Cleaning House
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John 2:13–25 “13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. 15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. 16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” 17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.” 18 So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?” 19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 Then the Jews 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 of the temple of His body. 22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said. 23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. 24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.”
Pray
Tonight we are Cleaning House…
Cleaning house: means removing people, practices, or things that are causing problems
For those of you that are Angels fans….
You are probably hoping that with new ownership, this will happen.
That they will clean house and remove People, Practices and Things to get the team to accomplish its purpose of winning championships…
We see this also in Business,
Where a business is struggling because it has practices or people that are not effectively accomplishing the vision and they are removed.
We are going to see this tonight as Jesus Cleanses the temple and roots out People, Practices and things that block us from the Lord.
13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. 15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. 16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise! (Emporion- Emporium/Large Retail Store)” 17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”
V:13- Jesus Went Up to Jerusalem-
You will see the phrase “Went Up to Jerusalem” employed through scripture.
That is because geographically speaking no matter where you are traveling from you have to Go UP as it is located at 2,500 feet above sea level
V:13- He was traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Passover.
Passover:
One of three feasts (Passover, Festival of Booths, and Feast of Weeks) that required All Israelite males to make a pilgrimage to celebrate and worship the Lord.
The Passover was a sacred and special celebration to remember the Lord’s hand apon the Israelites when He freed them from slavery and bondage in Egypt
Deuteronomy 16:1–2
“1 “Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God, from the flock and the herd, in the place where the Lord chooses to put His name.”
Supposed to be a day that was set aside to celebrate how the Lord freed the Israelites from bondage….
But instead the religious leaders and the people used it for their advantage which kept people from Him.
V:14- And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business
They weren’t doing a public service
This wasn’t like How we have King Coffee set up to do a public service to make sure you are all well caffeinated and ready to study the Word on Sunday Morning…
And Praise God we have that…because the Lord knows some of us need that early on a Sunday…
No, they set up what looked like a flea market or a fair in the Court of the Gentiles
To extort those that were coming from far off so they could purchase animals for sacrifice and change their foreign currency into the approved currency
The Court of the Gentiles
The large outer area where non-Jews could approach to worship.
It was meant to be a place where those that were seeking the Lord but not Jews could come and worship
But it was turned into this bizarre or market with overinflated prices
kind of like how they get you to pay $10 for the bottle of Salty Disani Water that leaves you thirsty at the stadium.
Passover that was meant to be a sacred and special celebration was turned into a ritualistic, routine that Ripped people off.
And this angered Jesus…
We see in Scripture 4 times that Jesus is angered…
It is always when there is a barrier put up to keep people from coming to the Lord.
Matthew 18:6- When discribing the sevarity of causing little ones to stubble or sin
And it being better to tie a millstone around your kneck then to do this Sermon
Mark 10:14- Jesus was grately displeased when the disciples kept the Little Children from coming to Him.
Mark 2- When the Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus for wanting to heal the Man with the paralyzed hand on the Sabbath
John 2- Barriers to Worship and celebrate the feasts
These Barriers Rip us off from the True and Good relationship that the Lord intends for Us…
V:15- When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.
Even today we see people try to put barriers on us that keep us from the Lord:
Traditions that say-
You have to say this certain prayer in order to come to the Lord
You have to be confirmed or baptized before you can come to Him…
But Tonight I would also Ask you…What barriers have you built up that keep you coming to Him:
Is a thought that you aren’t worthy of His love?
A false idea that you have to get your act together before He will accept you or hear from you?
Jesus said in Matthew 11:28–30 “28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.””
John 11:25 “25 Jesus said “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”
Jesus Says Come to Him…Clean House of the of Rituals, Routines and Rip Off’s that Keep you from God.
Just as Jesus Cleansed the Physical temple of Barriers that Kept people from coming to Him…
1 Corinthians 3:16 “16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 “19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
As Believers Every part of Who we are is the Lords
The Spirit of God indwells in us
He has taken up residence in us…But what does that residence look like?
Moving to California from South Florida
Biggest Surprise was the cleanliness of the Roads
Do We welcome Him in with a life filled with Fruit and Character of His Spirit or Fruit and Character of the Flesh?
Just as he used a whip to get the attention of those that were making a misusing the temple
In Hebrews 12:5–7 “5 “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?”
Men, remember for whom the Lord Loves HE CHASTENS…
As a son I remember my dad saying how he didn’t enjoy giving me punishment…
As A dad I now say that too to my kids…
But I ask you tonight to consider His chastening and remember the scourging he bore for you before he took the cross
Consider what He is revealing to you that needs to go
Mark 7:20–23 “20 And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.””
Let Him go to work and renew you day by day.
18 So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?” 19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 Then the Jews 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 of the temple of His body. 22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said. 23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. 24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.
V:18- The Religious leaders weren’t questioning Jesus’ Actions…
They knew it was a fair rebuke and justified,
But they wanted “A Sign” to prove his authority.
Matthew 12:39–40 “39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
The Sign of Jonah- Pointed to the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus…but unlike Nenivah, they would not accept
V:19-20- Jesus Answers them and shares of the sign of His death burial and resurrection.
But They were confused as it took 46 years to rebuild the temple and it still wasn’t done at that point…
The Jewish leaders were thinking Physically but Jesus was speaking about a spiritual context
They sought a sign but missed it.
Now there were others who saw the signs but their hearts weren’t loyal to him…
23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. 24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.
• V:23–25 — Jesus knows what is in our hearts
• These people saw the signs Jesus performed and believed in His name.
• But Jesus did not commit Himself to them because He knew what was in their hearts.
• They could see His power. He could see their motives.
• Men, Jesus knows why we are here tonight. He knows what we believe, what we struggle with, and what we are holding back from Him.
• Read Jeremiah 17:9–10.
• Jeremiah tells us that our hearts can deceive us, and that the Lord searches the heart.
• We can convince ourselves that something is acceptable because we have a good explanation for it.
• We can excuse bitterness because someone hurt us.
• We can justify dishonesty because we feel we deserve more.
• We can become comfortable with a private sin while staying busy serving the Lord.
• That brings us back to what we have been talking about tonight: Cleaning House.
• When Jesus walked into the temple, He exposed things that people had allowed to become normal.
• What have I allowed to become normal in my life that the Lord wants to address?
• Something can be familiar to me and still need to go.
• The workbook closes this lesson by directing us to Psalm 139. The Lord knows us completely, and we can bring our hearts before Him honestly.
• Read Psalm 139:23–24.
• David invites God to search him, reveal what is wrong, and lead him in His way.
• Men, that is a prayer we can make our own tonight:
• “Lord, show me what I have been excusing.”
• “Show me where my actions don’t line up with what I say I believe.”
• “Help me receive Your correction and obey what You show me.”
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