Cleansing Christ

Joseph Misiaszek

Gospel of John • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

John 2:12–25

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Cleanse the Temple

In June of 2020, the news broke that buried treasure had been found in the Rocky Mountains. The story as it unfolded was almost impossible to believe. Over a decade ago, Forrest Fenn hid one million dollars in treasure in the Rocky Mountains. He periodically gave clues online to the whereabouts of the treasure, as well as in a twenty-four-line poem published in his autobiography The Thrill of the Chase. Since it was first announced that the treasure was hidden out west, hundreds of thousands of people have searched for it. The Guardian, reporting on the find, wrote “Many quit their jobs to dedicate themselves to the search and others depleted their life savings. At least four people are believed to have died searching for it” (“$1M Treasure in Rocky Mountains Has Been Found, Says Forrest Fenn.” Without judging these treasure hunters too harshly, do you think the people who depleted their life savings and even died looking for treasure that was possibly buried in the Rocky Mountains were living with an eternal perspective on life? Were they living with God’s vision for time guiding their time in the here and now, or were they living for the here and now? Here’s another question: Were these treasure hunters any different from the countless others among us who while away hours and years of our life in pursuit of a career, who sacrifice relationships with our spouses and children for the sake of a paycheck? Are any of us living with an eternal perspective? There is no way to have a high view of God, for God to be priority if we don’t have an eternal perspective.

Let’s pray

12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.

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.”

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.

I. THE PURGING—vv. 12–17 First we see the Master and the Market

A. Family—v. 12. Jesus’ mother, brothers, and disciples. After Jesus was born, Mary married Joseph and had at least six children besides Jesus—

Matthew 13:55–56

. 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” Mary did not remain a virgin! Some of them like James become leaders in the first church and are martyred for their faith. James if thrown off the wall of Jerusalem because of his position in the first, local church and authored the letter named after him.

B. Feast—v. 13.

1. Passover—vv. 13–17. The Passover Feast was to the Jews what July 4 is to Americans. This was a time to remember their freedom from Pharaoh in Egypt—

Exodus 11:1–10; 12:1–51

(note in particular 12:25–27). 24 You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. 25 And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ ” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. Death passed over them. This is key to remember as we enter Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. There are reasons and deep meanings behind all of God’s timing. The Passover Feast was celebrated on the 14th day of the lunar month Nisan.

2. Problem—v. 14. The problem, people did not have an eternal perspective; they did not have a high view of God. People were using the temple as a place to sell and make a profit. The church should be the HOUSE OF GOD! Not a club. David spoke of God’s house in

Psalm 122:1

122 A Song of Ascents. Of David.

1 I was glad when they said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”

2 Our feet have been standing

within your gates, O Jerusalem!

3 Jerusalem—built as a city

that is bound firmly together,

4 to which the tribes go up,

the tribes of the Lord,

as was decreed for Israel,

to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

5 There thrones for judgment were set,

the thrones of the house of David.

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

“May they be secure who love you!

7 Peace be within your walls

and security within your towers!”

8 For my brothers and companions’ sake

I will say, “Peace be within you!”

9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,

I will seek your good.

The temple had four areas - four courts -

The first was the Court of the Gentiles

Then was the Court of Women

Then the court of Israelites

Finally, the Court of the Priests which included the Holy of Holies.

These vendors were set up in the court of Gentiles. The only place for a gentile whom God had spoken to go and pray and seek God’s presence. The noise, voices, arguing over prices and animal selection, animal making noises, this was no place for anyone to seek God or worship Him. This begs the question, what does our temple look like? It is crowed, noisy and distracting? During worship are we really worshipping or are we thinking about what we are doing after church? What’s going on tomorrow? Do we have an eternal perspective or an earthly mindset?

While initially this may have been seen as a service for God, providing for the Israelites who had traveled long distances to purchase their sacrificial animals without having to travel with them quickly turned from a service for God to just a Cash Cow scenario. Initially, these merchants, vendors would set up their stalls across the Kidron Valley on the Mount of Olives but as greed grew they moved closer and closer until they were finally with the walls of the temple, the first court, Court of Gentile. God was no longer the focus. God was not in the middle - Greed was. Sacrifice might have been the label but Selfishness was the compass driving the marketplace; something, some place that was never meant to be a marketplace.

3. Purging—vv. 15–16. Christ drove the sellers out of the temple. He wanted His house to be a holy place. Matthew 21:12–14

12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. The sick were healed after He cleansed the temple.

4. Prophecy—v. 17. Prophecy from

Psalm 69:9

For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. “Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: ‘Concern for God’s House will be my undoing’ ”—LB. Love for God’s house would lead to His death upon the cross.

Zechariah 14:21 - so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day.

Malachi 3:1, 3 1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.

What purging needs to go on in your life so you can worship unabandonly? Like David in

2 Samuel 6 when they were bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, “David danced before the Lord with all his might and David was wearing a linen ephod.” Do you dance before the Lord with all your might during worship or is worship just noise, just music before the message is given.

The key here is not the building, not the temple and we will get confirmation for that in a few verses, but at core of Jesus’ righteous anger is the heart of the people. Selfishness and Greed not God or Sacrifice.

Worship is not commercial activity; it is connecting with the Father in spirit and in truth through Jesus Christ the Lamb.

So we see that many people did not have an eternal perspective so what happened was the PURGING. Now we have the Prophecy.

II. THE PROPHECY—vv. 18–22 - 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.

A. Proof—v. 18. The Jews asked Christ, “If you have power to drive us out of the temple, and if you are God’s Son, show us a miracle.” Do we still do that to God? God if you hear me, show me. Give me sign. Just give me a roadmap of what you want me to do instead of just listening to Him and having a deep relationship with Him. Today, like then, we want God to work on our time schedule, follow our rules and obey us instead of the reverse needing to be true.

B. Prophecy—v. 19. Jesus says if they destroyed the temple (His body) He would raise it up (come to life) in three days. Often today, like then Jesus is misunderstood and misinterpreted.

C. Personal—vv. 20–21. The Jews told Jesus it had taken 46 years to build the current temple that was still under construction, and He would rebuild it in 3 days? They only looked at the natural and didn’t understand that He spoke of His body.

D. Power—v. 22. After His resurrection, the people believed Christ’s prophecy of coming to life after three days. MANY TODAY, AS IN CHRIST’S DAY, DO NOT BELIEVE UNTIL THEY SEE. THIS IS NOT FAITH! God cannot be domesticated and is not some circus act that performs when called on, “Have you believed because you have seen me, blessed are those who have not seen and believe.” John 20:29.

Worship cannot be relegated to a building like the temple; it centers in the person of Christ himself

The Purge happened then Prophecy was given we now come to

III. THE PROOF—vv. 23–25 – the Master and His Motive

Not all faith is saving faith; God honors only faith that selects the right object.

A. Christ—v. 23. Many watched Christ perform miracles and believed. He knew their faith was spurious, intellectual and not spiritual belief. They saw works so they believed in the works.

B. Changeable—vv. 24–25. “But Jesus didn’t trust them, for he knew mankind to the core. No one needed to tell him how changeable human nature is!”—LB. Some of the people who accepted Christ as the Messiah, accepted Him only mentally. If they had accepted Him spiritually, their lives would have been changed, and Christ would not have stood alone in the judgment hall, nor have died alone.

Jesus clearly understood that his purpose on earth was to bring glory to the Father.

What’s our take away. We need to remember what Abraham Lincoln, known for his homespun humor, once asked, “How many legs would a sheep have if you called a tail a leg?” Someone answered, “Five,” to which Lincoln replied, “No. Calling something a leg does not make it so.”

And calling believing “saving faith” does not make it saving faith. In the context of Scripture, saving faith has three essential elements: intellectual assent, spiritual appropriation, and personal commitment. It would appear that here we see only the first in the crowds, though the disciples have certainly moved on to some spiritual appropriation. Their personal commitment develops slowly through the years they walked with the Lord.

And let us not forget the faithful obedience of the servants in the first part of chapter 2. at the very end we learn that the result on the part of his disciples was that they “put their faith in him” where here believed in his name, or the signs he was doing.

PRINCIPLES

• We should glorify God in all aspects of our lives, including public worship and public parties.

• We should never overlook an opportunity for ministry to others through the normal events of our lives.

• We must never limit worship to a building, no matter how large or imposing it might be.

• We best honor the Father by recognizing the authority of the Son.

APPLICATIONS

• “Do whatever he tells you.”

• Think about how Jesus has “revealed his glory” in you.

• Never confuse true worship with the crass commercialism of media religion.

• In worship, concentrate on faith—not format.

I asked you last week – where was your faith thermometer? I ask again this week, is it saving faith or superficial faith? What purging must occur so we can all worship unabandonly? Is your heart centered on Worshipping God or not centered at all?