John 2:13-25

John chapter 2.

John 2 · chapter mention

And we know that sometimes that can be a little bit tricky.

There's sheets for little ones.

But we rejoice.

I don't want you to feel kind of uncomfortable

if your little one's a little bit grisly.

If your child is kind of losing it,

which does happen, isn't it?

And the parent is losing it too.

And there is a creche where you can go to.

There's also a room out there.

Please do feel free to take your little ones out there.

We recognise that all of us have a bad week sometimes, don't we?

Yeah.

Okay, John 2.

And we saw two weeks ago the wedding in Cana of Galilee.

John 2, it's a chapter of two halves, isn't it?

The first half recounts the wedding in Cana of Galilee.

There's great joy.

The joy of the Father gathered there.

He rescues the Lord Jesus, the occasion,

from being a social disaster.

And then he brings to them this overwhelming sense of his power and life.

He transforms it.

He's the author of life.

And he gives this first miraculous sign.

And we're told, aren't we, that the disciples saw this sign,

saw the life, the new life that Christ brought.

And they are brought to faith in a new way in the Lord Jesus.

But the second incident happens just a few days after.

And it's shocking, isn't it?

One of the most shocking incidents in the Temple of Jerusalem.

We call it, tamely, the cleansing of the temple.

But I think it would be more accurate to really call it an earthquake hits the place.

There's never been another day like this in the court of the temple court.

Think of the chaos that's there.

Think of the noise alone.

As Jesus drove the sheep and the oxen and their owners out of the house of God.

Think of the scramble as the money changes.

Grop around on the floor for their coins.

Think of the paralysed shock as he cries out over the din.

Get out.

Get out.

Get out of my father's house.

This place is a place for prayer.

And you've polluted it.

You see, the Lord has suddenly come to his temple, hasn't he?

And I think it's hard for us to grasp this morning

just how dramatic an occasion it is.

Jesus has gone up to Jerusalem in the Passover season

with great crowds of Jews from various parts of the Middle East.

And when he arrives in the temple,

what he sees first of all fills him with dismay.

And then with indignation.

And then eventually into clearly, openly expressed anger.

And it's a very important thing for you and I to grasp

what it was that produced this response in Jesus.

Because you seldom find Jesus like this

as you read about him in the Gospels.

Here is Jesus appearing to be a kind of raging inferno

in the temple.

Driving people out.

Turning over tables.

It's so unlike him, isn't it?

It's so unlike him.

Let me fill in a little bit of the background

to this temple building.

From the earliest days, the people of God,

when the people of Israel were called out of Egypt,

and God made his people, Israel,

his distinctive home,

that God owned them as his own,

he began to lead them through the wilderness.

And there was a place,

there was a place that God made

where they would be able to go and meet him.

The tabernacle,

its whole purpose and significance of this place

would be to remind them

that the living God was dwelling

at the heart of his people.

And later on,

when they ceased to be a nomadic people

and they became a settled people in Jerusalem,

God permitted them in the days of Solomon

to build a temple,

which God clearly described and ordered.

And as they built it,

like the tabernacle in the wilderness,

that temple had one solitary function.

That temple was to remind them

that the living God,

the God of Israel,

dwelt amongst his people.

And as they entered that temple,

they would be reminded afresh

of the kind of God he was.

And at the heart and the centre of the temple

was this place called the Holy of Holies,

where God's presence was especially known.

There God dwelt in symbolic form in the temple.

People weren't allowed to go in.

Once a year,

the high priest was allowed to go in,

into this sacred area.

But the whole temple

had a special characteristic.

Over nearly every detail

was written,

holy unto the Lord.

There was something peculiarly

set apart for God

about the whole building.

But here in Jesus' day,

corruption has entered

the life of God's people.

Corruption began to display itself

in almost open and shocking

and astonishing ways

with the way that people dealt with this building.

You'll remember,

some of you who know your Bibles,

that it was in the temple of the Lord

that Isaiah went.

And Isaiah saw the Lord high

and exalted and lifted up.

And the Lord's train filled the temple.

And the angelic beings,

they cried to one another,

he is holy,

he is holy,

he is holy,

Lord of hosts.

And the whole earth

is full of his glory.

But here at this particular time,

the decline and the decay

of God's people

are shown in the way

that they used the temple.

What was happening was this,

sacrifices were offered in the temple.

And there was an inspection

that was held

so that every animal

to be sacrificed

had to be inspected

by one of the temple guards.

one of the temple priests,

officials.

The problem became

that that guard,

those officials

became so crooked

that when worshippers

came to the temple,

the only animal

that would pass as acceptable

were animals

that had been bought

from themselves.

They copyrighted

the sacrifices.

And so you could only

buy an acceptable sacrifice

from the temple courts,

from the temple officials.

There was a tax

that had to be paid

in the temple.

Every male Jew

had to go up

to the temple in Jerusalem

and pay a certain tax.

But the significant thing was

you couldn't pay the tax

in any currency.

You couldn't go with your euros.

You couldn't go with your pounds.

You couldn't go with your slotties.

You could only pay the currency

that was acceptable

in the temple.

It's a bit like

when you go to the arcade,

isn't it?

You know when you go to the arcade?

I hope children,

your parents take you

to the arcade

or the funfair.

When you go to the arcade

or the funfair,

you can't just pay

in pounds, do you?

You have to go

to this little booth

and you give them the pound

and then they give you

the tokens

which you can use

on the funfair

or the arcade.

They rip you off terribly.

And it's a bit like that here.

You have to buy

the temple currency.

And so it was

in the temple

when Jesus comes.

They would exchange it.

They'd exchange your currency

but they would do it

at an extortionate rate.

It's like exchanging money

at the airport.

You'd never do that,

would you?

Because you know

they'll just rip you off

because you're cornered there.

And the temple

would charge

extortionate commission

in order to change money

into the currency.

And even if you would change

they would tax you

on the change

so they made money

even on that.

Ordinary animals

like the doves

in verse 16

where Jesus says

get out of you.

The doves could be bought

outside of the temple

let's say for 10 pence.

But if you wanted a dove

for sacrificial purposes

the only one

that could pass muster

were the official ones.

They would be the ones

that you buy

inside the temple courtyard

and then they would be

I don't know

5 pounds, 10 pounds.

The word Jesus uses

is the word emporium.

There's a little booth

there's a little kind of

run of shops

called the emporium

in Ealing Broadway.

They're not the kind of shops

you normally go into really.

But it's just a booth

it's a market.

Jesus says

you've made my father's house

into an emporium.

You've made it

into a marketplace.

And here you would come

to one of the stalls

and they'd be selling

the doves.

The ones that you could

buy for 10 pence

over the road

you could buy

for 10 pounds there.

And so corrupt

had the life

of the temple become

it was a place

for racketeers.

A place where there was

absolutely no barriers

or standards

about behaviour.

The only thing

that mattered

was making

quick money.

Self-interest.

Enhancing the temple

coffers no doubt

but not for the glory

of God

nor for the benefit

of his cause

but for the benefit

of the officials.

So there's dishonesty

extortion

sacrilege

blasphemy

of every description

taking place

in the temple.

And Jesus arrives

and it brings forth

his undiluted

anger.

We read

don't we

verse 13

the Passover

of the Jews

was at hand.

It was almost time

for the Jewish Passover

and Jesus went

up to Jerusalem

and in the temple

court

he found

men

selling

cattle

sheep

and doves.

He found others

sitting at a table

exchanging money.

And so Jesus

makes a whip

out of cords

and it's at this point

Jesus begins

to express

his indignation

and wrath

against these people.

And some people

just cannot cope

with it

can they?

They say

it seems so

unlike Jesus.

We can scarcely

imagine Jesus

doing that.

And that is

because we have

formed a view

of Jesus

in the modern church

which is

contrary to

the Bible's

picture of who

Jesus is.

the New Testament

has absolutely

no problem

combining his love

and his grace

and his tenderness

and his readiness

to draw about him

sinners

with a holy anger

and a wrath

that burns

against this kind

of dishonesty

and sacrilege

and hypocrisy.

it's a really

interesting thing

isn't it

when you come

to the last book

of the Bible

the book of

Revelation

where in many

ways you get

the fullest

revelation

of who Jesus

is in the

New Testament

and you discover

this remarkable

phrase

where these two

qualities are

brought together

do you remember?

It speaks

doesn't it

of the wrath

of the Lamb

of the wrath

of the Lamb

Now why was

Jesus so angry?

There is a certain

distress

isn't there

still

about the

breaking of

traditions

you still find

that

I don't know

if you remember

in the summertime

when the Australian

cricketers

had stumped

the English

batsmen

and there was

another incident

where the Australian

cricketers are

walking through

the long room

at Lord's Cricket

Ground

and these MCC

members

they start shouting

and we found out

this week didn't we

they've been banned

for life

they've been banned

for life

because it was

sacrilege

that they would

shout in that room

we know that

happens in

religious gatherings

someone walks

into the

Orthodox synagogue

in Finchley

not wearing

the right thing

it would be a scene

a woman

walks in the

wrong door

of the mosque

I promise you

there'd be a scene

it happens in

religious gatherings

tradition

broken

but we need

to look really

carefully this

morning

and see

that what

produced the

indignation

in Jesus

was not

merely that

they were

just breaking

a tradition

that isn't

the issue

that isn't

the deal

it wasn't

that these

money changers

and tradesmen

and sellers

were not supposed

to be there

although they

weren't

it's something

far far deeper

so two areas

where Jesus

is profoundly

angered

Jesus is

profoundly

angered

first of all

because the

people were

careless

first of the

honour

of God's

name

that's the

first point

they were

careless

of the

honour

of God's

name

they were

careless

about God's

glory

and they were

careless about

God's holiness

and since the

Lord Jesus

had a burning

zeal for

these things

since as the

disciples remember

it was written

in Psalm 69

isn't it

that for your

house zeal

has consumed

me

and since

Jesus lived

for the

glory and

honour of

his father

and he could

not bear

that anything

should stain

that

he finds

himself

when people

are careless

of God's

glory

rising up

in anger

against what's

happening before

his eyes

you see

they were

sweeping aside

weren't they

everything that

this temple

was built

to remind

them of

it was

Herod's

temple

it had not

been completed

but a great

deal of work

had been done

and what it

was standing

for primarily

is that

God the

Lord is a

holy God

and when

men and

women

come to

him

and they

recognise

his holiness

to preserve

the glory

of his

name

to live

in the

light

of that

so that

every part

of their

lives

was touched

by it

and that

is especially

what they'd

be professing

as they

approached

him

they should

have had

that at

the forefront

of all

their thinking

and the

terrible thing

was that

these people

were so

distorting

what this

temple had

been built

for

that they

were turning

the service

of God

to their

own ends

what were

their primary

ends

personal

advantage

aggrandisement

their own

glory

their own

exaltation

and so they

took the name

of the Lord

God almighty

and they

cast it

into the

gutter

and they

used

this holy

place

these holy

things for

crooked

trading

and that

is the

primary

thing

that brought

forth

the wrath

of the Lord

Jesus

and it

always does

of course

you can

never

ever

be careless

about the

holiness of

God

and the

honour

and the

glory

of his

name

without

bringing

down the

anger

of the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

do you

believe

that

you can

never be

careless

about the

holiness

of God

and the

honour

of God

and the

glory

of his

name

without

bringing

down the

anger

of the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

that's

the

first

thing

here's

the

second

thing

they're

not only

careless

about the

holiness

of God

they're

careless

about the

souls of

men and

women

they're

careless

about the

souls of

men and

women

and boys

and girls

let me

explain to

you

it seems

99%

certain that

where this

happened

the particular

area where

this took

place

in the

temple

was the

court of

the Gentiles

that's the

non-Jews

all the

trading

all the

cheating

all the

dishonesty

was going

on

where the

place was

being polluted

by all

sorts of

misdemeanour

that court

was the

court of

the Gentiles

it was the

place where

the Gentiles

the non-Jews

the nations

were to

come

it was the

place established

by God

as a place

where the

world could

come

and meet

with God

the

Jewish

nation

had

glorious

privileges

they had

been given

a revelation

that God

gave himself

and he had

promised to

them that he

would be

their God

and they

would be

his people

and why

did God

do that

why did

God choose

the Jewish

nation

so that

they would

be a light

to the

nations

that was

his whole

purpose

that God's

people

that from

them

people

would

see

the

wonder

and the

God

of

Israel

so you

find

quoted

again

and again

and again

in the

New Testament

that God

chose the

Jewish nation

as his

people

he

covenanted

with them

he chose

them

he privileged

them

beyond all

measure

but he

didn't do

it for

their

own

sake

he did

it that

they might

be a

light to

the

nations

so that

the glory

of God

would spread

around the

globe

in other

words he

made them

his people

in order

that they

might become

his missionaries

to the

Gentiles

and the

court of the

Gentiles

was to be

the very

place where

the Gentiles

might come

like Cornelius

in the book

of Acts

did

and that

they would

become

God

fearers

that's how

Cornelius

is described

do you

remember

that

that's

what the

court of

Gentiles

was for

that they

might come

near

that those

who far

off

might come

and pray

and that

they might

become

fearers

of God

and the

amazing

thing that

has happened

is not

only have

they deserted

their

glorious

calling

but they've

changed the

court of the

Gentiles

into a

marketplace

and why

why have

they done

that

because they

did not

care about

the souls

of men

and women

and boys

and girls

and so

in Mark

11

Jesus says

is it not

written that

my house

should be

called a

house of

prayer for

all nations

but you've

made it

into a

den of

thieves

and because

they were

careless of

the souls

of men

and women

and boys

and girls

the Lord

Jesus

Christ

was angry

with them

it

displeased

him

profoundly

and he

drove them

out

because they

defiled the

Lord's

temple

as they

did so

as

Jesus

drives them

out

they asked

don't they

in verse 18

for a sign

it's never a

good sign

verse 18

the Jews

said to him

what sign

do you show

for us

for doing

these things

who do you

think you

are

show us

a sign

to show

your authority

and Jesus

answer in

verse 19

is highly

significant

even though

they misunderstood

it

he says

doesn't he

verse 19

destroy this

temple

and in

three days

I will

rise it up

of course

immediately

they think

of the

temple all

around them

they think

how on

earth

can that

happen

Jesus

says

destroy

this

temple

and I

will

raise

it

again

in

three

days

verse 20

it's

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

said

this

and

they

believed

the

scripture

and

the

word

that

Jesus

had

spoken

of course

the sign

that Jesus

is speaking

about

is the

sign

of his

resurrection

that he

was crucified

on Good

Friday

and he

was raised

again

on Easter

Sunday

that God

is planning

to raise

up a

new

temple

and Jesus

is going

to bring

in

a new

temple

where the

holiness

of God

will be

demonstrated

and that

temple

is not

only his

body

but here's

the thing

you need

to understand

this morning

it's not

only his

body

but the

body of

all of

those

who will

be raised

with him

you and

me

we've

died

with

Christ

we've

been

made

alive

with

Christ

we are

raised

with

Christ

and as

the

church

of Jesus

Christ

we are

the

temple

of the

Lord

and that

is the

sign that

Jesus

is giving

to them

and so

if you

were to

meet

the

apostle

Paul

over

coffee

this

morning

and you

said

to the

apostle

Paul

where is

the

temple

of

God

he would

say to

you

are you

in

Christ

because

if you

are

you are

the

temple

of

God

do

you

not

know

he

would

say

that

the

spirit

of

God

dwells

in

those

whose

temple

you

are

and

it

is

the

resurrection

of

Jesus

which

is

the

sign

of

the

beginning

of

that

gracious

purpose

of

God

to

build

a

new

temple

now

one of

the

lessons

we can

learn

for

this

let me

point out

two

the first

lesson

of the

cleansing

of the

temple

is this

Jesus

Christ

has a

zeal

for his

father's

glory

Jesus

Christ

has a

zeal

for his

father's

glory

and for

his father's

honour

and that is

what the

disciples

remembered

when they

thought of

this

incident

zeal

for your

house

will

consume

me

that's

a

quote

from

psalm

69

and the

whole

of that

psalm

speaks of

the

messiah's

coming

and of

his

ministry

and the

point of

it is

this

that

Jesus

the

messiah

has a

zeal

for his

father's

glory

and honour

and wherever

he dwells

he will

therefore

express

that

zeal

and desire

to exalt

his

father

now

wherever

he comes

to a

temple

that is

what the

lord

jesus

christ

is

concerned

with

on the

cross

what is

he

concerned

about

he is

consumed

with

zeal

for his

father's

honour

and for

his

father's

glory

father

glorify

your

son

that

your

son

will

glorify

you

that

is

his

whole

aim

and

concern

the

lord

jesus

christ

greatest

desire

was

for

the

glory

and

honour

of

his

father

and

when

he

comes

to

dwell

in

his

temple

when

he

comes

to

dwell

in

the

living

temples

which

are

his

people

that

he

has

raised

up

when

he

comes

to

dwell

in

your

life

and

mine

the

lord

!

Jesus

Christ

has

a

consuming

!

zeal

When

he

comes

to

make

us

his

temple

he

has

her

fervor

a

zealous

concern

for the

glory

and

honour

of

his

father

and

so

if

you

seek

to

use

the

temple

of

God

which

is

your

body

for

your

own

glory

or

for

any

other

glory

than

the

glory

of

the

father

you

will

have

a

major

controversy

with

the

Lord

Jesus

can

you

see

that

if

you

are

the

temple

of

the

Lord

which

the

apostle

Paul

says

you

are

the

dwelling

place

of

God

and

if

you

will

use

your

body

for

your

own

glory

for

the

glory

of

any

other

than

the

glory

of

the

!

you

will

have

a

glory

and

that

is

the

principle

that

we

need

to

grasp

that

with

divine

fervor

the

Lord

Jesus

is

seeking

his

father's

honour

and

his

father's

glory

and

when

he

comes

to

dwell

within

you

by

faith

when

he

sees

that

he

polluted

the

temple

of

God

and

abused

the

temple

of

God

and

defiled

it

and

brought

alien

things

into

it

he

comes

with

his

rod

he

comes

with

his

wrath

and

that

is

something

isn't

it

of

a

really

uncomfortable

truth

and

yet

we

need

to

take

it

on

board

Christ

has

a

zeal

for

his

father's

glory

and

for

his

father's

honour

the

second

permanent

principle

as I

finish

is

this

Christ

has

a

zeal

to

purify

the

temple

in

which

he

dwells

and

that's

the

glorious

paradox

of the

gospel

isn't

it

you

cannot

go

anywhere

in

the

gospel

without

seeing

the

kind

of

people

that

Jesus

draws

to

himself

it's

an

amazing

thing

is that

Jesus

draws

to

himself

all

kinds

of

different

people

all

kinds

of

people

that

know

that

they're

sinful

know

that

they're

dirty

he

urges

those

who are

sinners

to come

to him

he doesn't

say

wait

until

you've

cleaned

yourself

up

and

then

come

to

me

he

says

no

come

to

me

now

come

to

me

this

morning

don't

improve

yourselves

but

prostitutes

sinners

tax

collectors

he

urges

them

to

come

to

him

porn

addicts

adulterers

tax

fiddlers

come

to

me

Jesus

says

just

as

you

are

and

he's

urged

us

to

come

to

him

just

as

we

are

but

the

one

thing

that

we

must

never

misunderstand

is

this

we

must

never

imagine

that

the

Lord

Jesus

will

leave

us

as

we

are

because

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

has

a

consuming

zeal

doesn't

he

to

purge

and

purify

the

temple

in

which

he

dwells

what

sign

do you

give us

they

ask

the

sign

of

the

resurrection

here's

the

glorious

thing

even

though

we've

defiled

the

temple

of

God

and

polluted

it

Jesus

wonderfully

says

destroy

it

it's

almost

like

a

challenge

destroy

this

temple

and I

will

raise

up a

new

temple

in

three

days

he

says

that

by

his

divine

power

and the

glorious

thing

that we

may

discover

that

however

defiled

however

we've

defiled

however

we've

despoiled

the

temple

of the

Lord

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

who

has

a

zeal

for

his

father's

glory

is

able

to

raise

up

a

new