.

The point of heaven is not what we get to do or experience.

It's a big, big house With lots and lots o' room A big, big table With lots and lots o' food A big, big yard Where we can play football

But heaven is about Worship.

Revelation gives a better picture of that day.

Revelation 22:1–3 ESV

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.

But that worship that we will experience for all eternity starts now.

Transition to the Text: Turn with me in your Bibles to John 2:12. Last week we learned about the first sign which Jesus did when He turned water into wine while at a wedding in Cana. Even though, as He said, “His hour had not yet come,” He was amenable to His mother’s request and turned the water into wine.

And the most important part of that story was not the miracle, but that His disciples believed in Him. And John’s hope is that you will believe in Jesus too.

If the wedding in Cana was a soft launch of Jesus’ ministry, what happens next is going to be very public.

And from this we are going to learn something very important about Jesus…

Introduce:

Big Idea: Jesus CARES about TRUE worship of His FATHER.

Read: John 2:12-25

John 2:12–25 ESV

12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. 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.

Big Idea: Jesus CARES about TRUE worship of His FATHER.

2:12 serves as a transition statement between these 2 accounts. We honestly don’t know how much time has passed between the wedding and Passover.

1. Jesus is PASSIONATE about WORSHIP for God. (John 2:12-17)

Explanation: Something that we learn throughout scripture is that God cares about the condition of someone’s heart when it comes to worship. It’s not just about the actions and choices themselves but about the motivation, attitude, and intentions of the heart.

I think this is one of the hardest truths to deal with and truly the center of so many of our divisions in the church today. It’s always been about the heart when we try to make it just about actions.

Now we have to remember that this was first century, 2nd temple judaism. The Law of Moses was in full effect and as a Jewish man, Jesus was bound by the law of Moses, but His attitudes, intentions, and motives were always pure.

Jesus never said that that the law was bad or oppressive. He never said that His people at that time didn’t have to obey the law. But He did say that if you follow the law in an impure manner, it is still sin.

Many of know this account. We quote it and will often apply it to the church today. If Jesus showed up to some of these churches, He’d be flipping some tables.

So what is Jesus mad about?

A few things.

He’s not mad at the worshippers who came from long distances with the intention of buying sacrifices. The OT made provisions for this. Deuteronomy 14:24-26. But there was an entire industry for exchanging roman money for jewish money, and purchasing the required sacrifices. And as you’d guess they charged exorbinant prices and exploited people. But you had to follow the law and they knew that. So they charged whatever they wanted.

But what was worse is where the marketplace was. In the court of the gentiles. If you know anything about the Jewish Temple. There was the Holy of Holy where only the HIgh priest could enter once a year. Then you have the inner court where most Jewish men were able to go. Then the women’s court. Then finally on the outside of that was something called the court of the gentiles. A place where even gentiles could come and pray. And where do you think they put the Marketplace? In the only place where Gentiles could come as they are.

Mark says it like this Mark 11:17

Mark 11:17 ESV

17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”

There are 2 reasons I think Jesus is mad. Using religious obligation for financial gain and impeding others who seek to come and worship God.

So we have Jesus’s words,

John 2:16 ESV

16 “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”

John 2:17 ESV

17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Jesus really cares about proper reverance and worship for God. the house of God has been made into a marketplace to get people rich.

It’s opportunistic and not in line with the spirit of true worship.

Illustration:

Application: Something that we need to be careful about is trying to equate OT worship at the temple with our churches today. The Jewish people would go up to the temple a few times a year for the festivals. They would never come empty handed. And it was required.

But today, the church is not a building made with hands, but a people purchased by Jesus with His blood on the cross.

Yet the church is still called to gather together. It makes it easier to have a building where we can gather…like we have here.

And Jesus still cares about the heart of our worship. He still reserves the right to dictate how we worship.

Our worship is to be in reverence and awe of the creator of the universe.

Our attitude matters.

Our motivation matters.

Our intentions matter.

Now here’s the thing. Going through the motions is not always a bad thing. We sometimes make it out like mechanical emotionless worship is worse than not worshipping at all.

I would say that is not true.

Sometimes you have to choose to worship even when you don’t feel like it. You have pick yourself out of bed and force yourself to go. Force yourself to sing when you don’t love the song. Force yourself to take notes when PJ’s just not bringing his best,. God’s not going to fault you for trying.

Sometimes you have to bring what you have and let God move you to the encounter. But you feeling something is not the point. You are worshipping a God who is worthy of your worship whether you feel it or not. And guess what, it’s not for you anyway. Sometimes you gotta just do it.

God honors obedience. That’s not what is happening often in the Gospels.

Something that we are going to see over and over in the Gospels is hypocritical worship in which people are trying to appear spiritual, like they have it all together, when in reality it’s all fake and it’s a show.

And that’s what worship had become in Jerusalem. A show that pitted the rich against the poor. The religious elites against the peasantry. Those who could afford the high prices in the marketplace and those who couldn’t.

And all of this under the observation and permission of the very leaders who were supposed to protect the people from exploitation.

And Jesus wasn’t having it.

2. Jesus lets His WORKS speak for THEMSELVES. (John 2:18-22)

Explanation: You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Actions speak louder than words.” And even the Jews know that. They knew that messiah or prophet who came in the authority of God would be endowed with the power of God to do signs and wonders. And to this point Jesus was a nobody.

Now nobody knew who Jesus was outside of Galilee. He wasn’t a recognized name. So after He cleanses the temple, the Jews ask Him a question

John 2:18 ESV

18 “What sign do you show us for doing these things?”

Interesting that they used the word “sign.”

It’s the same word John uses to describe what happened in Cana.

This is their way of saying, “Who are you?

Jesus’ response is

John 2:19 ESV

19 “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Now interesting how precise John is here in the recording of this account. Herod the Great build the temple for the Jewish people and the work began in 19/20 BC. 46 Years dates this encounter to 26 B.C. Jesus was born in 4/5 B.C. Therefore this means Jesus would be around 30 years old. Just as the Luke tells us in Luke 3:23. So the math maths.

Now they said the temple “has taken 46 years to build” because it wasn’t done yet. In fact it wouldn’t be completed for another 40 years. Right before the Romans will destroy it in 70 A.D.

The precision points to an eyewitness account.

But again they missed the point here because Jesus was telling them something different.

To be fair there is a bit of misdirection here that isn’t lost on John.

Even John admits that they didn’t get what Jesus was saying until after the sign took place.

The ultimate evidence of Jesus’ identity as the Word become flesh and His authority to cleanse the temple will be His resurrection.

And this becomes the basis for the entirety of NT worship. We worship in a temple made with hands where we brings the blood of bulls and goats.

But at Jesus tells the Samaritan women in Chapter 3, we now worship in spirit and in truth.

And this aligns with Paul’s teaching that the Body of Christ is the new temple. And each one of us is individually members of it.

1 Corinthians 12:27 ESV

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

So even if Jesus did no other miracles, His resurrection would be enough to prove His identity and His authority.

If anyone predicts their death and their resurrection, you should probably believe in Him.

Jesus did a lot of signs beyond the ones John attributes to Him, but again these He did so that we might believe.

And what is the result of this sign?

John 2:22 ESV

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.

And we know that when it came to the waffling and doubt that the seems to plague the disciples during Jesus’ ministry, after He rose from the dead they never doubted again. Their belief was solidied in the risen Christ….because how could it not be?

And the same is for us today.

Illustration:

Application: But believing in Jesus’ signs and even in HIs name is very different than believing in Him.

Believing in Him for what He can do for you is very different that surrendering your life to Him.

And Jesus isn’t entrusting Himself to the halfhearted devotion of the people.

John tells that not everyone was a true believer. And He tells us that….

3. Jesus has SUPERNATURAL knowledge of the inner THOUGHTS of man. (John 2:23-25)

Explanation: John tells us that Jesus did many other signs at the Passover that are not recorded in the Gospel of John. Because again, the signs are not necessarily the point. The point is to point people to a saving knowledge of Jesus. But the signs did not always produce this desired effect.

John tells us that Many people believed in His name because they saw the signs.

People were in awe of the miracle worker but not ready to enthrone Him as Lord.

They may have believed in His name and His signs, but something was missing.

It’s as though they wanted Jesus for what He could do, not for who He is.

vs. 23 and 24 are in contrast to one another.

In vs. 23 many believe in Jesus

In vs. 24, Jesus does not entrust Himself to them. Because He knows that their believe is not genuine. The word entrust is the same as the word for believe. In a sense John is saying, Jesus did not believe them.

And to be fair the belief of most fails when they have to choose between Jesus and keeping their place in the synagogue.

And a major theme in the Gospel of John is this rising tension between Jesus and the Pharisees.

And more and more we see that saying you believe is very different than showing you believe.

This is the age ol’ tension between faith and works.

We can fully affirm that salvation is by grace through faith, but if your life does not prove your faith is genuine is it?

Can you live a life of sin claiming to believe Jesus died for that sin?

Jesus knows your heart.

And it’s always been about the heart. That was Jesus’ main concern against the Pharisees.

Legalism is about outward performance. Looking the part.

But action without a good heart is not good.

In Matthew Jesus says Matthew 23:27

Matthew 23:27 ESV

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.

What is sad is how often we show more loyalty to other things that to God. To a government. To a job. To a sports team.

Now I don’t want to appear legalistic in this, but just think about how we come to God in worship.

Malachi 1:8 ESV

8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts.

Just asked, if I approached my job the way I approach worship to God, would I still have a job long term?

Worship of God is serious and worship together with the people of God is the most important part of your week. Yet we feel so ready to neglect it when it becomes inconvenient.

Not everyone who says to me Lord Lord.

Illustration:

Application:

Response: Are you READY to BELIEVE?

Summation:Big Idea: Jesus CARES about TRUE worship of His FATHER.

1. Jesus is PASSIONATE about WORSHIP for God. (John 2:12-17)

2. Jesus lets His WORKS speak for THEMSELVES. (John 2:18-22)

3. Jesus has SUPERNATURAL knowledge of the inner THOUGHTS of man. (John 2:23-25)

Closing Illustration: Now again, I don’t want to burden you with obligations, but it’s worth evaluating our worship. Checking our heart to see what are the motivations, attitudes and intentions of our heart.

Do I look forward to coming to worship.

The Jewish people understood that worship of God did not begin at the temple, it began along the way.

There are Psalms called the Psalms of assents starting in the 120.

The purpose of these Psalms was to sing on your way to worship to help you to prepare your heart for the worship of God in His temple.

Ascent because Jerusalem was set atop of Mt. Zion and they would ascend to worship God.

They would prepare their hearts along the way so that when they arrived they were ready to go.

I wonder how much different our worship would be if we started earlier.

Not just on Sundar morning, but Saturday night.

Get a good nights rest. Pray as a family that God would draw us close to Him and to one another.

To prepare us to experience His presence in the morning.

To make us ready to praise Him.

There is joy in the house of the Lord…not just obligation.

Psalm 100:4 ESV

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

It is ok to not be ok. It’s ok to sometimes choose to worship even when you don’t feel like it.

Romans 15:13 ESV

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Let’s pray.