Cleansing the Temple

The Condition Of the Church

As Jesus entered the temple for the passover feast, he was heartbroken over the condition of the temple. In the court of Gentiles they were selling sacrifices and doing currency exchange. What was suppose to be a help for the temple had become a fiasco for the temple. During the passover, people could bring their own sacrifices for the remission of their sins. However, the animal was typically rejected by the priest and the family was forced to buy an animal from the marketers in the courts of the gentiles. This was also, suppose to help people that traveled long distances to the temple. It was not practical to carry a sacrifice long distances for the sacrifice, so the market would provide a convenient way to offer the sacrifice. The problem with this is that the people selling the animals were charging exorbitant prices for the animals. For example, they would sell two doves worth a nickle for five dollars.

The other thing that was going on in the court of the Gentiles was the money changers. All Jews had to pay the temple tax. The only currency acceptable was the Jerusalem currency. When people lived in different areas, they would have to exchange their currency for Jerusalem currency. The money changers were getting rich off of the exchange by charging outlandish fees. The temple had become a profit center and not a place of worship.

Modern condition of the church

In today’s church, we must ask ourselves is the church a place of worship or has it become something else? Unfortunately many churches today have gone from being a place of worship to a profit center. Church has become big business. As a matter of fact the world sees the success of the church based on how many people attend, the type of facilities they own, the number of dollars are given each week, and the programs they have to entertain. I find there is no such criteria in the Bible.

What I do find in the Bible is the church making disciples by living life together. I view the success of a church on the spiritual growth of the people of the church. Are they engaging in the disciplines and fundamentals of the faith. Do they exhibit the fruits of the Spirit? Are they leading people to Christ and making disciples? These are the things that I find as the accurate measurements of a successful church.

Too many congregations treat their pastors like head football coaches. What I mean by this is, if you are not winning then we will replace you. This means if your not growing in people, increasing budgets, developing more entertaining programs, or building new buildings then you need to be replaced.

I believe the reason that this happens is that we have a tendency to put people in positions of leadership who have been successful in business. They believe that the church should be successful using a business model. Unfortunately, many pastors buy into this and focus on what is demanded of them to be successful and get away from preaching and teaching truth. They preach feel good messages and avoid difficult subject matter for fear they may offend someone and run them off.

One thing that I have noticed is that churches that have Godly leadership at all levels will thrive. People are craving the truth. If there has been anything positive about COVID, it is that it has exposed half-hearted Christians. Now I am not saying that because you have not returned to church because you have legitimate concern or risks that you are half-hearted. What I am saying is that if you engage in everyday life as normal except in going to church, then you are not commited. I know I will get hammered for saying this, but there is an element of truth to it. My desire is not to make you mad, but to get you commited. The church needs you!

Jesus Clears the Temple!

When Jesus sees what is going on in the temple, He drives the marketplace out of the temple. He proclaims why he is doing it. They have made the house of worship a place of business. The motive and the focus of the church had changed from worship to accumulation of wealth. They were putting the world before God. They were Violating the 1st commandment!

3 “You shall have no other gods [b]before Me. Ex. 20:3

He took such offense to this that He exercised righteous indignation. He physically drove the sellers and money changers out of the temple. He did not pull them aside and say, “ you may want to reconsider selling these animals at such a high price.” No he didn’t! As a matter of fact what He did would be perceived by many as mean spirited. We often think of Jesus as this tender loving person that never gets upset with anyone and always seeks to do things peacefully. Here we see another side of Jesus that is warranted.

So why did Jesus do this? Because He was consumed with Zeal for His Father’s house. He had a holy jealousy for the worship of God. When people made a mockery of the worship of His Father he took matters into his own hands to eradicate the mockery.

We see no one trying to stop Jesus because he is determined to make His Father’s house a place of worship.

Holy Indignation Today

Vodie Bauchman claims that culture today has an 11th commandment that says, “thou shalt be nice!” There are times when their is no cause to be nice because the issue is not up for debate. In Jesus example, the people had turned the place of worship into a place of business. There was no room for discussion. It was wrong and something needed to be done about it.

Let me get you as fired up as I am this morning. Let’s say that someone is going around slandering your spouse and your kids. They have made all kinds of false accusations about them on social media. They have gone around town and tarnished their names. They have gone so far as to contact the kids school and your spouses place of business. Suppose they call you one day and say, “let’s have lunch together so we can discuss the things I have been saying about your kids and spouse. I want you to understand my perspective and perhaps you will understand why I did what I did.” How would you respond? Would you say, “I would love to sit down with you and get your perspective because I want a better understanding.” Of course you wouldn’t. You would simply say that what they did was wrong and there is no room to discuss it.

My point is that there are times when nice is not called for. When a woman is going to kill her baby, we must not soften her decision by calling it her right of choice. It is murder. There is nothing right about it. When a person says that they are engaging in the homosexual lifestyle and says they are a Christian, we must call it what it is. An abomination! You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination. Lev. 18:22

When people are living in sin we must do as the Bible says in Ephesians

11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. Eph. 5:11-12

We must not be soft on habitual sin. We must call it out. It must not be tolerated in the church. The church will never turn a sinner away, but a church must never condone or minimize sin.

Our purpose for holy indignation is always for the purpose of preservation of righteousness. It should never be as a means of judgement. We should seek restoration and not permanent punitive action. We should always leave room for repentance.

Jesus Miracle

The people asked Jesus to demonstrate his authority for clearing the temple by giving them a sign. Clearing the temple was the sign. Malachi says in the Old Testament: “Behold, I am going to send My [a]messenger, and he will [b]clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; [c]and the [d]messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. 2 “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like [e]fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord [f]offerings in righteousness. Mal. 3:1-3

Jesus came to purify the sons of Levi so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. What they were doing in the temple were offering unrighteous offerings. He came to clear the temple so the offerings given would be pure and holy.

Jesus also said that He would destroy the temple and raise it up in three days. The Jews thought that He was talking about the Temple in Jerusalem, but he was referring to His body. He was going to be crucified and on the third day He would be resurrected. The disciples remembered His statement in the Temple when he was resurrected.

Jesus Did Not Trust Himself To Those Who Trusted In His Name

John 1–11: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Jesus’ Perception of Reality

Jesus remained in Jerusalem for Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread that immediately followed. During that time, He performed a number of miracles that are not specifically recorded in Scripture (cf. 20:30; 21:25). As a result, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. They thought He might be a prophet (cf. Matt. 21:11; Luke 7:16), or even the conquering Messiah they were expecting (cf. John 6:14–15, 26).

But such faith was shallow, superficial, and disingenuous. It was not true saving faith, as John’s play on words indicates. Believed in verse 23 and entrusting in verse 24 both come from the same Greek verb, pisteuō. Though they believed in Jesus, Jesus did not believe in them; He had no faith in their faith. Jesus “regarded all belief in Him as superficial which does not have as its most essential elements the consciousness of the need for forgiveness and the conviction that He alone is the Mediator of that forgiveness” (R. V. G. Tasker, The Gospel According to St. John, The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975], 65).

Although many claimed to believe, Jesus knew that mere intellectual assent proves nothing; even the demons have such faith (James 2:19). Like the seed that fell on rocky and thorny ground, those who possess such faith hear the Word, and initially receive it with joy (Matt. 13:20). But because their hearts are never truly changed, they fall away when affliction comes (v. 21), or when worldly riches beckon (v. 22).

Without question, the difference between spurious faith and saving faith is crucial. It is the difference between living faith and dead faith (James 2:17); between the wicked, who “go away into eternal punishment” and “the righteous [who enter] into eternal life” (Matt. 25:46); between those who will hear, “Well done, good and faithful slave.… Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21) and those who will hear, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matt. 7:23).

Jesus did not embrace the false faith manifested by those who witnessed His signs, because He knew all men, and therefore did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man. He knows the true state of every heart. He saw in Nathanael the heart of an honest, true seeker (1:47); He saw in these people a superficial façade—a mere outward attraction to His spectacular signs (cf. 6:2). Genuine saving faith goes far beyond that. It demands wholehearted commitment to Jesus as the Lord of one’s life (Matt. 16:24–26; Rom. 10:9

As we close this morning, I would ask that you contemplate your belief in Christ. Is it one that is superficial that is based on what Christ does for you or is it one that is saving faith that has led you to wholeheartedly commit your life to Jesus Christ. If you have never trusted Jesus as your Savior, you can do that this morning.