Shake Up at the Temple

But there are also times when things that are shaken have a greater impact - but the shaking process can be painful, revealing, and an opportunity for growth. As we continue our study in the Gospel of John this week, we are going to consider this type of shaking as we consider the Shake Up at the Temple in John 2."

Let’s consider a bit of context briefly. Last week, discussed Jesus turning the water to wine - an event that took place about three days after the previous events that John considered.

Today, we find Jesus in Jerusalem for the Passover. John doesn’t give us any clues as to the timeline, except Passover, which is in the spring, close to when we celebrate Easter.

But as Jesus goes to the temple, he finds some things that need to be shaken up. In these first few verses, we can glean that -

Jesus shakes up our religious conventions (John 2:13-17)

John 2:13–17 ESV

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.”

Imagine what it would have been like for you to walk into the sanctuary today and have a lot of commotion.

Greeters yelling - “Get your bulletin - 25cents for a bulletin.”

Ushers calling out - “Reserve your pew. -$5 per week”

Deacons asking “Can you help the poor? Alms for the poor? Any amount will help! - $5, $10, $100.”

It wouldn’t feel much like a worshipful setting.

Well, that’s the scene that we get to see Jesus walk into. The challenge was that all of the things he saw were intended to help people worship.

there was a “temple tax” that people would pay - and you had to use the temple coin for it, which required an exchange of funds.

There were sacrifices - so people who either did not own animals or land had to purchase them. So in some ways, it was a service to the congregants to make those available.

The problem was that all of this was happening within the temple court. This area was supposed to be reverent and worshipful. Now it felt like a flea market.

Commentators noted that this marketplace used to be just outside the city - but out of convenience, some leaders decided to move it inside.

They were simply pragmatic about their worship practices.

So the place of worship became a market of mayhem.

Bruce Milne noted:

Instead of solemn dignity in the murmur of prayer there is the bellowing of cattle and the bleating of sheep. Instead of brokenness and contrition, holy adoration and prolonged petition, there is noisy commerce.

So Jesus enters the place of worship an is appalled. He fashions a whip and begins to shake things up - turning over tables, driving out the animals.

He does this out of “zeal” and passion for God. He is mindful that worship of God is to be reverent and even solemn. That’s not to say it can’t be fun and enjoyable.

But so often, we can get lulled into habits and patterns that we think might be helpful, when in the end they may miss the point. We can allow certain things to creep in that ultimately distract us from the true object of our worship - the Triune God - our risen savior!

It’s important to note that when we think of religious activity or religion - it’s a misnomer. Religion is what we do or what we devise to try to appease God. It becomes a performance based obligation or compulsion, rather than a joyous celebration. In some ways, the two people can do the exact same activity at the same time - one will be a religious act, the other will be an act of genuine worship.

So as we think about our times of worship - what would Jesus shake up? Are there habits or patterns that he’d turn over? Are there conveniences that he would cause us to remove? Are here places where we are being pragmatic rather than fully biblical?

Let’s think through a couple of things briefly:

The Live Stream - is that hindering or helping our worship? Has it introduced a convenience that is cheapening the value of the assembly of God’s people? I don’t know the answers to this, but I do wrestle with it. It can be a great way to reach people who are not part of the church. At the same time, it can give a sense of religious box checking for those who may not want to go to the hassle of preparing to assemble. I would love to say that I totally understand how difficult it can be to get kids ready in the morning - but realistically, I can’t. For most of my time in ministry, Danielle and I have not been able to come to church together. I would go early to get things ready, she would come later with the kids. For those without kids, I do recognize that life is getting more and more busy and a little rest is needed. My hope is that our times together will be refreshing and life giving - challenging, but encouraging as well. But doing this together is part of the point of what it means to be a church - after all the Greek word for church is assembly.

Masks - these seem to go hand in hand with the Live Stream. Some of us despise wearing masks. For some it becomes a hindrance for breathing and singing becomes muffled. Masks fog up glasses and they prevent genuine interaction. I get it. But I wonder if tuning into the live stream in order to avoid wearing a mask might be a bit like going to the temple in hopes that they will have an affordable animal for you to meet your religious obligations?

Membership - this is something that the we’ve been discussing as elders for nearly a year as we’ve been evaluating our membership class and process. Is it biblical? Is it meaningful? If yes to both, are we treating it as such? Again, I have opinions. I believe it is biblical. I believe it should be meaningful - but again, I wonder if we have cheapened it. Are we doing all that we can to allow all of us to put our God-given gifts and talents to use as acts of worship to Him and in service to one another? What are you and I doing together to reach out to those who’ve not assembled with us in a while? Do they sense the value? I must admit, I have dropped the ball here. In scripture, we get to see several pictures of the church -

a body - 1 Cor. 12:12-30

a house - Hebrews 3:6; 1 Peter 2:5

a temple - 1 Cor. 3:16

Each of these imply interdependence and community. There are visible and hidden elements - but they all have value.

We could go on. In fact, I’d love to hear your thoughts on things that we may be doing as a church that might cause Jesus to shake us up.

So, in this passage, we’ve seen how Jesus shakes up our religious conventions, but as we continue, we also get to see how...

Jesus shakes up our spiritual focus (John 2:18-22)

In response to the shake up that Jesus introduced in the temple, John shares this exchange between Jesus and the religious leaders:

John 2:18–22 ESV

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.

There is a point a which we can see that the Jewish leaders were completely justified in their response. They were the ones who were leading the cultic practices. They were the ones appointed to facilitate worship. What’s more, they did not believe all of the hype about Jesus. So they demanded a response.

Jesus responds to them in an “enigmatic” (Milne) way. He’s a bit vague.

There is a sense in which he is replacing the temple with himself.

He is replacing worship at a place to worship of a Person - Himself.

Milne reflects on Jesus’ comment this way:

Jesus reply is suitably enigmatic. He offers them a visible attestation, albeit a somewhat puzzling one from their perspective. Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days (19). This temple is deliberately ambiguous; referring either to a shrine for worship or to the shrine of gods dwelling place within a human person or body.

I wonder if we fully grasp all that we have in Christ.

You see, in the temple, priests would facilitate people’s religious obligations. They would provide teaching. They would help people make sacrifices. Annually, on the day of atonement, the priests would offer a sacrifice to cover the sins of the nation for the whole year. At the time when we find Jesus in the temple, it is at Passover, the celebration in remembrance of God’s liberating act to free the Israelites from the bondage of slavery in Egypt.

Here, in Christ, he is our mediator. He is the one who offered his life as a redemptive sacrifice for all time. His death, burial, and resurrection covered our sin for all time - not just for a year. His sacrifice freed us from the slavery to sin!

It’s not about our performance in a place. It’s about His perfect sacrifice. Our assembly is intended to be focused on Him. Our affections are to be directed toward him.

As the hymn writer says:

“Hallelujah! What a Savior!”

This week I had the opportunity to read a book entitled Reformed Piety by Joel Beeke and Stephen Myers. While only 34 pages, it is packed with content. In fact, I told Danielle that I had to show restraint not to highlight nearly the entire book.

I think there are a couple of valuable snippets on which we can reflect as it pertains to Jesus Christ as the object of our worship.

“Theologically, piety can be realized only through union and communion with Christ and partaking all of His benefits, for outside of Christ, even the religious person lives for himself. Only in Christ can the pious live as willing servants of their Lord, faithful soldiers of their Commander, and obedient children of their Father.”

Jesus Christ gives us the ability to live, serve, and obey.

Elsewhere in the book, they quote a puritan writer - Cotton Mather - by stating:

‘Exhibit as much of Christ as you can of a glorious Christ. Yea, let the motto upon your whole ministry be: Christ is All.’”

As we mentioned last week, “It’s not about me, it’s not about you, it’s all about him!”

Jesus shakes up our religious conventions and our spiritual focus onto himself. This shake up in the temple elicited some responses from the people nearby and challenges us to do the same.

Our response: Forbearance, Fascination or Faith? (John 2:23-25)

John concludes this story with some concluding remarks:

John 2:23–25 ESV

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.

One response we could have to the shake up is:

Forbearance (or resistance) (John 2:18)

The religious leaders resisted Jesus. They liked the status quo and were not about to have their power or control be hindered by Jesus’ shaking things up. They were, to some degree, threatened by Jesus and did not respect him for who is.

The question is, will we resist Jesus? Will we stand firm in our own way of thinking and viewing life? Will we resist his call for salvation?

But there is another response that we get to see:

Fascination (John 2:23-25)

There were some people who saw that signs, the miracles, that Jesus performed and jumped on the band wagon. And yet Jesus could tell that their faith was insincere. They wanted a miracle man, not a Savior. I think Jesus recognized that their faith was shallow and would not stand the test of time. Their faith was a faith of convenience. They are essentially saying, “Jesus, I’ll follow you as long as you bless me.” “I’ll follow you as long as it’s easy.” “I’ll follow you as long as you’re trendy.”

Is this the way that we respond to Jesus? Are we fascinated more by the idea of Jesus than we are by Who he is?

But there is a final, and better response:

Faith (John 2:11)

Several commentators have suggested that John put this encounter at the temple right after the sign of changing the water to wine for a reason. It’s as though he is contrasting the faithful response of his disciples in Galilee with the resistance and the shallow faith of the people in Jerusalem. Because of that, it is important to see these together.

In the wedding at Cana, Jesus replaced the water for purification with the wine of his covenant. Here is Jerusalem, he is replacing the Temple as the place of mediation between God and humanity with himself.

The question becomes, what will we do with that? Will we continue to enter into empty religious practices or will we engage in a genuine faith that is centered upon and finds is life in Jesus? Will continue to go through religious motions in hopes of doing enough good to appease God? Or will we entrust our eternity to his finished work on the cross?

Sources:

Beeke, Joel R., and Stephen G. Myers. Reformed Piety: Covenantal and Experiential. Wyoming, MI: Evangelical Press 2019.

Burge, Gary M. The NIV Application Commentary: John. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000.

Carson, D. A. The Gospel according to John. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991.

Crossway Bibles. The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008.

Milne, Bruce. The Message of John (The Bible Speaks Today). Downers Grove, IL. Inter-Varsity Press, 1993.

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