Cleansing the Temple
Notes
Transcript
Jesus Cleanses the Temple Area.
Jesus Cleanses the Temple Area.
Good morning my friends.
I pray you’ve had a good week.
We had a great day at Upward yesterday, the Gideon’s came and did devotions and handed out little New Testaments to the children and others who wanted one.
Just another great way to get the Word of God into peoples hands. And I want to encourage you to check out the display in the hallway where you can give Bibles in memory or honor of a person. I think it is a great way to share the Word of God. Please help the Gideon’s share the Word.
It is a great act that can and does bless others hundreds of times over....
Let me ask you a question: Did you pray for one of your brothers or sisters this week? Remember I asked you last week to look around and take notice of your church family and then pray for them.
I hope you did, it’s important. remember we are working, living and serving together.
Now today, we return to Matthew chapter 21.
Today we look at the topic of Jesus cleansing the Temple area.
This situation is a little different from the other ones we have witnessed with our Lord. We see Jesus debating, we see Him healing and blessing others and yes there are times when He rebukes those around him including the religious leaders.
In this passage we see that Jesus is upset and what is happening, upset at way people were being treated all in the name of worship and devotion to God.
Friends God holds His people accountable, more especially in regard to how they treat others.
So before I say more, lets look at the our text Matthew 21:12-17
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. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
“ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise’?”
17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.
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Remember this takes place during the last week of His earthly life here on ole planet Earth.
Last week we saw come into the city, welcomed as King by many as they laid their cloaks down and palm branches for the little donkey he rode upon to walk upon and they sang praises unto God, but we know not all were happy speaking of the religious leaders...
Now it is interesting that the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple appears in all 4 of the gospels...
So with this text, I want to share these thoughts with you...
1. Misconduct in the Temple....
Now with the way Matthew lays all this out, it seem like the cleansing of the Temple happens as soon as Jesus comes into the city immediately after the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.
But if you look at the Gospel of Mark, chapter 11 we see that this takes place on the following day, so its Monday.
You can look there and see that after the Triumphal entry Jesus was in the temple area for a while but returned that night to Bethany, most likely the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus.
And then the next day Jesus comes back to the city of Jerusalem and it is here that we can witness all of these things.
And coming into the Temple area, Jesus cannot believe what he is seeing....
So a few things I want you to see....
A. Jesus was Upset, Mad and Angry....
Jesus is indignant at all that he witnessed.. honestly it was scandalous…
Lets look back at our text… verses 12-13 Matthew 21:12
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.
To say Jesus is upset is an understatement… Jesus is mad…
Let me tell you something, God can get mad, it is an emotion that we see from Him in response to how mankind acts.... yet, He does nto sin in His anger, unlike us who do… His is a righteous anger.
What was Jesus mad about? It was what He witnessed that broke His heart. Now often in church circles we talk about this group being money changers, but there is more than that happening.
B. There were money changers… There were the ones who exchanged Roman currency for Jewish currency, Like like when you go into a foreign country today, you take American dollars and exchange them for lets say Pounds or Euro’s. Because in many places you need their money, not american dollars to shop.
Hopefully you get the best exchange rate for your money. Some places charge a higher exchange rate than others, so they are making more money and giving you less.
The same is true for Jerusalem, you could only use Jewish money, especially in the temple area for tithes, or offerings or to buy animals for sacrifices.
So the money changers did just that, they exchanged a person’s non-Jewish currency for Jewish currency. And took advantage of them, making a great profit for themselves.
And it didn’t matter if you were Jewish or not, they took advantaged of everyone. Friends it wasn’t supposed to be..
C. Those that Sold the Animals… There were people there with the money changers who sold animals, here pigeons to people who had traveled a long way and were in need of animals for a sacrifice.
But here is what happened, they sold animals at a premium price, people needed these animals, and so they could charge extra for them, and they could get it too. Its like going to the movies today. You can go to the store and pay $2 for a coke and candy bar, but at the movie theater its $5 to 6 dollars…
And these animals were suppose dot be healthy, the cream of the crop if you will but often times they were sick, hurt or just unhealthy animals, and so in all they did they took advantage of the people.
And seeing it, Jesus is upset..... so much so that John tells us this
D. Jesus braids a whip.... A whip you ask; really? Jesus John 2:15 says He makes a whip.... It just got serious my friends…
Listen what they are doing is revolting before God, it is a terrible action and He sets out to make it right....
So he went through whipping the men out of the temple, running them off. They were evil, their hearts full of greed. So Jesus is running them out and over-turning their tables.
They have made a mockery out of God and the things of God.
My friends, the things of God are special. Special to Him most certainly. We must be careful as we live in front of each other and with that which belongs to Him.
Do you hold the things of God in high regard, do you hold others as special and treat them correctly?
We should… We are all made in the image of God.
Now this brings us to a second point for today…
2. A House of Prayer....
Can you imagine, the Temple complex was supposed to be a holy place. Sacred and there should a sense of peace there, unity and helping one another to meet God in worship...
But it was business as usual for those set up in the temple, people were selfish, greedy and looking to take advantage of those coming into the Temple area.
As Jesus over turned the tables and drove the money changers and those selling those pigeons from the temple area He quickly tells them what’s wrong with their actions...
When you walk through the Holy Scriptures, God always tells His people and others why judgment comes....
Look back with me at verse 13
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.”
Now you might think Jesus as being harsh… But this is His house, his place and the place where by the people were to draw close to God and they has polluted it.
Stop here and think about your house, what if people were abusing your house and property? You wouldn’t stand for it. You would seek to restore order there...
As he overturned their tables and drove out the merchants, Jesus was fulfilling prophecy found in Zech 14:21
21 And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the Lord of hosts, 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.
With no traders or merchants present, The Temple would return as it was supposed to have been, a House of Prayer.
Listen to the word of the Lord spoken by the prophet Isaiah,
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.”
The temple was God house, the physical representation of His presence among the people, among the nations but sadly, some didn’t even care if honored the Father by their actions...
Sin ruined the lives of people and for this reason Jesus as come to bring hope, to bring peace, to bring salvation to all who would call upon the name of the Lord!
It was God’s house, it was a house of prayer....
And this brings us to one last thought today...
3. Praise and Prejudice...
As Jesus continues there at the Temple area we see people there in need and Jesus healed them.
let me ask you a question, have you ever seen God heal someone right in front of your eyes? I have and it is wonderful. Jesus healed the masses that came to him and praise rang out...
Look again at verses 14-16
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
“ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise’?”
Again the praise rang out, the people were praising the name of the Lord and His Messiah that came to help the people, to bless them and set them free.
Listen the blind, the sick, the lame that Jesus healed were not always allowed in the Tempe area for the religious leaders feared they might be unclean.
But Jesus welcomes them and heals them signifying that God welcomes ever person and those from every nation.
Friends, listen we were unclean, we are Gentiles, we were in Sin but Jesus came and saved us when we called upon His name in repentance and He changed us. We were lost but now we are found...
He included us in the Kingdom....
Now back to the text....
But when the Chief Priests and others heard this, they were indignant.
That word Indignant is important.... feeling or showing anger or annoyance at what is perceived as unfair treatment.
They do not like that this group is echoing the praise Jesus received just the day before, they are are calling Him the Messiah, the Son of David the one who is the true representative of God in earth
So they call to Jesus, Hey rebuke those who are calling out to you...
But Jesus replies to them in a rebuke of sorts, Have you not read.... and Jesus is quoting Psalm 8:2
2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
Here are people praising Jesus and He receives their praise.... He is the one truly deserving of praise… Remember as Jesus spoke to them in Matthew 12:6
6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.
Ole the praise rang out but prejudice was carried all the more.
Those religious leaders hated what was happening and they hated Jesus. Clearly, they see Jesus as their enemy… mainly because He exposed their hypocrisy....
They were religious for the sake of religion, but their hearts were cold. Jesus told them once they were like white washed sepulchre, full of dead's men’s bones. Look good on the outside but rotting corpses on the inside.
Let me take you to the Gospel of Mark 11:18
18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.
The religious leaders hated Him so much they sought to destroy him. They crowds were following Jesus and they feared they were losing control. So they rejected God’s Messiah and sought a way to put him to death.
In just 4 days, they will crucify Jesus thinking it would set them free from His presence, but honestly His death would set the world free from the punishment and death cause by sin...
From that point forward, All who call upon the name of the Lord, would be saved.
Are you glad Jesus died for you.
He cleansed the temple that day because He didn’t like what we saw there… so let me ask you this… If looking into your heart, what would Jesus find there..would he be happy or sad.
Ask him to sort your heart and set you free.
lets pray
15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city.