Jesus is the true Temple

now we'll read together in our bibles from john chapter 2 we're thinking about

John 2 · chapter mention

the seven signs in john's gospel revealing jesus glory last week his first sign where he turned

water into wine to allow joy and celebration to continue a wedding and now john moves from there

to where jesus clears the temple courts so this is john chapter 2 verse 13 when it was almost time

John 2:13

for the jewish passover jesus went up to jerusalem in the temple courts he found people selling cattle

sheep and doves and others sitting at tables exchanging money so he made a whip out of cords

and drove all from the temple courts both sheep and cattle he scattered the coins of the money changers

and overturned their tables to those who sold doves he said get these out of here stop turning my

father's house into a market his disciples remembered that it is written zeal for your house will consume

me the jews then responded to him what sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this

jesus answered them destroy this temple and i will raise it again in three days

but the temple he had spoken of was his body after he was raised from the dead his disciples recalled what

he had said then they believed the scripture and the words that jesus had spoken

so that was our second sign jesus cleansing or clearing the temple but before we get there let's begin

with the scenes the sad scenes from america this past week so much of the world has been

gripped by the tragic death of george floyd as the ugly head of injustice and racism has raised itself once more

leading to those protest movements that we have seen in various cities declaring the message that black lives

the message that black lives matter and they matter of course because every life matters

now as christians and as a church we believe and we insist on this reality that all people whoever

we are are made in the image of god with value and dignity before him and we also very much hold on to

the hope of the gospel that in jesus there is the hope of reconciliation

first of all as jesus dies and rises there is hope for us of being reconciled to god that despite our sin

that separates jesus has come to reconcile us to god as he takes our sin and he pays the punishment to bring

us peace with god but not only does jesus bring reconciliation with god which is glorious

he also brings peace with one another that all barriers are broken down when our faith is in jesus

peace with one another that all barriers are broken down when our faith is in jesus

but what we have seen in america and around the world is is lament

sadness and fear in black communities and we've seen anger anger leading to action and to protest

of course some of that has crossed lines but there is protest against injustice and we'll pray

about that after thinking about the bible together now two thousand years before these events

we meet jesus in righteous anger taking action to confront the injustice that he sees

and what is that injustice as jesus enters the the courts of the temple

what is that god his father is being dishonored in his own house

and that people are being denied the right to know and enjoy god that relationship we are made for

being denied the right to worship so let's see how jesus acts and why and see why this matters to you

and to me today so let's begin with the sign so we're given the setting in verse 13 and it's very different

from last time last time the first sign of jesus was semi-public it happened at a wedding ceremony

but only a few people jesus mother disciples servants saw the miracle revealing jesus glory

where he turns water into wine by contrast here in verse 13 we're told it's almost time for the

passover and it's happening in jerusalem so this is the biggest gathering in the biggest

city in israel so think if we're in edinburgh right now think edinburgh during the fringe think of

the busyness and how crushed it is and they're gathering for um the passover feast and festival

a time when they remember with thankfulness god setting israel free from slavery to become his people

so they might be in relationship with god they might worship and enjoy god and so jesus comes to

the very center uh where the the worship and where the festival uh all takes place he comes to the

temple but what is it he finds he finds people selling cattle sheep and doves and others sitting at

tables exchanging money those temple courts where non-jews were able to come and worship god they've been

filled with animals they've been filled with business so what's going on here what's going on is a

convenience that was established for worshipers so and recognizing that some people came from

different provinces and different countries rather than them bringing their own animals perhaps hundreds

of miles to jerusalem instead people in jerusalem would provide clean animals ready for sacrifice and

also people in different provinces would have different money so there was a currency exchange

for different provinces so they could bring the appropriate money to the temple the problem

is that this practice has moved from where it used to be on a mountainside now it's moved

into the temple itself so jesus walks in and he's confronted by all this noise and all this buying and selling

and it's a scandal to him

and so in verse 16 he says get these things out of here stop turning my father's house

into a market my father's house an implicit claim of identity that he is the son of god but what's

happening you see the temple is being made impure what you think about all of those animals that is

not going to be a clean space and there's going to be a whole lot of chaos going on

this is a situation that is now unfit for worship can you imagine all the distraction

coming from the noise of all those animals and the buying and the selling and the exchanging of money

and as well as that a barrier has now been set up so that if a non-jew had made the effort wanting to

worship god to come to the temple there was that no entry sign because their place of worship has

become a marketplace and jesus is angry righteously angry so what does he do in verse 15

he says he made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts sheep and cattle

turning over the coins of the money changers scattering them over turning their tables so

here he is in righteous anger in judgment of the temple system he fashions a whip

and he sets him out violently clearing out animals and traders and money changers

gk chesterton the english novelist who wrote a book called orthodoxy and he said that before he

became a christian he said i was given the impression that that jesus was a gentle creature

you know that maybe the stereotype that people have gentle jesus meek and mild but he said then i looked at

the new testament and he realized how different jesus was to that stereotype and this sign

certainly doesn't fit does it here is jesus righteously angered the disciples as they think

about it they then later on reflect on a psalm psalm 69 in verse 17 we have it quoted his disciples

remembered that it's written zeal for your house will consume me jesus is like david the king who is

consumed with passion for god's glory and for god's house as he was seeing other people reject ignore

mock and be guilty of injustice the king is concerned for the glory of god and the house of god

now it's amazing when you think about it that the religious leaders in jesus day they don't see the

problem they don't see the problem of turning a part of the temple into a market area and so they

allow this to happen that they have created a system making the worship of god of knowing god

either hard for some or impossible for others

i don't know what you would think is the the noisiest environment that you've been in

um in my head i can think of traveling through manila in the philippines in a in a jeepney with an

open back and just hearing traffic noise and horns honking and eight lines of traffic and just being

bedlam you know impossible to have a conversation impossible to think so put yourself here in the

temple you know there's the there's the animals there's the cows mooing and the sheep bang and the

doves cooing and there's people they're offering currency exchange how is anyone supposed to pray in that

sort of context how is anyone supposed to come and offer a sacrifice in the right spirit

to really honor god in that setting how is someone able to enjoy the high point of their religious life

to meet with god to know and enjoy god and his forgiveness to be in knowing that access that

reconciliation that relationship in this kind of madness and so jesus takes action so that god and

god's house might have the honor they deserve so that pure worship might take place and so that anyone

and everyone might be able to come and meet with god so this clearing of the temple is a sign

and so let's think for the rest of our time what does the sign signify so let's move to the significance

so remember jesus has just begun his public ministry he is still very much an unknown at this stage so in

verse 18 after jesus performs this act the jews respond to him what sign can you show us to prove your

authority to do all this now that sign has already been done jesus is a prophet who's come with god's

authority and he's clearing the temple but they're saying what gives you the authority who are you

what sign what badge what credential can you show us to prove that you represent god there is cynicism and

there is doubt but jesus offers a sign a sign that comes in the future jesus answered them destroy this

temple and i will raise it again in three days here is how you will know i have authority over temple

worship when i die and when i rise three days later now the religious leaders they they totally miss it

they think jesus is talking about the physical temple hang on a minute it took 46 years to build this you

reckon you can destroy it and rebuild it in three days outrageous claim the disciples they only understand

after the resurrection that jesus is speaking about his body that he is the true temple and they believe

that jesus and his words after the event but let's think together about what it means when jesus says his body is

the temple what is this sign telling us about the person and work of jesus and for our relationship

with god three things to think about first of all and that jesus and not the temple uniquely displays

the glory of god when john was introducing jesus in his gospel introduction in chapter 1 verse 14

he said this the word that's jesus the revelation of god the word became flesh and made his dwelling

among us we have seen his glory the glory of the one and only son who came from the father

full of grace and truth the word became flesh and tabernacled among us before the temple permanent

structure there was a tent called the tabernacle and john picks up this language and says jesus

tabernacled among us jesus is the son of god who takes on flesh jesus represents the fulfillment of the temple

and all that jesus says and all that jesus does reveals the glory of god to us so that no longer

our worshipers are our worshipers to to sort of go to the temple and to admire it look at all this gold

look at the size and the beauty of this building now look at jesus look at his wonderful character

hear his words of truth his invitation of love look at his acts of mercy

of demonstrating what his kingdom will be like look at how much he loves the world

in that he gave his own life so that we might be forgiven and be reconciled to god jesus displays

the glory of god and here in jesus action and clearing the table how do we see at the temple

how do we see god's glory we see the glory of god's desire that sinners might know and worship him

we see the glory of god's grace extending a welcome and an invitation to unworthy sinful people like us

we see the glory of god in jesus in his actions to remove the barriers that separate people from god

here it was at the marketplace but then on the cross the barrier jesus would deal with

would be our sin and god in his grace and his love has come to remove that barrier

so that we can have access to that perfect love that perfect love that drives out fear that perfect

love that gives us hope for now and eternity so jesus uniquely displays the glory of god

secondly jesus and not the temple is now our center of worship

the temple is one of those sort of dominant themes that that recurs all through the bible

and we understand that from the very beginning god in his grace god in his loving kindness

established a place where god and people could meet could enjoy fellowship

that we can experience friendship that we can experience friendship with god because of god's kindness to us

the garden of eden functions for adam and eve as a temple because there they are walking and talking with god

they are in his presence they are enjoying his blessing in all that they see in all that they enjoy

of course they sinned and that sense of fellowship was broken but then there was the sacrifice there was the promise

that one would come who would crush the head of the serpent and that one would come from eve who would defeat the devil

and the power of sin but there was also sacrifice within the garden to to cover them when they felt the shame of sin

when they felt exposed in their nakedness god in his kindness by sacrifice covered them which becomes a really important

theme in temple worship and then there's the tabernacle so after

moses leads the people out of slavery in egypt brings them to mount sinai

where they become the covenant people of god god commits to being their god and he calls them to be his people

they're brought into this wonderful relationship and part of that they they get the law

but they also get moses gets instructions for how to build a tabernacle a tent where god

again in his mercy will dwell

in the midst of his people

so when israel was on the move in the wilderness and they were setting up camp

god was quite literally his tent was right in the middle and the 12 tribes camped all around

and there was very clear instructions for how it was to be built because god is holy

but also that god wants to meet with his people the way was open but part of the way that was open

for how that opening came was through sacrifice so there were detailed instructions and part of israel's

life was worship and access by means of sacrifice

and so both at the tabernacle and the temple

they have this visual representation here is god with his people here is god

seated on a throne and he is holy

people are sinful but still there is a way to enter into god's presence if they bring

a sacrifice

and so the temple was hugely important to to national life and to religious life

what is jesus's sign saying

well just as the angels promised he has come to be

emmanuel he has come to be god with us he has come to be the way that we meet with god think back to our

memory verse at the beginning our call to worship

i am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me

worship is not rooted to a place or a building

christianity does not center on a holy place

no our faith centers on a holy person

the son of god who became one of us to to be our savior to be our rescuer

and so our worship is not tied to buildings and places and that's really good news for us

and in lockdown that that god continues to meet with us

that we can still know god through jesus

that jesus sends the spirit so that he dwells in us

so that we know that he's always with us wherever we are

and now that that worship is centered on a person and not in a place

it allows the message of christianity and it allows the church of jesus to go global

so today there are hundreds of millions of people worshiping some at home

some in house churches some in the open air

some back in their church buildings

but all of them

enjoying the privilege of knowing god

through faith in jesus

and it's been wonderful to to recognize and to hear

that the good news of jesus is not under lockdown or quarantine

that there are people who are becoming christians through this crisis

that people are being added to churches

through this trauma that god continues to call people to himself

the third thing to see is that jesus fulfills

what the temple represents

so jesus is how you and i see the glory of god

we want to know what god is like

we look and we see the glory of god in the face of jesus

jesus is the only way you and i can know god

and jesus is the only way sinners like us can experience

the love and the joy and the fellowship of god

through that sacrifice that he made in himself

the barrier that you and i face as we said is our sin

what does sin look like sin looks like ignoring

our creator god in the world that he has made

acting as if god is not there or god does not care

sin is rejecting his offer of friendship

saying no to the love that he offers through faith in jesus

sin looks like treating our creator king shamefully

by rejecting or rebelling against his law

his commands and all of those sins and so many more

they deserve eternal judgment

we don't deserve to be near to god

we deserve to be sent away from god and all his goodness forever

and that's a serious problem

it's a barrier that you and i cannot clear by ourselves

we cannot pay off that moral debt

we cannot gain access by ourselves

we simply do not have the capacity

to be sinless and perfect as god demands

so what we need

is we need another clearing

another cleansing from jesus

and that will take place on the cross

what is happening

in the death of jesus

and the resurrection of jesus

well it's that jesus

takes our sin

your sin and mine

on himself

he comes as the lamb of god

who takes away the sin

of the world

and in his death

and by faith in jesus

trusting that what jesus did on the cross

he did for me

the barrier of sin is removed

our our sin is washed away

we are forgiven

and now we can enjoy life with god

we get a wonderful picture of what that looks like

at the cross

as jesus dies

on mount calvary

back in the temple

in jerusalem

as jesus dies

as his body is being torn apart

the curtain

of the temple

is torn in two

from top to bottom

that great no entry sign

to god's most holy place in the temple

but is torn down

in the death of jesus

the way of access

is opened up

for all

who will believe

in him

so jesus second sign

the clearing of the temple

is a pointer

to his great mission

he has come to be

the one

who

we worship

he's come to reveal

god to us

god in the flesh

so that we might worship

through him

and jesus is how

we can know god

because he takes our sin

and he creates a way

for us

you and i

we've been made in the image of god

for relationship

and so i'm sure we've been feeling the pain

of lockdown in so many ways

and maybe you've been feeling a sense of relief

and hope with that easing

we need to remember the greatest relationship of all that we are all made for

is to know god

to know god through jesus

and so the invitation is to come to him

have faith in him

confess your sin to him

trust in him as your lord and saviour

believe in him

and enjoy

relationship with god

today

for the rest of your life

and

for all

eternity

you