2018-7-22: John - Heart Distractions
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I. Me and We
Our Distracted Culture (man eating & Texting while driving)
II. God
It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money.
John 2:13
Passover was when they celebrated God passing over the homes with the blood of the lamb painted on the doorposts. The Jews were slaves and God was rescuing them with one last dramatic plague.
People would come from far a way.
The temple had a different monetiary system. Money would have to be exchanged. They sold sacrifices to make the long trip easier.
What _might have_ started out as something helpful, took on a life of it’s own. Then, as always, people found ways to profit off of it.
“No outside food” —> Stadium Prices.
Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables.
Like prophets before him, he used hsi actions to speak louder than words ever could. he could have told them to stop but that wouldn’t have had much impact. Instead, he made a statement with his actions.
Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”
What was meant to be a place where “heaven and earth came together” had become something else. Things change over time. Subtle transformation takes hold. Transformation isn’t always a good thing. Sometimes we can start out good and get off track.
Just 1% takes us off course as we continue down that path.
Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: “Passion for God’s house will consume me.”
John 2:15
But the Jewish leaders demanded, “What are you doing? If God gave you authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.”
Who did Jesus think he was? A prophet? What gave him the right to upset the status quo? They wanted some kind of sign
“All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
Jesus gives them a cryptic sign.
“What!” they exclaimed. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can rebuild it in three days?” But when Jesus said “this temple,” he meant his own body.
John 2:19
I’m not sure how else they could have taken his statement. Jesus continued to redefine life. For them, the temple was where heaven and earth came together. For Jesus, he was the one who put on flesh and moved into the neighborhood. Jesus is the true temple, not made with stone.
They would destroy attempt to destroy him but he would rise again.
After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this, and they believed both the Scriptures and what Jesus had said.
Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him.
We don’t get much insight into these signs.
But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart.
Jesus knows what’s in our heart. Our heart is reflected in what happened in the temple that day. The whole system that grew up around worship in the temple became an obstacle for worship. We tend to do that. We tend to put things in the way of worshiping God.
III. You and Us
Jesus told Nath. that he would see heaven open up. God’s desire is that we are in a deep, intimate relationship with him. yet, we continue to find ways to build barriors to that end.
Instead of finding ways for people to worship God freely, they found a way to profit off of worshiping God.
While we might not be finding profit, we do find ways to create obstacles. We become distracted by things. Instead of entering into worship in anticipation, we come filled with preoccupations, concerns, fears, etc.