“Time to Clean House”
John 2:12-22
When I was attending college and seminary I always looked forward to the beginning of a new semester. Regardless of what mistakes I may have made the previous semester, I could now start fresh. It’d probably the same way for you. The Bible teaches us that our God is the God of a 2nd chance and a 3rd and a 4th when necessary. On the positive side that seems to be what Jesus was doing when He turned the tables over in the Temple. He was giving those who had disgraced the temple a 2nd chance. Like spring after a long winter we welcome a fresh start. ------------ but then on the negative side, There is also an expression that is sometimes used in large corporations when it becomes necessary to fire; to dismiss a large number of employees. It’s called cleaning house. They then also have the opportunity to start fresh. Jesus wanted them to understand that He would not tolerate his temple being used for anything other than the purpose for whom it was built. On either level we all need them from time to time. It is an easy thing in this passage to see the passion of Jesus. And it is not the only time when we see the emotions of Jesus coming to center stage.
When Mary and Martha’s brother, Lazarus was sick, they sent word to Jesus asking Him to come and heal Lazarus. But the Bible says that when he heard these words that he stayed where he was for two more days. When he arrived he learned that Lazarus had already been dead for 4 days. When Jesus heard those words we find the shortest verse in all of the Bible. Jesus wept. His friend was gone and it brought him to tears. But this is a different emotion we see here. There is only one way to describe His passion on this particular day….Jesus was angry. All of us have been there before. Something stirs us up, our emotions flare up and suddenly our anger spews out. But we need to get hold of an important truth here.
Being angry is not a sin.
It is what we do with our anger that really matters.
We know that Jesus was without sin. He was perfect. Yet we see Him in this story as He takes several leather cords and fashions a whip out of them, driving the money changers out of the temple, including their animals. He then scattered the coins of the money changers and then he turned over the tables. His passion took over for a simple reason. The temple was being used for the wrong purpose. This was not so much about the buying and selling that was taking place, it was about how it was being done.
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. You will remember that in the OT, God required the Jews to celebrate the Passover as a way to remind how God had delivered them out of Egypt. You will remember that in the days of Moses God sent a series of plagues to convince Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go. But Pharaoh was stubborn. God had sent 9 plagues and still no response. Locusts, a plague where the Nile river was turned to blood but they still would not listen. So now he sent the final plague, a 10th one. God sent a messenger to kill the firstborn son of each family in Egypt BUT as God always does, He also offered a way out for them. To preserve the life of their first born they would need to kill a sacrificial 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 so he released the people. On that day God told the Israelites that they must remember what God had done for them and they were to remember it in in this way…they were to sacrifice/kill an innocent lamb and then enjoy 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.
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. The merchants would clearly make a lot of money.
Real Estate salespeople 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 at the temple he saw immediately that it had basically been turned into a giant marketplace. But worse than that was what they were selling sacrifices and they were getting far more for them than they should. In other words they were ripping the people off. Here is how, 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 higher prices and the people had no choice but to pay it. So here were those who sold the cattle, sheep, doves and right by them were the money changers. Taking money from people who simply came to worship their Lord. There they were taking large amounts of money, didn’t care at all about the people or the purpose…..they were just concerned about profit. And 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. But listen, 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 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 get to this point, he had no choice. 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. There are times when the temple of the Holy Spirit needs to be cleansed. There are times when the church needs to be cleansed. But here is the question….. how do you and I respond to discipline when it happens?
Look at verse 17. God’s discipline can cause us to remember. Especially if our spiritual priorities have gotten out of order. His discipline can cause us to go back to where we belong. This discipline was not just for the moneychangers. It was also a teaching lesson for the disciples. This left an impression on them they would never 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 we must 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. If you haven’t hidden God’s word in your heart you won’t have it when you need it the most.
Look at verse 18. The Jews began to demand some answers from Jesus. Notice how different the Jews reacted to Jesus. The disciples remembered what was written. But the Jews had already forgotten. These were in fact the priests. They knew the scripture. Instead they starting making demands. V. 18. Basically they were asking Jesus “who do you think you are?” Do something to prove yourself. 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 go to 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. Look at verses 19-21. God’s uses discipline to speak a deeper truth. When we are disciplined what do we usually think about? The pain. But we also need to think about the lesson. They asked for a sign. 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 confused. They thought He was talking about the building they were standing in. Jesus was talking about Himself. His crucifixion. These very same Jews were going to be responsible for having Jesus crucified. And Jesus was telling them that even after they killed him, Guess what! I’ll be back!!! I am coming back --- 3 days later. But they didn’t get it. They didn’t want to get it because they knew they were about to lose their authority….their power. So they chose not to believe.
Look at verse 22. Discipline, when applied can result in belief/faith. 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 about 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. The Bible tells us that it was not until after the resurrection that they did believe. Then they understood. God uses discipline to get our attention.
What does it take for you? When you face trials or you face a time when God is testing how do you respond?
1. You can stop and remember. Remember what God has done for you. Remember your blessings.
2. You can start to make a bargain with the Lord. God if you’ll do this for me then I will do this for you.
3. We can remain skeptics. I have to see it to believe it.
4. You can simply accept His discipline, learn from it and begin to grow again.
Perhaps God is trying to do something in your life to get your attention. God tried to get Jonah’s attention and he ran. He tried to speak to Moses and Moses got angry. His anger kept him from ever getting into the Promised Land. Best thing you can do when God tries to get your attention? Just say yes sir, what do you need? What can I do?
