Introduction:
I. Down south there is a familiar saying that goes something like, “That just get’s my dander up.”
A. Now I’m now real sure what “dander” is or where the term came from, but
B. The idea is; to get ones “dander” up, is to get excited about something, typically an angry type of excitement.
II. So let me ask you, “What get’s your dander up?”
A. Somebody cutting you off on the highway!
1. Sometimes that can really get my dander up.
2. Of course driving around here, your dander would always be up.
B. Maybe it’s somebody scratching your brand new car!
1. I find it a bit humorous to go to the mall, and see some brand new Hummer or Mercedes parked at the far end of the lot, sometimes taking up 2 or 3 spaces.
2. And what really get’s my dander up at a mall parking lot is when some brand new Hummer or Mercedes is parked, taking up 2 or three spaces, at the close parking spots.
3. It’s a car; it’s going to get scratched; get past it.
C. I can really get excited at home, when I just finished loading the dishwasher, cleaning the counter tops, and then one of the kids immediately comes in to cook something, and invariably they will leave grease on the counter top, and dirty dishes wherever they finished.
D. As an example of home life, one of the speakers at the conference last week said, “There are two things of mine you don’t mess with, not even my wife messes with them, “One is my sleep, and the second is my Harley.”
III. So let me ask you, “what kinds of things get your dander up.”
IV. Now don’t get mad at me, but would you agree with me if I said, “Most of the things that get us excited, really are not all that important in light of eternity.”?
A. I mean, is it really that important what happens to my car; I don’t think I’ll need a car in heaven.
B. I know my children need to learn self control, and respect and all that, but really now, if I weren’t doing dishes, I’d probably be watching television or something else equally worthless.
V. This morning, we are looking at John chapter 2, beginning in verse 12.
A. What we see is something that gets Jesus Christ very excited.
B. In fact, this is perhaps the one place in scripture that I can think of that Jesus Christ, God in the flesh demonstrates a characteristic that seems very uncharacteristic.
1. Typically we think of Jesus as
a. Loving,
b. Calm,
c. Patient,
d. In my minds eye I see Jesus not so much as a shepherd as I do a sheep.
2. But on this day, in this place, at this time, the sheep demonstrates some claws.
VI. Let’s read John 2, verses 12 to 25. Confronting Sin (vs. 12-17)
12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother, and His brothers, and His disciples; and there they stayed a few days. 13 And the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers seated. 15 And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the moneychangers, and overturned their tables; 16 and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a house of merchandise.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Thy house will consume me.”
I. “After this”
A. We don’t know how long after the wedding, “This” refers to, but it is interesting that of all the Gospel writers, John is the only one to talk about the temple cleansing.
B. Again, considering that John’s stated purpose is “that you might believe”, it is interesting that following turning “water into wine” at a joyous wedding, cleaning up the temple at what should have been an even more joyous celebration immediately follows.
II. Verse 12 states that Jesus, his mother; his brothers, and his disciples were traveling to Jerusalem, presumably for the Passover celebration, since the Passover “was at hand.”
III. It wasn’t unusual for Jew’s to go to Jerusalem for the celebration; in fact
A. It was required by Jewish law that every adult male, within a 15 mile radius make the journey.
B. It was also not unusual for many others to make an extended pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate the release of Israel from Egyptian bondage.
IV. During Passover, Jerusalem would have been an exciting place to be.
A. Lots of people,
B. Lots of noise,
C. Lots of celebrating.
D. And also lots of cheating.
V. Now understand, Passover was and I suppose for the devout Jew, an extremely important celebration.
A. Passover was a symbol that God had set this group of people apart from the rest of humanity.
B. Passover symbolized God’s concern and protection for His chosen people.
VI. However, before one could come into the temple to worship God, requirements had to be met.
A. An animal sacrifice had to be presented,
1. But in most cases, animals were not brought on the trip, but were purchased upon arrival.
2. The Torah calls for animals without blemish to be sacrificed.
3. And where better to purchase the required animal than at the temple itself.
4. Except history states that the temple animals were not always the highest quality, but they were always overpriced.
B. A second requirement called for a yearly “worship tax” of a half shekel or two days wages.
1. The not so hidden requirement was that pagan money was not good enough.
2. Pagan coins had to be exchanged for Jewish money.
a. Of course there was a cost to doing business.
b. History states there was an additional charge of a half shekel to exchange coins, thus doubling the cost to worship.
VII. The important phrase of this passage is found in verse 14, “in the Temple.”
A. In days gone by, all this selling and swindling took place outside of the temple gates, BUT over time the action moved inside the temple.
B. Cheating and stealing was bad enough, but for it to happen within the very gates of the temple, I believe that was what really got Jesus’ dandur up.
VIII. Sin has a way of doing that though.
A. First, the sin of the money changers, and animal merchants was known, probably even acknowledged, but it was outside the temple.
1. It wasn’t OK to cheat people, BUT
2. It was OK, because people had to worship didn’t they.
B. But then it came inside the temple walls.
1. I can hear the priests saying, “We just want to make it easier for the people to worship.”
2. Or perhaps they said, “If a profit is going to be made, it might as well be made by the temple.”
C. I believe to say that a church shouldn’t sell anything is just way to easy and application, it’s taking the easy way out.
IX. Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 3, verse 16 - “Do you not know that you are a temple of God.”
A. If Christ was that concerned about an earthly temple, how much more might He be concerned about us.
B. What the disciples remembered in verse 17 is a quote from Psalm 69, verse 9.
1. I went back and read that Psalm in order to get a context.
2. Listen to part of what is written there: 5 O God, it is You who knows my folly, and my wrongs are not hidden from You. 6 May those who wait for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord God of hosts; May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel, 7 because for Your sake I have borne reproach; dishonor has covered my face. 8 I have become estranged from my brothers and an alien to my mother’s sons. 9 For zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those reproach You have fall on me.”
C. What I see in this Psalm is a lament by the writer, that he not become a stumbling block to others; that his sin not cause others to sin.
D. Zeal for your house has consumed Christ.
E. And where sin resides, it must be driven out.
X. These verses raise a much deeper question about sin than “Is sin present.”
A. John would later write in John 1, verse 8 - 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
B. The real question is, “What is my response, when sin is identified?” Dandur Over The Wrong Thing (vs. 18-22)
18 The Jews therefore answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, seeing that You do these things?” 19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews therefore said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” 21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had spoken.
I. Jesus has just confronted sin, and look at the response of the people in verse 18,
A. “What sing do You show us...”
B. In other words, “Who do you think you are to tell us we are sinning?”
II. Notice, there is no complaint about what just took place.
A. Evidently, the priests and traders knew they were wrong.
B. They knew they were cheating people,
C. There was no argument as to whether they were in sin,
D. The only disagreements was, “Who are you to tell us we are wrong?”
III. The real concern is not sin, but rather, “who gave you the authority to identify this as action as sin.”
IV. Now get the picture,
A. Livestock running around loose,
B. Birds flying away,
C. Coins rolling around,
D. Probably a few people running around too.
E. But the response of the people is,
1. “Who or what gives you the authority to call this wrong.”
2. “Give us a sign as a demonstration of who you are.”
V. Jesus didn’t offer them a sign, he only offered himself, and at this point even his disciples missed the point.
A. Verse 22 says that it wasn’t until after the resurrection that the disciples understood what Jesus was saying.
VI. The word “temple” appears three times in these verses, but two different Greek words are used.
A. In verse 15 the word is “heron”
1. Heron means a sacred building, or a building used for a sacred purpose.
2. But a Heron is not necessarily the place where God resides; it could just as readily be the place where any god is worshiped.
B. In verses 20 and 21, Christ uses the word, “Naos”
1. “Naos” is used to refer to the Holy of Holies.
2. The Naos was considered to be the place where the present of God was resident.
VII. In New Testament teaching, believers in Christ are not a heron, we are a Naos.
A. We are the Holy of Holies,
B. We are the place where the presence of God, through the Holy Spirit has taken up residence.
VIII. So how do we, the residence of God respond when the Word of God confronts our sin?
A. The priests probably believed they had good justification for allowing sin to transpire,
B. What sins in our own lives do we feel like we have justification for allowing?
C. What signs do we expect Christ to give us.
IX. When it comes to sin; what get’s my dandur up?
A. Hopefully it begins with the sin I have allowed in my own life.
What’s In You (vs. 23-25)
23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, beholding His signs which He was doing. 24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, 25 and because He did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man for He Himself knew what was in man.
I. I find these last few verses very challenging.
A. According to verse 12, Jesus and the disciples stayed in Jerusalem for a “few days;” probably for the passover, and the seven days of feasting that followed.
1. During that time, Jesus cleared the temple, and did not offer any authenticating sign.
2. Then verse 23 states that “many believed in His name” because of the signs that He was doing, during those following days.
B. Many believed.
II. Then in verse 24 John states that although many believed in Him, (depending on your translation), Jesus did not “commit” or “entrust” himself to them.
A. The word “believe” in verse 23 and the word “commit” or “entrust” in verse 24 are the same word in the Greek.
1. Many committed to Christ, but Christ did not commit to them.
2. Many believed in Christ, but Christ did not believe in them.
B. The idea is that Jesus did not accept the commitment of those that believed,
1. Why
2. Because they were believing in the miracles and not in Jesus himself.
III. So I ask myself, and you, “Why do you believe in Christ” because of what He has done for you, or because He is God in the flesh, worthy of our worship?
IV. It caused me to remember, that I recommitted my life to Christ about 25 years ago, why,
A. Because the doctors had told me that I was unable to father children,
1. That statement caused me to cry out to God in prayer and ask Him to give Maryann and I a child.
2. “God, if you give us a child, I will give that child to you, and I will commit myself to following You the rest of my life”
3. God went beyond my request and gave us four beautiful, healthy children, and I have attempted to keep good on my promise.
B. But the question to me is, what if God had not given us children; would I still have committed my life to Christ?
V. When Jesus came into Jerusalem, Jesus got his dandur up.
A. But I don’t believe he simply got upset because people were selling livestock, and making money.
B. I believe he got upset because the priest and money changers were committed to this holy celebration because it was of benefit for them to do so.
VI. God is God, and God is worthy of our worship; because He is God.
VII. Christ is our savior, and He is worthy of our worship because He is God, and He is our savior.
VIII. It is interesting,
A. Jesus did signs and miracles, and multitudes followed because of those signs;
B. But when the signs ceased, even the disciples abandoned Christ, until they witnessed the greatest miracle of all, his resurrection.
IX. As we close today, ask yourself, “Why am I a follower of Christ?”
A. Because of the benefit He has given to me,
B. Or because He is God, and worthy of my following?
