The Message Behind The Temple
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Intro: What will it take? Will it take you seeing a miracle firsthand before you believe? In the society that we live in today, it’s hard for people to believe because of the way we are trained to think. It is not uncommon for people to doubt first before they ever believe. And rightfully so, there are so many people lying to us and trying to deceive us that it makes it very difficult to trust.
The detrimental aspect that is associated with this logic also bleeds over in to our trust for Christ. People make statements like the following:
How am I supposed to believe in a God I can not see?
What makes Jesus any different than anyone else?
If he’s not performing miracles that I can put my hands on, then how can I believe he is who he says he is?
These were questions that were being asked in the days that Christ walked the earth, and they are still being asked today. The trouble with this logic is we are not dealing with a God of limitations. He is a God of all possibilities. While putting your trust in Christ may seem challenging, I charge you today to test him. See if He is who he says he is. Allow him to work in your life and watch him move and change you for his glory.
Today were going to take a look at what John’s gospel has to say about when Jesus faced the religious people at the temple. The words He spoke to them were challenging, and if you will allow this message to speak to your heart it will change you.
Look with me if you will:
Looking For A Sign
Looking For A Sign
18 So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”
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.”
Why do religious/un-regenerated people require a sign for proof?
Signs replace faith. “ I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Jesus said in Matthew 14:4 that the wicked require a sign.
4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.
It’s a matter of the heart that causes people not to act in faith.
What will it take for you to believe that Jesus is the way?
b. The structure that God has laid out for us requires faith.
The Apostle Paul makes a statement that will sum up how we should believe God. Romans 10:17
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
c. The importance of believing God by faith is required because God does not always
send a sign. There are times he will show us is power by a sign, but not always.
The Importance Of The Statement
The Importance Of The Statement
19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
Jesus says if they destroyed the temple (His body) He would raise it up (come to life) in three days.
He would establish credibility with generation to come by the fulfillment of this prophecy.
The eye witnessing of miracles allowed the seer to have a tangible demonstration of the power of God.
Miracles were done in the ministry of Jesus to solidify the claims of who He was.
While Miracles are being performed today, it is not the primary avenue by which Christ uses for us to know he is the son of God. It is by faith we believe God.
If the believer continuously requires a sign, more often than not they will leave their circumstances disappointed and questioning the power of God in their life.
The fulfillment of this prophecy brought hope to all humanity.
Not only did it prove to the critics and religious leaders that Christ was the one and only son of God, but it brings hope to all humanity throughout every generation.
Peter makes a statement that reminds us of the fulfillment of this prophecy in 1 Peter 1:3
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
The Power To Live
The Power To Live
20 Then the Jews 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 of the temple of His body.
22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.
The resurrection of his bodily temple demanded validation at the resurrection.
While they spoke of the physical, He spoke of the supernatural.
It took 46 years to construct the temple, but Christ would take three days to resurrect his body.
His resurrection would bring hope to all humanity.
The resurrection of Christ was the defining factor that separates him from all others.
Without the resurrection of Christ, Jesus would have been just like any other God in the eyes of humanity.
The disciples understood the authority by which Christ spoke after the resurrection.
There was no denying that Jesus was who he said he was, once He was resurrected from the dead.
You and I can live in the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul made a statement in Philippians 3:10-14 That gives us great joy that could only come through the fulfillment of John 2.
10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Conclusion:
As John pinned down these passages, I can’t help but to wonder about his reflection over the events. Could it be that John was telling the story in a way that would allow the reader to know that there is a greater hope?
As you think about these passages today, keep in mind a couple of things.
The miracle of the resurrection was for you and I to understand the power of God that lives in us after salvation. THAT IS THE GREATEST SIGN OF ALL!
Knowing that we have a hope within us should motivate you and I to live different.