Who is Jesus- A Look in the Gospel of John
Notes
Transcript
Jesus the True Temple
Jesus the True Temple
WHY DO YOU GO TO CHURCH?
Too many churches today do everything they can to make the time of worship convenient for people. And some people attend church because they see it as a place for personal contacts or business advantage. But worshiping God is not always convenient; it demands true devotion and self-sacrifice. Nor is it for our own earthly advancement. Our focus should be on God alone. We are to worship sincerely, reverently, and humbly. That is not to say we cannot be excited, even zealous, about God. But we are always to worship with reverence—recognizing and remembering who God is.
Many radio and television ministries have become little more than marketplaces for religion. Some of these programs spend a great deal of air time discussing premiums and offers we can receive by sending in a donation that will be used to continue and increase programming so that more people can be contacted to send more money. Jesus would not condemn all fund-raising; but when “worship” services are broadcast for no apparent reason other than to raise money, we should be suspect.
This is where our scripture comes into play. Before we jump into the scripture today it is important to remember that John doesn’t write chronologically. John isn’t like Matthew Mark or Luke, John is more concerned with theological idea such as Jesus’ true identity. So the story we are looking at today although it is at the beginning of John it actually takes place after Jesus had been ministering for some time. He had already healed the sick the blind and casted out demons.
Actually what we find out from the other Gospel’s is that Jesus cleared the temple at the end of His life- This event would lead to cross. Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-18
And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.
So now we know the timing of this even so lets dive in-
The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 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. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 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.
Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.
There are 2 questions that come into play right in the first verse:
Where and Why?
Where does this story take place?
There is significance in the location of Jerusalem and even more significance in the fact that this story takes place in the temple.
Jerusalem was the place where the Messiah was expected to arrive. The Temple was located there, and it was the center of the Jewish religion. The temple was the center of of the Jewish community- For someone to be unclean and not allowed into the temple ment they could not be a part of the community and most importantly they had no access to God. They couldn’t worship God because they were unclean.
When we read the stories of Jesus healing those with leprosy , Jesus was doing something that was life changing. He made it so they could now be a part of the society and able to enter the temple and worship God.
Solomon built the first temple in Jerusalem. The temple was the place where God would meet His people. It was where heaven and earth met.
The temple was destroyed by the Babylonians (2 Kings 25), because the people had turned away from God. They had forgotten God and worship false demonic god’s of the Babylonians which led to God removing His hand of protection and allowing the nation to be judged by captivity. How devastating it would have been to see the place where God’s glory once dwelt to be nothing more then ruble.
The temple in our story was rebuilt in 515 B.C, and Herod the Great had recently remodeled the temple during the time of Jesus. Many Jewish family traveled from all over the world to Jerusalem during the key feasts such as the passover.
Why- The Passover?
The Passover celebration took place every year at the temple in Jerusalem. All Jewish males would make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem during this time (Deut 16:16). “They shall appear before the Lord your God”
It was a week long celebration that commemorated the Jewish people being freed from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:1-14).
Passover was one-day during the week long celebration of Unleavened bread. It commemorated the night when the angel of death ‘passed over’ the homes daubed with blood in the prescribed manner, killing the firstborn in all other homes.
It drew large crowds- Josephus records “the passover feast drew great crowds of Jews to Jerusalem and these large gatherings made the Roman authorities nervous.”
It is important to remember that Jesus was Crucified during the passover (Mark 15:6-15)
“Despite the stated importance for Israel to observe Passover “as a lasting statute” for all future generations (e.g., Exod 12:14; compare Lev 23:5; Num 9:1–5; 28:16), the biblical narrative makes a point of emphasizing how unusual observance of the Passover actually was throughout Israel’s history (2 Kgs 23:22; 2 Chr 30:26; 35:18; compare Neh 8:17).1”
The Israelites didn’t keep the passover which God established to remind His people of their Deliverance which was by the hand of God. When Israel forgot their deliverance they forgot their deliverer.
Israel is throughout scripture is depicted as keeping the Passover are during the reforms of Hezekiah (2 Chr 30) and Josiah (2 Kgs 23:21–23; 2 Chr 35:1–19). When Josiah (r. 640–609 bc) commands the people to keep the Passover, the narrator adds that it had not been kept “from the days of the judges who had judged over Israel or during the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah” (2 Kgs 23:22 LEB)
The last mention of a Passover observance in the Old Testament is the celebration of Passover that followed the dedication of the second temple after the Jews returned from exile in Babylon (Ezra 6:19–22).
The most important sign was the blood on the doorposts and lintel that showed the people living in that house were trusting in Yahweh for deliverance.
All this is important because of what Jesus says and does. The Passover was an event that took place in the book of Exodus but a greater deliverer then Moses came and offered a greater Passover.
In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.
“Those who were selling… the money changers.” Two separate groups of people that were turning worship of the Lord into robbery and materialism
Having all of these Jews pilgriming to Jerusalem to go to the temple to make sacrifice had become a money making scam then an act of worship to God. Because they had traveled from far distances it was inconvenient to bring along the animals for the sacrifices with them.This led to opportunistic merchants, seeing the chance to provide a service and making a considerable profit, as they setup their tables in the outer courts of the temple in order for the travelers to buy the animals needed for the sacrifice. “The money changers were needed because the temple tax, paid annually by every conscientious Jewish male 20 years of age or older (Ex 30:13, 14; Mt 17:24–27)1”
Those coming from foreign lands would need to exchange their money into the proper coinage for the tax. The money changers charged a high fee for the exchange.
With such a large group of travelers and because of the seasonal nature of the celebration, both the animal dealers and money exchangers exploited the situation for monetary gain (“robbers’ den”; Mt 21:13). Religion had become crass and materialistic.1”
God had organized what true worship was and how it was to take place- men had corrupted it.
Worship is remembrance of God’s blessings (Deuteronomy 12:5-7). This would make the sacrifice more personal.
Worship is a personal act that we do in remembrance of God’s blessings in our lives. Worship hasn’t change ever.
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. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”
WE need to understand that We don’t barter for God’s blessings.
We can’t exchange things for God’s to bless us. When we come with our sacrifice it is because we understand that God is worthy of all of our worship-
He deserves it, it is due to Him because of all the blessings that He has lavished upon us, whether we see them or not-
The air we breather
The food we eat
The joy we feel
The Sun in the Sky
Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles and the judgments he uttered,
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
God is worthy of all our praise.
“Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”-
The temple is God’s house- We are God’s people.
Jesus here saw the temple belonging to His Father, and the religious leaders of that day were trespasser- turning it into a money-making scheme.
“People had created an environment that, in essence, put a price on what God intended to be free. Access to God is not for sale. Giving the impression that God’s favor can be bought shows disrespect toward both God and those he loves.”
Worship in God’s House had become cheap and simply a tradition-
God presence hadn’t been in the temple for some time until Jesus stepped in, and what does Jesus do? He cleanses it.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
This scripture is written to a Church. Churches can be places where God’s presence is not at. Jesus’ invitation to to open the doors and let the presence of God back in. Don’t be like temple during Jesus’ time.
Compare this to the temple when God’s presence fell-
As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
The people had forgotten that God is “good for His steadfast love endures forever.” It had become Cheap worship.
CHEAP WORSHIP
We have so many opportunities for worship that we may trivialize its importance. We frankly have a difficult time identifying with believers elsewhere in the world who worship under threat of pain, imprisonment, even death. The faith of these believers is portrayed by exuberance, seriousness, and reverence in worship, despite their environment. Too often for us, worship seems to be nothing more than Christians getting together for fellowship, to learn from each other, and to help each other. While all that is good, it may not be true worship. If God is not the focus, the church is in danger of becoming nothing more than a service club.
Then what is true worship? True worship focuses on God, the one who is to be worshiped. When Christians gather to worship—that is, to meet with God—then their deepest needs and hungers are satisfied, for they are in touch with the Creator.
We dare not cheapen this truly miraculous and intimate privilege called worship. Jesus was angered by actions and attitudes that cheapened worship, and we must take care not to let such actions and attitudes into our church. How would Jesus respond to the worship in your church if he were to visit this Sunday?
How do the people respond? They ask for a sign showing that they didn’t believe in who Jesus was, and by asking for a sign they essentially were asking “Who put you in Charge?”
So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?”
Jesus’ response to this question- “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up.” The Jewish leaders challenged Jesus by questioning Him, and what does Jesus do in return? He counter challenges them.
The Jews