ORDER IN THE COURT!

ORDER IN THE COURT! Matthew 21:12-17 February 18, 2007 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction If you’ve ever traveled outside the country to a destination where the American dollar is not the principle currency, and you had to go to the “exchange window”, you’ll know what I mean when I say it can be a little disconcerting. It’s one thing to go to an actual banking establishment to buy local money, but it’s quite another at a local stand. I mean, there is no way to know what the current exchange rate is, and whether or not you’re being cheated in the transaction. You just have to trust them. But you can’t blame the moneychangers for raking a small percentage off the top, can you? They’re providing a service and they deserve to make a profit, right? But what if they were just inside the door of your church building, and you had to do business with them in order to fulfill your expected worship through giving? Further, what if these moneychangers in your church building were making a profit off the exchange? What if when you walked through the doors into the reception area and all you saw were people counting money, bartering deals and carrying on commerce than worship? The worshippers at the Temple in Jerusalem were probably used to it. When they came to worship there from far and wide, they brought their native money which had to be exchanged for Temple coins. Or they would have to spend their money to buy an acceptable lamb or bull or pigeon for their appropriate sacrifice and the only “authorized” dealers were the guys at the tables in the Temple courtyard. In one sense they had a monopoly, and rumor had it the priests were benefiting through favoritism. But worst of all, it seemed to turn the Temple into a flea market. But there did seem to be a need for providing the kinds of offerings and sacrifices required by the law. After all, could you reasonably expect someone to bring his own pigeons or bull on a two-week trip to Jerusalem? So how much commerce was appropriate? How should business be conducted? Actually these are pretty tough questions. Let’s see what parts of importing Main Street to the Temple Courts bothered Jesus and why. We’re going to read from Matthew 21:12 and following, but before we do, let’s get familiar with the surroundings. This picture is an approximation of what the Temple area looked like, and verse 12 tells us that Jesus has arrived in the “temple area”. The actual worship areas, including the Holy Place and Holy of Holies is housed here on the left in the Temple proper. Into that area only the Jews, or Jewish men, or priests or high priest were allowed, depending on how deep they went. What you’re looking at is the Court of the Gentiles. It was where even non-Jews were allowed to gather. Some additional thoughts on the Temple later. Around the perimeter of this courtyard the moneychangers would operate. If the picture were larger you could see some tables at the upper part of the picture, near the middle wall and the tunnel entrances. Jesus had once before encountered the hyper-commercialism of this scene and made a scene (John 2). This is His final arrival in Jerusalem, and it seems He has intentionally come to stir up trouble again. Trouble was not His motive, though; His motive was to make a strong statement about the true purposes of the Temple. Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “’My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’” Quoting from Isaiah 56 and Jeremiah 7, Jesus draws a stark contrast between “house of prayer” and “den of robbers”. In this He was railing against how the holy purposes of the Temple have been eroded by the encroachment of the mundane. Jesus’ Anger Prayer has been upstaged by profiteering, mercy displaced by mercenary, and genuine worship was warped by mammon worship. To Jesus this was unconscionable. Do you think He was angry as He upended the financial furniture? I can’t see Him doing all that with a smile. He was riled. If you thought Jesus never had such emotion this is probably a bit of a shock to you. Maybe you’re concerned at another level, wondering how the Lord whose word admonishes His followers to love their enemies and not be judgmental and violent could behave in such a way. There is a righteous indignation. There is nothing wrong and everything right in being angry over the things that anger God. It is inherent in our desire for godly living to hate and speak out against things that are unrighteous and demean things God calls holy. Watching the news the other night I was struck by the seemingly unending stream of crimes of sexual deviancy, murder and extreme antisocial behavior. Along with a deep, deep sorrow for the sinful condition of man and our world, there rises in me a seething disdain for such things. The story of the woman who murdered her friend, cut her baby from her womb and then murdered her other three children, stuffing their bodies in a dryer . . . If that sort of thing doesn’t drain your spirit and rankle your soul, you’d better check your pulse, because you may not have one. When Jesus saw the willful abuse of God’s house of prayer and worship, He was upset, He put on His prophetic mantle and He went to work. The Bible says, Be angry, but don’t sin. There is no indication that Jesus took out His anger on any people, though every table and bench in the place knew He wasn’t happy! It is not only not wrong, but it is quite proper, to be indignant—and even demonstrative—against anything that denigrates God’s purposes. It isn’t anger that’s important, it’s what makes us angry. Prayer Now let’s take a couple of minutes to consider what God’s purposes are, and what exactly was corrupted by the activities of the money changers in the Temple courtyard. The first to be considered is prayer. Quoting Isaiah 56:7 Jesus lashes out against the banality of courtyard commerce because it served to diminish God’s purpose of prayer through the Temple. Think with me about that idea. Precisely how does prayer get upstaged by money changing, especially since a certain amount of financials were necessary to facilitate worship? Further, might this cause us today to think twice about activities we conduct in and around church life that could hinder prayer? Given the force of Jesus’ reaction, it bears considering. But it wasn’t the provision of an exchange medium in the courtyard that bothered Jesus. The Law and the Talmud had established long since that the Temple tax of a half-shekel would be paid by every worshiper for the purpose of maintaining the Temple. And the convenient provision of authorized sacrificial animals wasn’t the issue. In fact it wasn’t the commerce itself, it was the corruption. Historical documents from the early first century make it clear that there was considerable impropriety surrounding the Temple tax and the open market in the Court of the Gentiles. Several historians testify to extensive greed and graft among the priests, especially the high priests. On source bemoaned that the high priests “have given up their love of God for the love of money.” Not surprisingly, the worst offender seems to be Annas, the high priest before whom Jesus was tried. His corruption ran deep and only got worse after he retired from his priestly service. In fact, the whole courtyard operation became known as “the Bazaar of Annas. The prophet Isaiah reflected God’s intent for the Temple as a house of prayer. How onerous it must have been to Jesus that it had become a den of robbers! Why couldn’t the ministry of prayer have still been carried on in the Temple proper in spite of the corruption in the outer courts? But there is a corrosive effect when evil crowds in on the Temple courts. The whole tenor of prayerful worship is negatively affected and the community of God’s people gradually lose their heart for the nations they are called to pray for. You can just imagine worshipers having to wade through a swamp of materialism and greed in order to get to their place of prayer. Picture yourself coming to this facility for a prayer meeting or a worship service. You’re met at the door by someone who is trying to profit for himself by selling you something. Next you overhear a group of elders who are rumored to be stealing from the offerings talking about the money they made at the Casino Queen. Others around are busying themselves talking negatively about the financial state of affairs in the church. And it seems each person who is a part of the church is more interested in their own finances than in the prayer meeting that is now starting late. You take your place among the faithful and you realize you’re anything but ready to pray and worship. I am so happy to report that such is not the case around this church family, but we are to be alert to anything that would keep us from being faithful in prayer. Christians are called to stand in the gap for others by interceding for them. We are to pray for one another, and to pray for the harvest, asking the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers, including us. Let me ask you: is there anything that regularly distracts you from prayer with the body of Christ? Are you more focused on material things than the spiritual discipline of prayer? Do you keep steady company with those who keep you from growing in prayer? Before God, who makes us temples of His Spirit, we beware and avoid such spiritually crippling distractions. If you discover them in your life, get mad—as mad as Jesus—at the sin of exchanging prayer for materialism. Overturn those tables by repenting and renewing your commitment to the Lord. Mercy The second priority of God for Temple people is mercy. The prophets had made God’s will very clear: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. (Hosea 6:6) By this He was not eliminating sacrifice, nor even minimizing it, but he was prioritizing merciful ministry to people. Those affiliated with the Temple and the Church are called to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with their God. (Micah 6:8) How does a debauched Temple and a nefarious priesthood further God’s ministry of mercy? It just doesn’t. Jesus reacts strongly. But He does more than rip into the priests and the people, He demonstrates mercy. Look at verse 14 – The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did . . . they were indignant. We must catch the full weight of that truth – when they saw Jesus mercifully minister to people, they were what? Indignant! The distractions of commercial corruption had affected them so deeply, so systemically, that all they could not rejoice when Jesus healed needy people. They could only react with indignance. The word used here is one that refers to very strong feelings of annoyance and offense. These guys were vexed at Jesus. We can only wonder, Why would they be so upset at His merciful help for needy people? Once people have embroiled themselves in evil long enough, nothing can look good to them. They take it as a personal insult when others do good, as if they were convinced that the other person’s goodness made them look bad. And it does! You see, the contrast between good and evil, darkness and light, stirs up more spiritual consternation than we usually give it credit for. The result is often persecution and even martyrdom. It is hard to explain in rational terms. John said, The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. (John 1:5) David asked, Why do the nations rage? [webmasters note: Acts 4:25] The mere presence of the gospel and the good effect it has on people and communities enrages the people of darkness. They become embroiled in suspicions, paranoia and vindictiveness. It is inexplicable except in spiritual terms. As odd as it seems, when you dedicate yourself to being merciful, you will soon find that you aggravate the merciless. Love justice, and you will incur the wrath of the unjust. Do good and those around you who do bad will do worse. Two things: first, keep on being merciful, even when it seems you are stirring up hornet’s nests all around you—in fact, learn to see the increased agitation of the dark side as evidence you are right. Second, if and when you ever feel yourself unable to rejoice when you observe someone else ministering mercy through prayer, healing or other help, stop, get on your face and repent, because you are dangerously close to being like Simon Magus, of whom Peter said, …I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin. [webmasters note: Acts 8:23]  Immediately ask the Lord to deliver you from evil. Genuine Praise The third pure ministry the Lord wanted to flow through and from His Temple is praise—genuine, heartfelt praise. Praise is the grateful and appropriate response of a heart blessed by God. He deserves our worship even when the blessings aren’t apparent to us. Notice what the children who were in the temple area did - But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. Blinded by their own sin they were not only incensed by acts of mercy, but they even hating the beautiful sound of children’s praise! I mean, they could have at least said, Oh, listen to the kids praising Jesus. They don’t know what they’re talking about, but, bless their hearts, aren’t they sweet? “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,  ‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?” (Interestingly, what Jesus didn’t quote was the rest of Psalm 8:2 – From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.) And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night. There is no guile in children’s hearts. There is no deception, no hiding, no phoniness. They say what they mean. Sometimes we don’t necessarily like what we hear from them, but it is always exactly what they’re feeling. A Sunday School teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five- and six-year-olds. After explaining the commandment “honor thy Father and Mother,” she asked, “Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?” Without missing a beat, one little boy answered, “Thou shalt not kill.” When the priests asked Jesus “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they were upset that they were acknowledging Jesus was the Messiah. But the kids had no problem with it—they’d heard the crowds last Sunday shouting the same thing, and they liked it, so they kept on shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” especially when they saw Him heal the blind and the lame! They were having fun saying what was on their hearts. Hmm! Having fun saying what was on their hearts—that sounds like. . .worship! Jesus adds a double-zinger before He leaves. First He asked an incriminating question: Have you never read…? These religious leaders—how could they have never read Psalm 8:2? Of course they’d read it, they just could not apply its truth! The Lord’s implication here is they are not as smart or religious as they think they are! The second zinger is in the meaning of the words of the Psalm. In the context of the rest of Psalm 8 it is clear that God arranged it for children to freely praise Him in order to embarrass the old fogies who long since had forgotten to praise Him! God delights in destroying the wisdom of the wise and frustrating the intelligence of the intelligent (Isaiah 29:14), and He never tires of making foolish the wisdom of this world, using the weakest, humblest and most honest ones of all. (1 Corinthians 1:20) It’s no wonder He said, Let the children come to me—for of such is the kingdom of heaven. [webmasters note: Matthew 19:14, Mark 10:14, Luke 18:16] Again I’ll make this point. Don’t ever let yourself be on the side that minimizes prayer, or that becomes indignant in the face of mercy, or that disparages praise—or children. These things, my friends, are what the Temple is all about. Conclusion As we close our study of this text, don’t miss the point. Jesus was the perfect one to demand correction in the temple courts. He is God; He made Temple, and designed its purpose. In Matthew 12:6 He said of Himself, One greater than the temple is here. For the entire history of God’s chosen people Israel, the temple (presaged by the tabernacle in the wilderness) had been the center of Jewish worship and life, pictured for them as the place where God dwelled. But they missed the truth that God cannot be contained in man-made dwellings, and the temple was always intended to be temporary, and a shadow of what was to come. Hebrews 9:8 says, The Holy Spirit was showing [ancient Israel]…that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. Then in verse 11 – When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-mad…not a part of this creation. The true temple, toward which God’s will and history moved, is us. God’s intent was always to have a faithful people in whom He would live/tabernacle. Believers – 1 Corinthians 6:19; the Church – Ephesians 2:21-22 In the fall of 2005, my 9-year-old son, Austin, had his tonsils removed. Before the surgery, an anesthesiologist came in to start an IV. He was wearing a cool surgical cap covered in colorful frogs. Austin loved that "frog hat." When the doctor started to leave, Austin called out, "Hey, wait." The doctor turned. "Yeah, buddy, what do you need?" "Do you go to church?" "No," the doctor admitted. "I know I probably should, but I don't." Austin then asked, "Well, are you saved?" Chuckling nervously, the doctor said: "Nope. But after talking to you, maybe it's something I should consider." Pleased with his response, Austin answered, "Well you should, 'cause Jesus is great!" "I'm sure he is, little guy," the doctor said, and quickly made his exit. When Austin's surgery was finished, the anesthesiologist came into the waiting room to talk to me. He told me the surgery went well, then said, "Mrs. Blessit, I don't usually come down and talk to the parents after a surgery, but I just had to tell you what your son did." Oh boy, I thought. What did that little rascal do now? The doctor explained that he'd just put the mask on Austin when my son signaled that he needed to say something. When the doctor removed the mask, Austin blurted, "Wait a minute, we have to pray!" The doctor told him to go ahead, and Austin prayed: "Dear Lord, please let all the doctors and nurses have a good day. And Jesus, please let the doctor with the frog hat get saved and start going to church. Amen." The doctor admitted that this had touched him. "I was so sure he would pray that his surgery went well," he explained. "He didn't even mention his surgery. He prayed for me! Mrs. Blessit, I had to come down and let you know what a great little guy you have." A few minutes later, a nurse came to take me to post-op. She had a big smile on her face as we walked to the elevator. "There's something you should know," she said. "Some of the other nurses and I have been witnessing to and praying for that doctor for a long time. After your son's surgery, he tracked a few of us down to tell us about Austin's prayer. He said, 'Well girls, you got me. If that little boy could pray for me when he was about to have surgery, then I think maybe I need his Jesus, too.'" Tina Blessit, "A Prayer Before Surgery," Today's Christian   [Back to Top]