John 2:12-25

Please turn with me to John chapter 2.

John 2 · chapter mention

John chapter 2.

John 2 · chapter mention

So last week we looked at the first half of John chapter 2.

John 2 · chapter mention

And so it ends.

I want to read first the very end of that text.

It's John chapter 2 and I'll read verse 11.

John 2 · chapter mention

This, turning the water into wine,

the first of his signs, Jesus' signs,

Jesus did at Cana in Galilee

and manifested his glory.

And his disciples believed in him.

So, that's the bridge to our text today.

So, before I read our text together,

I just want us to have a few things in mind.

I think it would be productive for us to,

I'm going to point some things out for you to be aware of,

and then we'll read it and then we'll walk through it together.

But, first, I need to pray.

That is something I forgot.

I want to pray for our time and hearing the word of God.

Father, before we read this text,

we thank you for giving us this text in our own language.

And we can have these words in our own language

that we can pick up and read on our own.

This is such a great gift.

And we can do this publicly.

And we thank you for this.

And let us not take this for granted,

what we're doing during this time.

And I pray that you would help

those who hear my voice

not hear my voice or my words,

but they would see you in your word.

And I pray this in your name.

Amen.

Thank you.

So, there's one text in Paul

I want you to have in mind

as we read through this text.

I think this is the famous

Cleansing of the Temple text in John,

where flipping the tables,

and we have these profound images

of Jesus being angry,

flipping tables,

and yelling at people,

making whips.

But we don't really...

It'd be interesting if you can recall

what he says after his actions.

Most of the time,

we focus on what he physically does.

But what does he say after this?

What was the purpose behind

Jesus' flipping the tables,

making whips?

That's what I want us to

spend most of our time here,

not get distracted by

what he actually did,

but he was doing it for a purpose.

And this came up

over and over in my study.

I was just thinking about this,

these two verses,

and Paul writes to Timothy

these words,

For there is one mediator

between God and men.

We'll see this later throughout.

For there is one mediator

between God and men,

men,

Paul,

knowing that Jesus did this,

was thinking

when he wrote that

to Timothy.

And so,

there's a few things.

I'm going to talk about the structure,

and then we'll actually

start reading it.

So,

it's broken up

into three sections.

There's an introduction

in verse 12,

landing us in the context.

And then,

there is

was at hand,

the Passover was at hand,

or the Passover was near.

So it was just before

the Passover feast.

There was the first,

and it's the flipping tables,

and all that.

And then,

the second is,

and at the end of that first section,

is a very important quote

that we just read in Psalm 69.

And so,

that's like the center

of the section.

And then,

from 19 to 22,

there's the second section,

and it's the Jews' response

to Jesus.

And then,

the third is

23 to 25,

which I think is the interpretive key

to those first two sections.

So,

have that end in mind,

what Jesus says,

throughout our time

walking through the text.

All right.

So,

and there's repeated phrases

through here,

so I encourage you to see

how many things are repeated.

You can write those down

as we read.

So,

I will read our text.

Verse 12.

After this,

he went down to Capernaum

with his mother

and his brothers

and his disciples,

and they stayed there

a few days.

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.

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 46 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.

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.

So,

before we

jump in,

remember,

this comes off

from what we just read

and his disciples

believed him

in verse 11

after the sign

of the water

into wine.

And then,

remember,

what's coming

right after this

is the famous

conversation

between Jesus

and Nicodemus.

And I want you

to have those in mind

because this is a bridge

and these are all

connected and leading

into specific

conversations.

So,

leading into

Jesus saying

to Nicodemus,

truly,

truly,

I say to you,

unless one is born again,

he cannot see

the kingdom of God,

that

bomb that he

gives Nicodemus

and others

throughout,

it gets more specific

like you see

chapter 4,

you see Jesus

and the woman

of Samaria,

and then there's

a,

Jesus heals

an official's son

in 5.

It gets,

he has specific

personal conversations

about the things

we have already seen

in Cana

and now

at the temple.

So,

he's leading

into these

applications

of what

we'll be talking

about today.

So,

just have all

that in mind

and I'll read

the first section.

This is the first

major section.

And after this,

he went down

to Capernaum

with his mother

and his brothers

and his disciples

and they stayed

or they remained

there for a few days.

And the Passover

of the Jews

was at hand

or it was near

and Jesus went

up to Jerusalem.

In the temple

he found those

who were selling

oxen,

oxen,

cattle,

same,

and sheep

and pigeons.

And the money changers

sitting

and making

a whip of cords

he drove them

all out of the temple

with the sheep

and oxen.

And he poured out

or he scattered

the coins

of the money changers

and overturned

their tables.

And he told

those who sold

the pigeons

take these things

away

or get out

of here.

Do not make,

you can say

stop making

my father's house

a house

of trade

or merchandise.

So here

this is probably

the first

of two

temple cleansings.

He probably

most likely

did this

twice.

If you look

at the other

accounts of the Gospels

this is actually

one of the few things

John records

in his Gospel

that is also

in the other

three Gospels.

So this is

very important

and this is probably

the first

of second.

I'm not going

to spend a lot

of time

making that case.

If you think

that's interesting

you can gladly

ask me about it.

But this is

maybe the first

of two.

And notice

the words here.

Look down

with me.

You see

oxen,

you see sheep,

you see pigeons,

you see money

being exchanged.

Think about

what this

and at the temple

this is all part

of the sacrificial

system.

So these

merchants

on the face

of it

if you're

taking them

at good faith

these were

helping those

who were at

the temple

worship the

Lord by being

close to where

the sacrifices

would have been

made.

So it seems

on the face

what's the big

deal?

We are helping

those who

are worshiping

the Lord.

Notice

that's

it's not

about greed

or money

here.

Jesus'

concentration

is not

about them

being greedy.

But the

problem is

that they

should not

have been

inside the

temple complex

at all.

There was a

courtyard

of the temple

and then there

was the

temple

who had

the Holy of

Holies

in an actual

building.

But here

in the

courtyard

they were

selling

oxen,

pigeons,

exchanging money,

so that

people can

make their

sacrifices

to be

faithful.

But the

problem is

it was

distracting.

It was not

their place

to infringe

on the

house of

the Lord.

So here

is not about

being greedy.

It's about

the right

approach to

the Lord.

This reminds

me,

this

Zechariah

1421.

You can

turn there

if you

want.

It's

just a

few

pages

to the

left.

Zechariah

Zechariah 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14

is the

last chapter

and 21

is one

of the

last

verses.

So at

the very

end of

Zechariah,

I'll let you

turn there.

Zechariah,

he writes

this,

this may

Jesus have

had in

mind,

and every

pot in

Jerusalem

and Judah

shall be

holy to

the Lord

of hosts,

so that

all who

sacrifice,

key point,

may come

and take

of them

and boil

the meat

of the

sacrifice

in them.

And there

shall no

longer be

a traitor,

think unclean

person,

a traitor

in the

house of

the Lord

of hosts

on that

day.

So it

seems like

Jesus

absolutely

had this

in mind,

where the

house of

the Lord

is not

for traders,

merchants,

it's for

the Lord

and the

right worship

of him.

So what

does Jesus

do?

He famously

makes a

whip for,

I'm going

to say,

not for

people,

from reading

at face

value,

it sounds

like he

whipped

people,

I'm going

to say

that's

not the

case.

He made

a whip

for the

oxen

and the

sheep,

so he

drove the

animals out,

so therefore

the owners

are just

not going

to sit

there.

They're no

longer

sitting there

as the

text says,

I'm sure.

But he

drove out

with the

whip,

of course,

the oxen

and the

sheep.

And notice

the verbs

here,

and he

overturned

tables,

which was

for the

money changers,

and he

spoke to

the ones

who were

selling

pigeons.

So how

he approached

it was

equivalent to

what they

were bringing

into,

wrongly,

the temple

court.

So don't

think he

whipped

everybody and

was in a

huge rage

or anything.

But he

was concerned

about the

right worship

of the

Lord.

And the

whip was

for the

big animals,

and overturning

the tables

made sense

for the

money changers.

And then he

spoke to

the pigeon

sellers,

because probably

they were in

cages, and

I guess you

just can't

flip over a

cage.

So he

had to

speak to

those who

were selling

pigeons.

But this

is what

he said.

He said

to those

who sold

pigeons,

take these

things away.

Do not

make my

father's

house a

house of

trade.

And we

saw

Zachariah

fulfilling

that.

And then

you get to

the most

important point

right here

in this

section,

is his

disciples

remembered

that it

was written,

here it is,

zeal for

your house

will consume

me.

His

disciples,

specifically,

remembered.

Not the

Jews, but

the disciples,

remembered.

And this

is the

first of

two

rememberings

of the

disciples in

this text.

We'll come

to another

one later.

His

disciples

remembered

that it

was written

in Psalm

69,

9,

zeal for

your house

will consume

me.

There's two

words I

want to

dial in

here.

It's the

word zeal

and the

word consume.

Very

important words

to this

for understanding

what Jesus

is saying

here.

Zeal,

probably

very

John here.

He loves

highlighting

misunderstandings

and double

entendres.

He's very

interesting in

this way.

I think

there's a

double

entendre

here.

Because

here,

it's

zeal.

Jesus

has zeal,

but also

the Jews

had zeal.

They're

zealous

or jealous

from the

Lord,

of the

Lord here.

But zeal

for your

house.

Both

Jesus and

the Jews

had zeal

for the

Lord,

but it

was godly

zeal

versus

earthly

zeal.

So you

can have

zeal,

but

misplaced

zeal

for the

Lord.

And here,

the zeal

is important.

And look at

the word

consume me.

Will

consume

me.

Now,

I love

that we

read

69

together,

or most

of it,

but if you

could flip

back,

put your

hand here

in John,

and flip

back to

Psalm 69.

69.

And I

wonder if

you caught

this when

you read

the text

together.

So 69

verse 9,

I'll read

for context

6.

I'll start

there,

as you turn

there.

Let not

those who

hope in

you be

put to

shame

through me.

Remember,

this is

David writing,

the Lord

God of

hosts,

let not

those who

seek you

be brought

to dishonor

through me,

O God

of Israel,

for it

is for

your sake

that I

have borne

reproach,

that dishonor

has covered

my face.

I have

become a

stranger to

my brothers,

an alien

to my

mother's

sons.

For

zeal for

your house

has

consumed

me.

And the

reproaches of

those who

reproach you

have fallen

on me.

Here it

says,

for zeal

for your

house has

consumed

me.

But,

if you

turn back,

John

records this

as,

zeal for

your house

will

consume

me.

So,

in the

whole timeline,

you would

think the

future tense

will

consume

me,

would be

in

Psalm,

David

writing.

In the

past tense,

you would

expect it

to say,

his disciples

remembered that

it was written,

zeal for your

house has

consumed me.

So,

why did he

change

from past

tense

to future

tense?

I think

this

highlights

pointing to

Jesus'

death.

Because

consume,

I always

thought that

this text

really was

more about

mind at

all times.

He was

consumed

with it.

But here,

because of the

future tense

here,

and consume,

it's more of,

consume means

more of

devouring,

or eating

up.

It's a lot

different

here.

And so,

with that in

mind,

he says,

zeal for

your house

will

devour

me.

Interesting.

So,

it's less

of fully

given over

to the

work of

the Lord,

but it's

more,

as Jesus

is using

it,

more pointing

to the

fulfillment

of Jesus'

own death

here.

That's what

I think

John is

doing in

this text,

by changing

from the

past to

the future

here.

So,

let's go

on to

the second

major section.

And this

is the

Jews'

response.

We have

yet to

hear from

them.

So,

when he

was making

whips,

and sheep

and oxen

were going

everywhere,

and birds

were flying,

I'm sure

the Jews

probably

felt like

they had

to say

something.

So,

this is

what they

said.

ESV has

it as,

so the

Jews said

to him,

what sign

do you

show us

for doing

these things?

But I

think this

is actually

kind of

soft.

In the

original,

it could

also be,

and if

you go

through

different

translations,

it's going

to be a

little different,

so you

can look

at that

if you

want.

But it's

a little

more harsh,

the Jews'

response to

Jesus.

It's

more like,

what sign

do you

show us

that you

have the

right to

do these

things?

What

right do

you have?

I think

that makes

more sense

in the

context.

think about

the Jews.

The Jews

are more

than just

Israelites

at this

point.

It's,

John uses

this category

as those

who,

more generally,

those who

reject Jesus'

teaching.

So have

that in

mind as

we go

through

John,

and

specifically

here.

And they

were not

concerned

about the

right approach

toward

God

here,

but they

were more

concerned with

their own

authority.

You see

here in

our 1st

Timothy text,

wait,

I read,

it's God

and man.

God is God

and man is

man.

And you

see this

throughout

this text

here.

And so,

Jesus

answered,

and he

said to

them,

destroy

this

temple,

and in

three days

I will

raise it

up.

And the

Jews then

said,

it has

taken 46

years to

build this

temple,

and will

you raise

it up

in three

days?

But he

was speaking

about the

temple of

his body.

And here,

it's

another

surprising

thing

here,

because you

would expect

it not to

be a

command.

Destroy

this

temple.

It's like,

it's an

imperative

here.

It's a

command.

You all

destroy this

temple.

It was a

command.

You always

think,

well,

I've always

thought about

this as

looking towards

the destruction

of

that temple

in 70

AD later.

But,

it's present

here,

and it's a

command to

the Jews,

to those

who reject

him.

Jesus

answered

them,

destroy

this

temple.

And in

three days,

I will

raise it

up.

So,

if we

say,

you all

destroy

this

temple,

notice,

you all

destroy

this

temple,

but then

notice,

and I

will

raise it

up in

three days.

You see

man,

you see

God.

Another thing

to point out

here,

as you dig

through this,

he says,

this temple,

destroy this

temple,

and destroy

this

temple,

Jesus is

using a

pronoun

here,

this,

that in

the original

is ambiguous.

It's more

general.

I only say

this,

I only point

this out,

because the

Jews,

in their

response,

when they

use this

temple,

it has

taken 46

years to

build this

temple,

and they're

using an

unambiguous

or a

specific

pronoun.

So,

they're

as if

pointing,

because they're

in the

temple

courtyard,

they're

standing

in front

of this

huge

temple,

very

important,

central

to the

Jewish

worship,

that they're

saying,

this temple,

but notice

if we

take this

as a

more general

pronoun

here,

he's being

way more

general,

not specific,

because that

leads him to

say,

that he

was speaking

about the

temple of

his body.

So,

this is

where

typology

comes in.

I think

Jesus

interpreted

generally

the Old

Testament

in a

typological

way.

What I

mean by

that is

typology,

think

type,

and it's

a Bible

word,

it's used

throughout

types or

forms or

patterns,

things.

And you

see this

throughout

scripture,

and it's

a key to

understanding

how Jesus

saw himself

fulfilling all

the things

before.

So,

when we

think about

prophecy,

it's not

merely verbal

predictions.

That's probably

the number

one thing we

think about,

is this

will happen.

That's a

small part.

But when

it comes to

biblical

prophecy,

like all

throughout

here,

it's more

about painting

pictures,

events,

people,

and institutions,

so think

here,

like the

temple,

that they

are pointing

to something

greater.

They're always

pointing to

something greater.

So,

for example,

there's always

something that's

off,

or sometimes

we could

maybe even

say missing

in.

These things.

So,

think about

animal sacrifices,

always built

in,

expecting a

better sacrifice.

Think about

the law.

The law

in the Old

Testament

anticipated

holiness

of the heart.

You see that

heart language.

And think

about the

priests.

The priests

looked forward

to a

perfect

priest.

This is

all what

the book

of Hebrews

is about

here.

Think about

David.

We just

got done

with a

series on

David.

David,

it wasn't

really about

David.

David wasn't

about David.

David,

in the

Bible,

he's mentioned

so many

times after

his physical

life because

it wasn't

about him

specifically.

It was about

pointing to

a perfect

and better

David.

God

met men.

And think

about in

our text,

the temple.

The temple

pointed forward

to a better

and final

meeting point

between God

and man.

So if we

think about

our first

Timothy text,

there's one

mediator between

God and

men.

It was the

temple.

It was the

temple.

That was where

God met

men.

That was

the mediator.

God provided

that.

But think

about how

this lands

when Jesus

says,

destroy this

temple.

And in

three days,

I will

raise it

up.

And he

says,

explains,

this was

his body.

This lands

to where

it's

Jesus'

body

fulfills

that temple.

So,

let's

continue.

Verse 22.

This might

be a little

confusing,

but if we

take all

the things

we have

said just

now into

here,

this is

really the

point he's

making.

And this

is the

bridge from

our text,

from the

cleansing of

the temple,

to you

must be

born again

section.

Here,

chapter 3,

the great

chapter 3

that everybody

knows.

This is

the

interpretive

key.

When,

therefore,

he was

raised from

the dead,

I'm sorry,

I totally

forgot about

this.

This is the

second

remembering.

When,

therefore,

he was

raised from

the dead,

this is

verse 22,

his disciples

remembered

that he

said this,

and they

believed

the scripture,

and the

word,

could be

plural here

also,

in the

words that

Jesus had

spoken.

This is the

second of two

rememberings,

remember,

I pointed

out.

And,

one thing

is scripture

could be

Psalm 69,

but I would

like to say

it's a little

more general

here.

I think he's

making a point

where all of

scripture is

fulfilled in

Christ.

All the Old

Testament is

being fulfilled

here.

In light of

Christ,

the whole

Psalms,

the whole

Torah,

the whole

prophets

come together

in Christ.

Verse 23,

now when

he was in

Jerusalem at

the Passover,

this is during

the Passover

feast now,

many believed

and trusted

in his name

when they

saw the

signs that

he was

doing.

Now,

I'm going

to pause

and just

say many

believed.

I'm going

to say

trusted

here.

This is

when you

see belief,

trust,

language,

faith,

all those

tend to be

one point

that out.

And so

this is,

they don't

have faith

here,

but they

believed only

because they

saw it.

And John

loves this.

Throughout

our study

of John,

try to see

how many

misunderstandings

he points

out.

He loves

to point

out

misunderstandings.

Think about

the wedding

in Cana,

the misunderstanding

here.

Both the

Jews and

the disciples,

his disciples,

both missed

it.

Remember

that the

word

remembered

is in

the past

tense.

Only

after Christ's

death did

they really

understand.

So,

just be

pointed out

even in

a conversation

with Nicodemus.

he's

pointing out

misunderstandings

so that

we can

understand

but only

through the

light of

Christ.

Alright,

verse 24

and 25,

I'm going

to read

these together

here.

But Jesus,

on his

part,

did not

entrust,

remember the

trust,

entrust,

now,

he 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.

Notice

the God

men

language

here.

So,

this is the

second of

two

belief

trusting

words here.

He did

not entrust.

They

trusted.

He did

not entrust

himself to

them.

Now,

this may

because it

was before

his final,

ultimate

sacrifice on

the cross.

But,

many believed

here Jesus

did not

entrust

himself to

them.

Now,

this points

out a

very important

thing where

only God

knows man.

Think of

Job.

Only God

knows man.

At the

very end

of it,

man is

man.

He is

created.

But God

is God.

And God

is the

creator

and

sustainer

of all

creation.

Of man.

And he

does it

through means

of,

he has

given them

the temple

before,

and now

he has

given him

Jesus

in bodily

form.

all of

that

was

bending

towards

and

yearning

for

Jesus'

body

to be

sacrificed

and to

be

raised

on the

third

day.

So,

you have

this

death

resurrection

text.

It's so

central here.

And I think

that's the

key to

these verses.

But Jesus,

on his

part,

himself,

did not

entrust

himself to

them,

but because

he knew

all people

and needed

no one

to bear

witness

about

man.

For he

himself

knew

what was

in

man.

This

seems

judgmental,

but I

think there's

hope here.

Because,

as one

commentator

says,

Jesus

wonderfully

promises

to

entrust

himself

to

those

who

truly

trust

him.

Jesus

fully

promises

to

entrust

himself

to