John 2v13ff

Oh well, hello and welcome. It's a real honour and a privilege to be here. My name is Adam Kersis.

I'm afraid I was actually introduced slightly wrong because I'm not from Tunbridge Wells, I'm from Royal Tunbridge Wells.

! So we've got to get that right. Please do keep your Bibles open as we'll be referring to it throughout the talk.

But to start us off, let's just have a bit of poetry from Dylan Thomas.

Do not go gentle into that good night. Old age should burn and rave at close of day. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right, because their words had fought no lightning day.

Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last way by, crying how bright.

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight and learned too late.

They grieved on its way. They grieved on its way. Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men near death who see with blinding sight. Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height.

Curse, bless me now with fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Oh, those are some beautiful words from Dylan Thomas, aren't they?

And to my shame, I have to admit, I only actually know them because of the film Interstellar.

A call to rage against the dying of the light.

To fight for every breath, every moment.

Because once it's all over, then off we go into that eternal night.

Do you feel that thing called upon you?

To not waste a second.

Because soon, it will all be over and done, this thing we call life.

Is this all life is?

A moment? A blip?

Is that all we can expect?

Is that all we can hope for?

John writes his entire letter, spiralling in on this topic of life.

And he claims that if we recognise that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and believe it,

then we can have life in his name.

A life that will last for longer than a moment, than a blip.

A life that will have purpose, and joy, and satisfaction.

And right here, right at the beginning of John's letter,

he focuses in on a false religion that will rob you of life.

And he gives you a glimpse of a radical relationship that will give life to you.

And he does this in two points.

Firstly, a false religion turns a temple into a marketplace.

So, a false religion turns a temple into a marketplace.

So, Jesus lived in the first century Israel.

And John's letter tells us of a time when Jesus was celebrating the Passover.

The Passover was this great feast,

remembering when the Jews were saved from Egypt.

A divine rescue.

And if you were a first century Jew,

then there is one place that you want to be during the Passover.

You want to be in Jerusalem.

And if you're in Jerusalem,

then there's one place you definitely want to be,

if you're there during the Passover.

You want to be in the temple.

The temple, that's the place to be during the Passover.

The temple, it represents the very heart of the Jewish faith.

The Jerusalem temple was the Mecca for the first century Jews.

At the temple, people could come,

and they could meet with God.

But at the temple, God's physical location was symbolically found.

At the temple, sacrifices for sin could be made.

At the temple, that's where it's all going down.

Now, the temple, it worked a little bit like an onion,

or if you like Shrek, like an ogre.

It had layers.

That first layer,

now that layer was the furthest any Gentiles,

so non-ethically Jewish people,

could come into.

Then the next layer was the furthest any Jewish women could come.

And then the next layer,

and then the next layer,

the furthest the Jewish men could come.

Until finally you hit a barrier.

A barrier which only the high priest could pass.

And in this outer limit,

in this outer courtyard,

this layer,

the courtyard of the Gentiles,

this is where our verses,

our story is set.

So please sit down with me again,

verse 13.

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 pigeon,

and the money changers sitting there.

Now, it's not particularly unusual

for you to get money changers

near the temple.

Because there's a certain type of currency

which they would have used in Jerusalem,

and that the temple would have been using.

And actually people who travel far away

just wouldn't really have had that,

that sort of money.

So you need money changers.

Again, it's not particularly unusual

for you to get people selling oxen

and sheep and pigeons

near the temple.

Because again,

if you've travelled from Spain

or from Italy

to get to this famous temple

in Jerusalem,

you're probably not going to bring along

an oxen with you

that would just slow you down

and make it a costly venture.

However, what was unusual

was to have them in the temple itself,

in the very court of the Gentiles,

its outer layer.

Because how could the Gentiles

come and meet with God?

Come and offer their sacrifices for sin?

If all around them is this noise

and this hubbub

and the shouting

and the bleating

and the selling

and the bartering

and the mooing

and the smell

and the stench

of a busy, thriving,

dirty marketplace.

And Jesus,

he's not happy about this.

He's not happy about it at all.

Let's continue reading.

Verse 15.

And this is Jesus here.

And making a whip of cords,

he drove them all out of the temple

with the sheep and the oxen.

And he poured out the coins

of the money changers

and overturned their tables.

And he told those

who sold the pigeons,

you can imagine,

he would have said this

pretty loudly,

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.

This is a highly charged,

like emotional response

to the temple becoming

a marketplace.

And it caused,

it caused the disciples

to remember from Psalm 69,

zeal for your house

will consume me.

Jesus, he's consumed

from his father's house.

This is,

this is God's house,

his home.

This is where God

should be honoured,

where he should be worshipped,

where he should be praised.

This is where people

from all over the world

can come in reverence

and awe and fear

and meet with God.

This should be a place

of prayer and petition.

This should be a place

where people can

acknowledge their sin

and offer up to that sacrifice.

This house,

it is so important,

it is too important

for Jesus not to act.

He is filled

with this emotional zeal

to drive out all those

who would rob

his father's house

of its true purpose.

Jesus is not

weak and mild.

He is consumed

with zeal

for his father's house

because it matters,

because it's important,

because these market traders

and these money lenders

and the priests

who put them there

in the first place,

they are peddling

a false religion.

A religion that cares

more about profit

than it does about faith.

A religion that cares

more about money

than it does

about atoning sacrifice.

A religion that cares

more about consumers

than it does

about the king

of the entire universe

having a relationship

with his people.

Jesus,

he wants nothing to do

with this fake religion,

with this false religion.

Jesus,

he wants this religion

out,

gone.

If you fill a diesel car

with petrol,

it's not going to go anywhere

because that's not its purpose.

And if you fill a temple

with a market,

then it's not going to achieve

its purpose either.

What do you do

with a diesel car

fueled with petrol?

You drain it.

And what do you do

with a temple

filled with a marketplace?

You drive it out.

False religion

turns the temple

into a marketplace.

False religion

needs to be driven out.

The Jews put the market

over the temple,

the money over the magnificent,

the immediate

over the mattress.

They were so focused

on what was right

in front of them

that they lost sight

of the most amazing thing

of all.

Meeting with God.

They were peddlers

of a false religion.

And we've got to ask

the question,

are we peddlers

of a false religion?

Do we get distracted

by the immediate,

by the things

that are right in front of us,

that we can feel

and that we can touch

and that we can see,

that actually we forget

that we were made

to know our maker.

We were made as humans

to know God.

We were made as humans

to meet with God.

Do we squander

our chance

to experience

the magnificent,

the miraculous?

Do we squander

our chance

to meet with God?

Because we're so focused

on the now,

on the immediate,

on the things

which are right

in front of our eyes.

It's a false religion

when a temple

becomes a marketplace.

Jesus burned

with zeal against it

and he will burn

with zeal

against any similar

attitudes now.

Have you noticed

what this also tells us

about Jesus?

Jesus, he's no man.

Jesus is no simple

human being.

Jesus, he's like you

and he's like me

but he's also totally

different to you and me.

Jesus is the Son of God

and thus he cares

passionately,

passionately,

frantically,

zealously

for his Father's house.

So do we realise

who this is,

who John is telling us about?

Do you realise

that the very consequences

of these words

God became a man

and now the world

has changed.

So false religion,

it turns the temple

into a marketplace.

But God didn't come

to earth as a man

just to tell us

what was wrong

but to start

a radical relationship.

So that's my second point.

The second point

John makes here.

The way to a radical

relationship

is through Jesus

the temple.

The way to a radical

relationship

is through Jesus

the temple.

So let's look down

at verse 18.

So the Jews

said to him,

what sign do you

show us

for doing these things?

Now,

it's already

interesting though,

isn't it?

Like,

they're not

challenging him

ethically.

Why do you send

these market traders

away?

Like,

supposing it's

morally wrong.

No,

they challenge

his authority

to do such a thing.

They want to see

a sign.

It's like they

already know

that actually

what they are doing

is wrong.

So they try

to change the subject

away from the action

and onto his authority.

Let's continue reading,

continue looking down.

Verse 19.

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 you will raise it up

in three days.

So the Jews then

didn't get it.

They think,

Jesus,

he's just a little bit crazy.

It took them 46 years

thank you very much

to build this temple

and this Jesus guy

thinks he's going to

destroy it

and then raise it

in three days.

That's just rubbish

to them.

That's just

inconceivable.

Let's continue reading,

verse 21.

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 then believed

the scriptures

and the word

that Jesus had spoken.

These verses,

they're absolutely huge.

They're absolutely massive

because Jesus,

he is claiming

to be the temple.

Jesus is claiming

to be the temple.

See,

it'll be a little bit

like me maybe today

coming up here

and telling all of you,

see,

I want you to forget

everything that you've

ever learnt about rugby

because actually

everything you think

you know about rugby

you sort of got it wrong.

It'll be a bit like

me coming up here today

and saying actually,

actually you've got to

understand,

me,

Adam Curtis,

I am Wembley Stadium.

It's in me

that you get the excitement,

that you get the thrill

and the energy.

It's in me

that you get to come

and watch

and see beautiful rugby

hopefully take place.

It's in me

that rugby is fulfilled

and understood

and seen.

Now if I came up

and did that today

and said these things

that I am Wembley Stadium

and you've got to see it

through me,

then there's probably

only two ways

really to react.

Firstly,

I think you'd be like,

this man is crazy.

This man is literally

out of his mind.

This is ridiculous.

Or probably the only

other option,

if you weren't going

to take that one,

is you'd have to

then believe what I said.

So you are going to

assume I'm crazy

or you've got to

believe what I said.

So this is what

Jesus is doing here.

He's saying something

equally as radical

or more radical.

The Jews,

they put so much

religious significance

into the temple.

It's so important to them.

It's where they meet God.

It's where they offer

their sacrifices to him.

And Jesus is saying

that his body

is now the temple.

All this religious

significance

can now be found

in his body.

It is found

in Jesus.

Once you used to

find God in the temple,

now you find God

in Jesus.

Once you used to

meet God in the temple,

now you meet God

in Jesus.

Once you used to

offer sacrifices

to God in a temple,

now you offer them

in Jesus.

Jesus is the temple.

And because Jesus

is the temple,

we no longer need

to go to a geographical

location to meet God.

Because Jesus

is the temple,

we can now have

a radical relationship

with God.

We can find God

in Jesus.

We can meet God

in Jesus.

We can offer

a sacrifice

to God

in Jesus.

But the disciples

only understood

the significance

of Jesus' work

that he is this temple.

Once they'd actually

seen him rise

from the dead,

as we saw

in verse 22,

only then did they

see how Jesus

was the temple

that was destroyed

when he was nailed

to a cross

and then rebuilt

when he rose

from the dead

after three days.

It's important

to note that

this is why

Jesus had the

authority to clear

that temple

in the first place.

Remember the question

the Jews asked him

in verse 18?

What sign do you

show us for doing

these things?

Well, the resurrection

of Jesus,

that is the sign

and the proof.

It's because Jesus

has the power

to defeat death

that he has the

authority to clear

the temple.

Jesus does not

just say crazy

things,

I am the temple.

Jesus does

crazy things.

He defeats death.

This is why

the disciples

trusted him

and this is why

we too are able

to trust him now.

The way to a

radical relationship

with God

is through Jesus,

the temple.

When I was a lot

younger and a lot

smaller,

a little kid,

we went on a

family holiday

with my cousins,

my aunts,

my uncles

and we did

loads of canoeing.

Now one day

my older brother,

Jamie,

my older sister,

Becky,

my older cousin,

and so they

wanted to canoe

up the river

towards the sea.

So they crossed

over the river

in their canoe

to the other side

and then they

started going

up towards the sea.

And they just

went on and on

and on until

actually eventually

they just got a bit

tired and decided

they wanted to

turn back.

But as they

started to row

back up the river,

they started to

row against the

current.

And it didn't

matter how hard

they rowed,

they hardly made

any distance

until.

Until they

got to the

point of

just sheer

exhaustion.

And they had

to call my

mum and dad

and our aunts

and uncles

and tell them

that we're

stuck.

We can't

get ourselves

across the river

to the other

side,

where you guys

are,

and we can't

move any further

up the river

towards you either.

Now I must

admit at this

point as a

little boy,

my mind is a

bit fuzzy.

All I remember

is grown-ups

chattering.

And from

what I've

heard over

the years,

it would be

fair to say

that my

parents were

pretty panicked.

And they

ended up

calling the

Coast Guard.

But this bit

I remember

with crystal

clarity.

My brother,

my sister,

my cousin,

who got

themselves into

this stupid

situation by

themselves,

they got

airlifted by

a helicopter

from their

side of the

river,

and they were

brought over

to our side.

I was so

jealous.

They got

rescued by

a helicopter,

and all I

got was this

dull afternoon

of sitting and

waiting for them

to return.

Outrageous!

My brother,

sister,

and cousin,

they were on

one side of

the river,

and my family,

we were on

the other.

And these two

separate groups,

they needed to

become one.

So they needed

that helicopter.

We're separated

from God,

and in the

temple,

we can meet

with him.

Jesus then,

he's a little

bit like that

helicopter.

Which enabled

my brother,

sister,

and cousin,

to be reunited

with my family.

But you know

what?

Jesus being

in a helicopter

is just a

rubbish

illustration.

Because Jesus

isn't not just

a helicopter,

that's not

strong enough.

It doesn't

stay good

enough.

It would be a

little bit more

like if you

had my stupid

lost teenager

relatives here,

and my family

over here,

and then just

the river

between.

And a better

picture of

Jesus would

be him

sucking all

that water

up,

and then

just spraying

it away.

And then

the ground

literally

folding together

until the

two sides

pertain

one.

Until they

could meet.

That's a

truer image

of what Jesus

has done

when he

becomes the

temple.

Because it

represents how

radical this

relationship is.

it is world

transforming.

It changes

everything.

The other

day I was in

the pub,

chatting to a

mate of mine,

and he asked

me why I was

a Christian.

And I waffled

on a bit,

trying to give

him a well

reasoned answer.

And yet this

passage actually

explains it

perfectly and

beautifully.

I'm a Christian

because in

Jesus the

temple, I have

a radical

relationship with

God.

In Jesus, I

know a God

who made me.

who knitted

me together

in my

mother's womb.

In Jesus, I

know a God

who sustains

me, who

gives me breath

for each day

and energy

to keep on

going.

In Jesus, I

know a God

who loves me

so passionately

and deeply

that he would

send his son

to die for me

on a cross.

In Jesus, I

know a God

who gives

life purpose,

who gives

joy in the

struggle and

deep satisfaction

which nothing

else can compare

with.

In Jesus, I

know a God

who gives

me life.

Not just in

the past and

not just in

the present, but

in the future

too.

In Jesus, I

know a God

who will give

me life which

will last

forever and

ever and

ever and

ever and

ever and

ever and

ever and

ever.

Do you want

to share in

that life?

Wonder

that end?

Will you

come and

meet Jesus?

Will you

come and

meet with

God?

Will you

come to

Jesus'

temple and

will you

start a

radical

relationship

with the

God who

knows you

better than

you know

yourself?

Will you

come and

call on the

name of

Jesus now

and tomorrow

and the

day after

until the

end of

time itself?

A false

religion, it

cares more about

the immediate

than the miraculous

and it turns

the temple

into a

marketplace.

Jesus is

having nothing

to do with

that because

he is his

father's son

and he wants

people to

come and

meet with

God.

Jesus offers

us the chance

to have a

radical

relationship

with God

by becoming

the temple

enabling all

who call

in his name

to meet

him.

So should

we rage

against the

dying of

the lights?

No!

That is a

waste of time,

a philosophy

of pointless

shallow

immediate

obsessed

life.

No!

We should

recognise who

Jesus is

the Messiah

and the

Son of God

and we

should call

on his

name and

know that

if we do

we will

have life

in all

its fullest

and all

its glory

now and

then for

all

eternity.

Why don't

I pray?