He Is Still Clearing Temples
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Read Text - John 2:13-22
When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”
His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
The ZEAL of Thine House
Teddy Roosevelt Story
People have lots of interesting reasons why they don’t come to church.
None better than Teddy Roosevelt’s
David McCullough in his book Mornings on Horseback tells this story about young Teddy Roosevelt:
"Mittie (his mother) had found he was so afraid of the Madison Square Church that he refused to set foot inside if alone. He was terrified, she discovered, of something called the 'zeal.' It was crouched in the dark corners of the church ready to jump at him, he said. When she asked what a zeal might be, he said he was not sure, but thought it was probably a large animal like an alligator or a dragon. He had heard the minister read about it from the Bible. Using a concordance, she read him those passages containing the word 'zeal' until suddenly, very excited, he told her to stop. The line was from the Book of John, (John 2)17: "And his disciples remembered that it was written, 'The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.' "
Review Context - Previous Weeks
a. Parallels the Genesis Creation Story
b. Jesus is building a Temple - not with stones and precious metals, but with human beings
c. The Temple is God’s own dwelling place
d. We will finish with three practical take-aways - one of them will not be instructions for you to make a whip and set out for the nearest Evangelical Church
The Business of the Temple
The Business of the Temple
Passover was Israel’s greatest festival - a national gathering. Every adult male within a 15 mile radius of Jerusalem was required by law to attend - at great personal cost.
Why is Jesus so upset?
Because embedded in this holy feast day was a very corrupt system which was taking advantage of the people.
Every Jewish male over nineteen years of age had to pay his yearly temple tax of a half-shekel - which was roughly equivalent to 2 days of wages.
Since the Jewish religious leaders had classified all Greek, Roman, and Egyptian coins as “unclean” - the money changers took advantage and set abusive exchange rates which basically translated into another day’s wages - roughly 300 dollars in today’s American economy.
On top of all of this, every family had to purchase a sheep, ox, or dove for the Passover sacrifice - all of these animals had to be without any blemish - which meant you had to pay an absolute premium - and of course, the Temple sacrifice inspectors would tell you what was “without blemish” or not - something which I assume would be completely up to their discretion.
Barclay has pointed out that when Crassus captured Jerusalem and raided the temple treasury in 54 B.C. he made off with almost ten million dollars without anywhere near exhausting the treasury.
Lots of money involved...
Imagine what the city looked like on Passover - one of the three Feast Days which were required by OT Law.
Despite the crazy carnival-like atmosphere - the temple was considered absolutely sacred - the very center of Jewish life - the House of God - the place of His Presence.
But God’s House had become a market place...
We have to place ourselves in Jesus’ place
This was His house
The people where “His own”
Jesus comes in the tradition of other prophets who called the people and the leaders to repentance.
He is going there to worship - instead, He encounters
Jesus’ Reaction was emotional and forceful - it was also expected that Messiah would do this....
Malachi 3:1-3
Which is probably WHY the Jewish authorities didn’t call the Roman guards at the nearby Fortress Antonia
This act cleansing is deeply meaningful...
There is lots of deep and symbolic meaning here.
Just like those 6 stone jars in the previous passage of the marriage feast.
Those jars - 6 of them - the number is significant. Everything in John is.
Jars of water - just short of 7 - the number of fullness that appears in throughout the book.
Mary’s words are also significant - “they have no wine”
Now Jesus comes and fills the vessels with the New Wine of the Kingdom - the best is saved for last.
The normal rituals have now become insignificant. Jesus is here.
I tell you that one greater than the temple is here.
2. A New Day has come - Jesus embodies the very Presence of God - a few chapters later He will say this to the Samaritan Woman at the Well
Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”
Jesus is here - and there is no building on the planet that can hold him.
That amazing Temple which took 46 years to rebuild would be tragically and completely dismantled by the Romans in 70 AD.
The Great Irony - His passion for the Dwelling of God with Man is what will ultimately destroy His mortal body!
meaning of “consume” -
His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
Some application:
Jesus is cleansing His Temple today:
a. Conflation of Nationalism with Christianity
b. The Absolute Mess existing within the Prophetic Movement - all over the world.
and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.”
c. Abuse of Authority among leadership.
d. Many of you know that we are in the Lenten Season
Lent is a time for preparation and purification - a 40 day period that commemorates the 40 days Jesus spent fasting and praying in the desert.
“Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.
Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.
Tell my people Israel of their sins!
Yet they act so pious!
They come to the Temple every day
and seem delighted to learn all about me.
They act like a righteous nation
that would never abandon the laws of its God.
They ask me to take action on their behalf,
pretending they want to be near me.
‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,
and you don’t even notice it!’
“I will tell you why!” I respond.
“It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
Even while you fast,
you keep oppressing your workers.
What good is fasting
when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting
will never get you anywhere with me.
You humble yourselves
by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
Do you really think this will please the Lord?
“No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
and remove the chains that bind people.
Share your food with the hungry,
and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
and do not hide from relatives who need your help.
“Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward,
and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
Then when you call, the Lord will answer.
‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.
“Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.
Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
2. There is only one Temple - The Body of Christ
But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
3. Believe the Scriptures and the Words Jesus has spoken
After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.