“The Day God Cleaned House”
John 2:12-22
Parents will often say to their children when they are about to discipline them these famous words, “this is going to hurt me more than it’s going to hurt you.” I never believed that for a moment until it came time for me to discipline my children. If you love your children it hurts to discipline them. But if you don’t do it, you will destroy them. Children need discipline. They need to learn in a loving environment what the boundaries are in life instead of just being allowed to do as they please. Because there are boundaries in life.
We discipline our children because we love them. You want them to learn right from wrong. You want them to make the right choices in life.... even when those decisions are difficult. Even when they’re different from the choices that everyone around them are making. Healthy discipline develops character and may keep them from turning into characters.
And that is exactly what Jesus was doing in this passage. Following the wedding in Cana where Jesus had preformed His first miracle, Jesus then went with His family and His disciples and went down to Capernaum and Capernaum would become kind of a home base for Jesus for His ministry from this point forward. They stayed for a few days and then headed to Jerusalem. It was the time of the Passover which meant that the Jews who were faithful headed to Jerusalem to celebrate. So Jesus went but when He got there things were not as they should be. Now you will recall that in the OT, God required the Jews to celebrate the Passover as a way to remind themselves of how God had delivered them out of Egypt. In the days of Moses God sent a series of plagues to convince Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go. But Pharaohs’ heart was very hard. God had sent 9 plagues and still no response. So now he sent the final plague, a 10th one. He sent a messenger to kill the firstborn son of each family in Egypt but He also offered a way out for them. To preserve the life of their son they would need to kill an innocent lamb and apply the blood of the lamb to the door post. When the messenger would see the blood then he would pass over the house and the child would be spared. Pharaoh was finally convinced and then he released the Israelites. On that day God told the Israelites that they must remember what God had done for them by celebrating the Passover each year by sacrificing an innocent lamb, one without blemish and enjoying the meal as a family. They were also told that if possible they were to go to Jerusalem to do this. So this is why Jesus and His family were there. Now enough background.
I want you to imagine with me if you will, what they saw when they got there. The Jews had greatly multiplied by this time so hundreds of thousands of Jews would have flooded the city. Like a national convention. Like the Olympics had come to town. And all of that attention and the size of the crowd meant one thing. Money. The economic impact was huge. When the time for the Passover arrived, the merchants made a lot of money. They knew how to market to the needs of the people. You see they knew where all the people were heading. Real Estate people will tell you there are 3 things that are important when someone is buying ... location, location, location. Location is everything so they set up shop where the people are going to be ... the temple.
When Jesus arrived this place that was a holy place had basically been turned into a giant flea market. But worse than that was what they were selling. They were selling religion. Most of the people who came to Jerusalem for Passover had traveled a very long way. Travel was already tough but imagine trying to travel with the animals for their sacrifice. Almost impossible. Depending on what type of offering you were making that would decide the type of animal you needed. Could be a bull, a dove ... for Passover everyone was required to bring or purchase a lamb. So it would be a burden to bring them all along. Even if you decided to bring your own animals they had to be perfect, no spot or blemish. And you were not the one who got to decide. The priest was. So many no doubt brought their own animals only to have them turned down by the priest. They were the ones making a profit so they turned many of them down. The one they brought would likely never pass inspection. So you had to purchase one from them They had a monopoly going and anytime there is a monopoly people will take advantage of someone. And they did. They charged high prices and they people had no choice but to pay it. Sp here were those who wold the cattle, sheep, doves and right by them were the money changers. Extorting money, taking it from people who simply came to worship their Lord. There they were taking large amounts of money, didn’t care about the people ... there they were when in walked Jesus.
It is here that we get a different picture of this man named Jesus ... this was not the picture most of us have. Gentle Jesus meek and mild, quiet. This is the man who worked in a carpenters’ shop with His Father Joseph, this is a man who is healthy and strong and He storms in and basically destroys the place. Animals, people, money, scattering everywhere. He fashions a whip out of cords and drives them all out. Turns the tables over. His voice rings out through the temple yard ... this is not a flea market .. this is not a marketplace, this is God’s house. This is a house of prayer. So Jesus cleans house and it’s not easy. In fact it’s painful. But when things got to this point, he had no choice. He does it because He loves us and it’s harder for Him than it is for us.
Listen to what God says in his word: Hebrews 12:5-6 (NLT) "My child, don't ignore it when the Lord disciplines you, and don't be discouraged when he corrects you. [6] For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes those he accepts as his children."
Let’s face it, there are times when we need it. Sometimes the temple has to be cleansed. Sometimes the temple of the Holy Spirit needs to be cleansed. But the question is how do we respond to discipline when it happens?
Look at verse 17. Cleansing/discipline can result in remembering. This is what I mean. In this passage the disciples were not the ones being disciplined. But certainly this event left an impression on them they would not soon forget. They learned from what they saw. My wife told me she didn’t have to be spanked much as a child because her older sister got so many and Denise saw it and she didn’t want any part of it. This cleansing of the temple caused the disciples to remember what they learned in God’s word. “Passion for God’s house burns within me. “ These were the words of David the psalmist. When we face challenges let these challenges push you to God’s word. The only way to remember those things is if you know them in the first place. David said, thy word have I hid in my heart so that I will not sin against thee.” You cannot hide God’s word in your heart if you don’t know it. You can’t hide it in your heart if you don’t study it. You can’t hide it in your heart of you don’t meditate on it. If you haven’t hidden God’s word in your heart you won’t have it when you need it the most. And you will need it when you are being disciplined/cleansed. But discipline can also bring a bad response. A child can respond to discipline by turning from the things they were doing wrong OR they can simply rebel. Look at verse 18.
Cleansing/discipline can result in demands. Notice how different the jews reacted to Jesus. The disciples remembered what was written. But the jews didn’t. These were the priests. They should have known scripture enough to respond as the disciples did. But they didn’t. Instead they made demands. V. 18b. Basically they were asking Jesus “who do you think you are?” So they made a demand. They demanded that He give them some kind of sign/miracle to show His authority. And the Bible tells us they didn’t learn their lesson here because at least 2 more times they would demand that Jesus show them a sign. And how would Jesus answer them every time? He said, “an evil and adulterous generation looks for a sign.”
Does this happen today? Sure it does. I’ll got o church Lord if you will just heal me. OR Lord if you will just get me out of trouble one more time I’ll live like I should OR Lord if you will just answer this one prayer, I’ll do whatever you ask. These are demands. When the Holy Spirit begins to turn over the tables in your life, when discipline comes do you accept or do you start making demands?
Look at verses 19-21. Cleansing/discipline can result in skepticism. Instead of giving them a sign Jesus simply answers their question. But they didn’t understand and neither did the disciples. Jesus said, “destroy this temple and 3 days later I will raise it up.” They were all mixed up. They assumed He was talking about the building they were standing in. But Jesus was talking about Himself. His crucifixion. These very same Jews were going to be responsible for having Jesus crucified in just 3 short years. And Jesus was telling them that even after they killed him, He was coming back--- 3 days later. But they didn’t get it. And they had no interest in understanding. They were skeptics. They were ready, willing and able to argue with anything Jesus said. It’s a sad thing when God confronts us with our sin and all we do is respond with skepticism or sarcasm. The skeptic never sees that the things they’re going through just might be the Lord trying to get their attention. Jesus keeps turning over the tables of sin in their lives but they don’t see it. They just keeping make bad excuses for their lifestyle.
There is a 4th response here and it is the right one. Look at John 2:22. Cleansing/discipline can result in belief. The disciples saw how Jesus reacted to the sins of the moneychangers in the temple. They saw sin for what it was. They saw it in the same way that Jesus did. They remembered what the Bible teaches abut how far we have fallen short of God’s holiness. They remembered how God poured His wrath out on sin and because of that they remembered their need for a Savior. They saw Jesus live a perfect life before them that they couldn’t live. They would watch Him die a cruel death He didn’t deserve. And they would fell conviction and they would be cleansed and the would believe. What does it take for you? When you face trials or you face a time when God is testing you how do you respond? These are your choices..
1. You can remember. You can remember God’s goodness in the past. Remember what He has done for you.
2. You can place demands on God. Bargain with Him. Lord if you’ll do this for me then I will live like I should.
3. You can become a skeptic. Skeptics have a lot of trouble with the concept of faith. They’re all from Missouri. The show-me state. They have to see it to believe it.
4. You can simply believe. You say I do believe. You can believe more. No demands. No questions. No doubts. No fears. No I gotta see it to believe it. Just simple childlike faith.
