Consumer Or Worshipper? Series

Consume or Worship

Gospel of John Series

CCCAG March 4th, 2018

Scripture- John 2:13-22

Illustration-

How many people here had a dad that was the disciplinarian of the house? The most dreaded words your mom could ever say is “Wait until your dad gets home!”

That was a horrible thing to do to me. Not only am I going to get a wupping, but now I have to watch the clock for several hours. I know at 445 my dad is going to come through the door grumpy from fixing cars all day, and now he is going to hear that I’ve been bad and give me a spanking.

My dad was all Clint Eastwood about it too. You remember that old Western, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly?

I’d be playing in my room, all the sudden My dad would show up at my door all in shadow- little cigar in his teeth.

(Whistle theme) HE would reach down to his belt and undo it, slowly pulling it off his pants (make sound). Then he would fold his belt in half, then pull it tight suddenly to make that smacking sound. Then the lecture came, and then a couple of whacks with the belt to make the lesson stick.

A good father is one that demands respect from his children, and ideally is one that earns that respect. God is a good father. He demands respect and has done everything HE can to earn it. Therefore, when it comes to how we approach HIM, and how we worship HIM, it matters how we do it.

In the biblical account we are about to read, Jesus enters into the temple on one of the most Holy Days in Judaism’s calendar. In ancient Judaism, the temple is the center of worship- everything revolves around coming there to worship. It doesn’t matter if you live 100’s of miles away, you come to the temple on this day and worshipped God.

Jesus, being a faithful and observant Jewish man, comes to the temple as required. This is not the first time he has been to temple- it’s about 30 years old so He has come every year since Joseph brought the family back to Nazareth so He knows what to expect.

However, this time He is coming as Messiah- the Son of God, and looks at what is happening in God’s house, and reacts strongly to it.

In essence, daddy is home, and he is not pleased

We are going to watch a visual representation which follow’s the scripture from the movie, “The Gospel of John”

John 2:13-22

13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 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. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 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.

Prayer

The Jewish system of worship was very exact in it’s requirements. Passover had several requirements that had to be done according to the Law of Moses to be acceptable in God’s sight.

We are going to quickly review those requirements this morning to begin to understand Jesus’ reaction to what He saw.

I. Prescribed Worship

The central regulations for Passover worship are found in Deut 16, and we will focus on verse 2 as it relates to what Jesus was reacting against-

Deut 16: 2 Sacrifice as the Passover to the Lord your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his Name.

Let’s break this down-

A. An animal from your flock

Virtually all Jewish families had some type of livestock, even if they lived in a city. The would have chickens, goats, sheep out back to supply a constant supply of food for the family. They would breed these animals to get more animals, and either eat or sell off the ones they didn’t need.