"Two Temples In Jerusalem” Series

In Jesus Holy Name June 19, 2022

Text: Acts 3:6 Redeemer Lutheran

“Two Temples in Jerusalem”

God is on the move. There are now 3,120 new Christians in Jerusalem. They did not stop going to the temple at the time of prayer, just because they now worshiped Jesus. In Acts chapter 3 we find Peter and John going up to the temple at the time of prayer at 3 in the afternoon. The Temple, no doubt, has become one of the meeting places for the new Christian Community. Even though there are 12 gates through which a person can enter the Temple, Peter and John are entering the Temple Mount through the gate called “Beautiful”.

The Jewish historian Josephus described this gate made of fine Corinthian brass, seventy-five feet high with huge double doors, so beautiful that it “greatly excelled the other columns that were covered over with silver and gold.”

In the 1st century beggars were not allowed inside the temple. But they were placed on the steps leading into the Temple Complex because everyone knew that you earned credit with God if you gave money to the poor. This gate was used by the wealthy and well connected. They were the cream of society who needed to show their generosity.

Luke tells us that this man was placed there every day for 40 years. That also means that this man was there begging when Jesus came to the temple as well. So, why did Jesus not heal the beggar? He could have, but did not. We know that Jesus healed thousands but not everyone.

This is now the first miracle by the disciples as a result of the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was no longer physically present, but His Spirit was in the disciples guiding and directing. I’m sure the Holy Spirit told Peter to act… It was automatic, no time to think. The words just came out…(Read Acts 3:6-7)

God is on the move and now uses the disciples to continue to proclaim the Good News of forgiveness through Jesus, not the sacrifices in the Temple. Jesus has become the substitute for the Temple sacrifices.

The Pharisees and Sadducees thought that they had finally gotten rid of Jesus. His public ministry, His miracles drew attention away from them. They were envious. He was a Rabbi without climbing the right ladder. He had no authorization from Jerusalem to teach.

Jesus challenged their behavior and called them “hypocrites”, “white washed tombs” that looked good on the outside but full of dead men’s bones on the inside. He claimed to be God in flesh. He claimed authority to forgive sins and judge the world. They had had enough. The convinced Pilate to use Roman authority and He was crucified. That should have been the end of the Jesus story. His claim of deity was a good reason to arrest Him, put Him on trial and silence Him.

No, Jesus rose from death and the grave and now, there are, in effect, two temples in Jerusalem. One of made of stone by human hands, and one made out of human hearts in which the Spirit of Jesus now dwelt. The Jews understood that the Temple was the one place on earth where heaven and earth intersected and you received forgiveness of sins. The Temple offered forgiveness of sins by the sacrifices of lambs that were offered each day. Now Jesus, the real Temple, the real Sacrifice, offered forgiveness and healing, His resurrected body, “The Church” has become the temple of God on earth. (Leonard Sweet Jesus: A Theography p 172)

When a man crippled for 40 years starts running and jumping something significant is bound to happen. The jumping, and running and cheering of the beggar, brings curiosity. More questions are asked. People want to know. Why. How. It is time for a sermon. (Read Acts 3:11-19)

Acts 3 not only contains the first miracle by the hand of Peter but it brings a new conflict into focus. While the disciples of Jesus have been filled with power from the Holy Spirit in the previous chapter, the demonstration of this power in public brings them into conflict with the Temple establishment. The Pharisees did not believe that Jesus could be nor should be the substitute for forgiveness.

Almost a century and a half ago, Proctor & Gamble started to receive letters from enthusiastic customers. Each of the letters wanted to know where they could buy more of the soap which floats. People had quickly become enamored with the new Ivory soap which had helped them avoid sloshing around bath and laundry tubs for a slippery bar of soap. (illustration from a sermon by Rev. Ken Klaus April 22, 2018)

The executives knew they had a good thing going, so they quickly went public with the story of how a factory workman had unintentionally left a liquid batch of soap mixing longer than normal. It was an accident which had whipped air into the product, and the end result was Ivory, the soap which floats. That was the official story. It took more than 100 years before company historian, Ed Eider, revealed the truth that chemist James Gamble, son of one of the company's owners, had deliberately invented the company's winning product.