The Day Jesus Disrupted Church - John 2:13-25

John 2:13-25

©Copyright October 4, 2020 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche

The idea that Jesus was meek and mild is not exactly accurate. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, he commanded demons to let go of human beings, He courageously and fearlessly went to the cross, and I believe he twice created quite a mess during worship at the Temple.

This morning we look at John 2:13-25. It is the story often titled, "Jesus Clearing the Temple." Before we look at the background of the account and what we should learn from it we have to address a knotty question: When did this take place? The reason this question is raised is because there appears to be a discrepancy between the different gospel accounts. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) all place the cleansing of the temple during the last week of the life of Jesus. John has it at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. This has led some people to conclude the Bible contradicts itself and therefore is not trustworthy.

It is possible that the writers were not as concerned about exact chronology as we might be today. The gospel writers were not trying to write a history text, they were writing a document proclaiming the good news of Jesus. So, the events actually happened, but they did not need to be in chronological order.

I believe the most likely explanation is the simplest: Jesus did this twice. Once at the beginning of his ministry and once at the end. If you study John's account and that of the other gospels you will see the details are different. We can be pretty sure after the disruption we read about today, the merchants didn’t take long to return to their former position. A second reminder would certainly be in order. The fact that Jesus did this twice certainly does mean we should pay extra attention to this. Let’s go to the text:

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.”

Why Was Jesus Angry?

Some people are troubled by the anger of Jesus. They claim Jesus ‘lost his temper.’ From there they conclude it must be OK to lose your temper. So, a person who has a problem with anger can now justify it with Jesus! I believe they are off base on all accounts. The anger of Jesus was different from the anger we often experience.

It appears Jesus was angry at a couple of things that were going on in the temple. First, the actions of the merchants were hindering worship. These booths and businesses were set up in the court of the Gentiles which effectively hindered Jewish-leaning Gentiles from worship.

R.C. Sproul wrote,

Imagine if you went to church on a Sunday morning and went into the sanctuary to pray, but you couldn’t focus your thoughts because of the loud and persistent bleating of sheep and goats. That’s what was going on in the temple. The sacred grounds that had been set apart for worship had become chaotic. Yes, people’s needs were being met. I’m sure the temple authorities were saying, “We’re just trying to be relevant; we’re being seeker-sensitive for those who can’t bring their lambs from home and who need their money exchanged.” But in their efforts to make these procedures easy and convenient for the people, they had impacted the people’s ability to worship.”

The second thing Jesus was angry about was these merchants were gouging the people. The services they were providing were valuable, but they were taking advantage of the situation. They were overcharging for the animals and not giving a far exchange rate on the money. So, it is not so much WHAT they were doing, it was how they were doing it.

Jesus was angry because the glory of God has been tossed aside so people could make a buck. This was a direct affront to the perfect and gracious character and will of God.

The Nature of Jesus' Anger

There are several things to note about the anger of Jesus. First, His anger was restrained. Jesus did not "lose His temper!" This was not an impulsive act. How do we know this? Look at the text. We are told, "and making a whip of cords, he drove them out of the temple." Jesus took the time to make a whip of cords! This is deliberate, not impulsive. If we took the time to make a whip of cords every time our anger began to rise, we likely would not respond in such a hurtful and out of control manner.

Second, Jesus' anger was not selfish. This was not about Him. He was angry on behalf of God and others. Most of our anger is the result of ego being damaged or we have been offended in some other way. We are the opposite of Jesus: we have a tendency to shrug off an offense to the Lord and are quick to get angry when we someone does something that offends us or is something we don’t like.

You probably have heard people talk about righteous anger. It is an anger that is directed against wrong behavior for the right reasons . . . usually over some clear standard of Scripture. But here is the problem, we ALWAYS feel our anger is righteous and it almost NEVER is. We get angry over personal affronts and we tend to excuse (or stay out of it) when the glory of God is at stake. Righteous anger is when we angry about what God is angry about. It is when we are passionate about the evils against Him rather than against us.

Another text we use to justify our anger is from Ephesians 4

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. (26,27)

We cling to the "be angry" and separate it from the "do not sin." Sinful anger is still there when the sun goes down. We play it over and over in our heads. That's an indication that our anger is a sinful and selfish anger. When that happens, we are giving the devil an opportunity to control our life through the anger.

One research study asked a large population of children this question: "How do you wish your mom was different?" The number one answer was "I wish my mom didn't yell at me so much." That was the response of 98% of those who answered it.

We are an angry society and we try to use Jesus as an excuse. We need to repent of such blasphemy and then repent of our anger and conduct ourselves in a way that sees beyond ourselves.

Ed Stetzer of Wheaton College writes,

James 1:19-20 says, “Know this, my beloved brothers [and sisters]: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” The reason Scripture cautions against reacting too quickly is that for the most part, our initial response is stupid. Psychology and sociology are catching up to Scripture, recognizing that our intuitive responses are often not only wrong but destructive. Step back, think, and pray about what was said; then reflect on what would be a God-glorifying response. (Stetzer, Ed. Christians in the Age of Outrage: How to Bring Our Best When the World Is at Its Worst (p. 85).)

Would Jesus Be Angry at the Church?

A tough question that derives from this account is this: Would Jesus be angry at the way we conduct worship?

Some people conclude from this passage that a church should never sell anything or charge people for events at the church. They would contend it is wrong to sell tickets to concerts, have fund-raising dinners or other money-making activity. I do not think that is what Jesus is driving at.

The concern of Jesus is for us to worship God in a way that is reverent and God-focused. Once a church becomes overly focused on how to get people to give more money, or if their focus is consumed with building a bigger church, they have lost sight of what worship is.

There is a passage in 2 Kings during the time of King Josiah. They were doing some remodeling work and found a copy of what was probably what we know as the book of Deuteronomy. When Josiah read it, he was horrified at how far Israel had drifted. Listen to what happens.

And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens. 6 And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people. 7 And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord, (2 Kings 23)

These things were taking place in the TEMPLE. It is a reminder of how easy it is to think we are doing well while actually drifting from and actually provoking God to anger.

If a church starts focusing on money, the temptation is to manipulate people to give.

When its worship becomes a performance to win the masses, people come to be entertained and our focus become what people will like rather than what will please the Lord.

When we work to be attractive to the world, we can start to adopt some of the false religion of the world in the name of relevance. We start having religious “superstars” and we tailor music to what has a certain beat rather than god-honoring lyrics; we start relying on market research rather than the Word of God. We quote men more than we do God.

When we start becoming political, we become more about lobbying for our candidate than evangelizing for Jesus.

In these cases, churches have lost their first love. If the Lord showed up at these churches He would come with a whip! It is a sobering thought.

The Response of the People

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.

These religious leaders were upset that Jesus was upsetting the status quo. They had a good thing going and He was messing it up! They demanded Jesus give them a sign to show He had authority to do what He was doing. They taunted Him, asking Him to prove His authority by doing some dramatic miracle.

Jesus gave them a sign, but it required these men think deeper. He told them to destroy "this temple" and in three days He would raise it up again. Jesus was referring to Himself, but He used language that would force faithful people to think deeper and opponents to think in the wrong direction. It worked like a charm. The leaders thought His claim ridiculous; His disciples remembered these words when Jesus rose from the dead.

When the Jews said it took 43 years to build the temple, they help date the ministry of Christ. Scholars know the temple was begun in 20 BC that means that this event took place around 26 or 27 AD. This would be consistent with the other dates we see in the Bible. It helps confirm the accuracy of the Word of God.

Jesus pointed the people to the greatest sign of all: the resurrection! In my mind, this one miracle becomes the most powerful demonstration of His authority to be Lord and Master in our lives!

Many people reject the evidence for the validity of the gospel and the authority of Christ because they have a nice "comfortable" existence. They are fine with religion but completely reject the idea of God becoming man to live among us. They are so wrapped up in their own life and way of doing things they are privately angry with God for not conforming to THEIR plans. They don't have time for discipleship and are quite happy with life just the way it is.

It is interesting that though many people believed in Jesus because of the things He did, we read,

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.

Jesus did not get all excited because people around Him were excited. He understood how eagerly people follow the latest and most popular leader. Oftentimes their faith is superficial and temporary. He knew genuine faith was something God produces through the work of the Holy Spirit. We are told this is why He spoke in parables: it led the true believers to dig deeper and left the superficial listeners in confusion.

Jesus didn't need anyone to give Him instruction about human nature. Jesus understands mankind better than we do. This is why His truth is so vibrant and valuable. In the next several accounts in John we will see that Jesus knew people better than they knew themselves. This is why our job is to listen and to learn from Him. The Lord teaches us about who we are and why we do what we do. If we hear and pay attention to what He is saying, we will grow in the faith.

Our Lord tells us that in our nature we are always looking out for ourselves. We rebel against authority . . . especially God's authority. We define truth by what we want it to be. We constantly take our preferences and want to make them laws for everyone else. . . we want God to embrace OUR values. For example, we expect others to forgive us and we feel absolutely justified in not extending forgiveness to those who offended us. We are masters at deception and the person we are most apt to deceive is ourselves.

Next week we will begin a look at what it really means to be a child of God. But for today, let's look at some of the very practical issues we've raised today.

First, Jesus was passionate about times of worship, we should be too. The thing we must constantly remember is: Worship is supposed to honor God. It is a time of praising Him, giving attention to His Word, and realigning our hearts in allegiance to Him. True worship is not "consumer driven" (in other words, we do not do things simply to attract people). Worship is not designed to make people "feel good," it should be designed to bring people into the presence of God. True worship is "God-driven." It is not what we get out of worship, it is what we bring to the Lord in worship that matters.

We must regularly check to make sure we are not drifting or merely going through the motions. It is easy to become religious and merely log our time in the hope of earning some credit with the Almighty. True worship engages the heart, the soul, and the mind. It leads us to a dynamic encounter with God that changes the way we live our lives.

Second, the anger of Jesus was different than our anger. If we are completely honest with ourselves, we will admit that our anger is more about us than it is about anything else. We must never use the anger of Jesus in the temple as justification for our own anger. Anger is an emotion. We will, on occasion, get angry. However, the Holy Spirit is working in us to replace our anger with forgiveness, patience, understanding, humility and love. We need to learn to repent of anger rather than justify it. We live in an angry world. It seems sometimes like the only people who get things done are the angry people. However, the Lord wants us to more and more take on the character of Christ. This is an area where we can truly stand out from the rest of the world. There is a power that comes from a godly life.

Finally, the resurrection of Jesus is the only reassurance we need for the validity of the gospel message. God does not need to "prove" anything to us. We have all the evidence we need. The Resurrection of Jesus is not simply something to celebrate at Easter; it is the anchor of our souls. It is the assurance that Jesus was God become man. It is our confidence in life beyond the grave. It is because of the resurrection that we worship enthusiastically and love abundantly. This is not a "little thing" . . . it is the most important event ever!

May our worship be pure, undefiled, and pleasing to the One who has redeemed us and set us free. May we be a church that brings Him honor rather than provoke His anger.