Jesus Cleans House (Gospel of John Pt. 8)
Text: John 2:13 – 25
We’ve been studying the Gospel of John the last few weeks, and if you remember from last week, we looked at the beginning of chapter two, where Jesus performed His first sign at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. And one thing we’ll notice as we go through this Gospel account is that John does talk quite a bit about the miracles of Jesus… not quite as much as Mark’s Gospel, but still, John covers quite a few of them. And you’ll notice that John calls them signs.
Now what is a sign? Well; in a nut-shell, a sign is something that conveys information that we are expected to act on. Think about it… if you see a red, octagon shaped sign with the word “STOP” on it – it’s not there for you to admire. It’s telling you that you are approaching a part of the road where it would be beneficial and safe to stop your car. If you’re headed to Woodward, and you see that sign that says, “Woodward 12 miles”, that’s telling you how far you have to go until you reach your destination. So that’s what a sign is – something that conveys information, that we are expected to act on. They warn us of things. They point to things. They give direction. And that’s what these signs of Jesus are doing… they are pointing us to something – or rather; SOMEONE.
They are directing us to the reality that Jesus is God’s Son.
So let’s keep that in mind as we go through John’s Gospel… And let’s go ahead and do that. If you have your Bible, open it up to John 2:12 – 25 and let’s read today’s text (READ).
Now here’s something else that’s helpful as you’re studying John… John doesn’t write his Gospel account in chronological order. He focuses on events, not the time line. So this instance of Jesus cleansing the temple, could be during the crucifixion week, or it could be a separate event… some scholars think that Jesus did this twice. I tend to look at it as one event, and I’ll tell you why.
Not too long ago, my dad and my uncle went to an Episcopalian church. This particular church was holding an event where they had the pastor of that church, a Catholic Priest, and a Muslim Imam all speak to the crowd. And these three leaders all stood up and basically said, “Since we all worship the same God, we should all just get along.” After this they had a Q&A session where the people who were at the event we allowed to ask questions… and so… I think it was my uncle… He took the opportunity to ask the Imam if Allah had a son? The Imam was red faced as he answered, and he said, “No.” They asked him if Allah saved a single sinner by grace? Again the Imam had to answer no. They asked him if he supported Shiara Law, and he tried to dodge the question. Basically; they exposed this false teaching that Allah and Yahweh are one and the same God. They aren’t. Needless to say, they’ll probably never be allowed back in that church again. Well for the same reason, I believe that this event that we just read about, was the one and only time Jesus did this. And it took place during the last week He was physically on earth, and its probably part of what led to His crucifixion.
So it’s Passover – the celebration of the Jewish people where they remembered God delivering them from Egypt. It was supposed to be a memorial feast, kind of like when we do Communion… which we’ll be taking in a couple of weeks… but it had become a money making sham. The way it worked was that every adult male Jew was required to pay an annual temple tax that would about the equivalent of two-days wages. But the thing was, everyone had Roman money. It had the image of the emperor on it… but the priests said, “That money is unclean, and it can’t be accepted as payment for the temple.” So there were money changers there. And these money changers who worked for the priests would exchange the Roman money for temple money. There were a couple of problems with this… first of all, the “Temple money” couldn’t be spent anywhere but the Temple… secondly; they charged an exchange rate, that was about the same as one-days wage… So in order to pay the annual Temple Tax… it was actually going to cost you about three-days wages, instead of two. Like I said, it was a shame. It was horribly dishonest, and really… when you think about it… the whole thing was wicked.
Not only that… if you lived really far from Jerusalem, and you couldn’t bring a sacrificial animal, the temple would sell you one… Now of course, you could only buy one using Temple money, and the same exchange rate applied.
It’s gets better… Even if you did bring your own sacrifice. A lot of the times, the priests inspecting it, would say that your sacrificial animal wasn’t worthy. They’d say it had some kind of defect or that it was inferior, so you’d have to end up paying for one of the Temple animals anyway.
You ever wonder where that term “fleecing” comes from? Well there you go… These Levitical Priests were kind of like the ancient version of Joel Osteen or Benny Hinn. They were scamming people while claiming it was for God. And like I said, it was a wicked, disgusting abuse of power.
So this is what Jesus comes into when He comes to the Temple… and it makes Him angry. And people will sometimes ask – “Does God get angry?” Yeah He does – Psalm 7:11 – God is angry with the wicked EVERY DAY! But it’s not anger like you and I might have… It’s a righteous anger. It’s an anger towards injustice, and sin, and wickedness. It’s an anger towards people like these money changers who are profaning the Temple of the Lord. But at the same time, it’s a controlled anger. Jesus doesn’t just blow up here and lose control. He is always in complete control. He takes the time to either find a whip (or make one), and then He drives the money changers out of the temple. He flips the tables over, scatters the money all over the ground. And the whole point of this is that these guys had taken this house of worship, and made it about something totally sinful.
And there is nothing new under the sun… today we still see abuses of power. Just last week the Houston Chronicle came out with a story. They’ve compiled a list of over 200 SBC leaders (we’re talking pastors, youth pastors, Sunday School leaders, seminary professors, and DOM’s) who have either sexually assaulted someone, or were involved in covering it up. And the big shots in the SBC are trying to figure it out… they’re asking, “How did this happen? Why did this happen? What could we have done to prevent this?” And basically their answer is – “This has happened because these leaders who have done this, were not properly vetted… so we have to do a better job at vetting them. Background checks, and better communication.” And all of that’s well and good… but if you ask me, they should’ve asked one more “WHY?” question.
Why weren’t they properly vetted? I’ll tell you why… It’s because the church has believed a lie… they believed a lie that says success is what the world says it is, not what God says it is. They believed that success is a mega-church, and that success is a celebrity pastor who writes best sellers or a seminary professor who has millions of podcast subscribers. Success is having a top notch worship band, and mood lighting, and all the things that get people emotionally worked up. And it’s traced back to pragmatism in a lot of those instances… churches are more concerned with getting big numbers than they are actual discipleship so they get unqualified people in those positions… They’re great speakers. They’re full of energy and exciting and charismatic, even though they couldn’t tell you a thing about right theology or doctrine. But they draw a crowd, so they fast track them into positions of leadership. They place them as pastors, and church planters, and seminary professors, and they don’t vet them. They don’t examine their lives. They don’t test their doctrine. And they ignore all the warning signs. Now they’re paying for it. It’s the same thing with these churches that are going to this entertainment style of worship… but it’s not really worshiping God. It’s about giving sinful people what they want. They make it about people, and entertainment, and giving people a “warm, fuzzy, experience”, and they totally lose sight of God.
And you’ve heard the arguments… “Well how are we supposed to get sinners to come if we don’t make it attractive?” But that’s a problem isn’t it? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The Bible is very; VERY clear… THERE ARE NONE WHO SEEK GOD – NO NOT ONE! People who are going to those rock concert, 3 ring circus type churches are not seeking God. They’re seeking an emotional experience that satisfies their sin-nature.
That’s one of the reasons why Jesus says we have to GO. He says, “Go into all the world, preach the Gospel, and make disciples.”
Ok… so Jesus drives these money changers out of the Temple… because they were profaning it… they were taking advantage of people… The Bible tells us that the Lord’s House is to be a place of worship. And this is important for us to understand… There’s a way that focuses on ourselves, and our convenience, and our entertainment that actually sickens God. And that’s the first point of this passage… but there is a second point that we need to look at really quick… and it goes together with what we looked at last week.
If you remember last week, we saw how Jesus turned water into wine. And it was interesting because John told us, that Jesus had the servants fill up the purification pots with water, and that’s what He turned into wine. Today we see Jesus drive out the money changers, and then… when He’s questioned about it, He says, “Destroy this ‘temple’ and in 3 days I’ll raise it up.”
Basically; what John is trying to show us here in these two accounts… (and this is why he put them so close together, even though they happened years apart). Is that Jesus was changing the order of things. He’s bringing an end to the ritual… because the REALITY has come. All those religious rituals, and even the Law itself were just types and shadows pointing to the reality of Christ. The sacrifices are going to be unnecessary, because Jesus is going to be the once and for all Sacrifice for sin. He’s the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Worship is going to be deepened, and be done in spirit and in Truth. The old Purification rites were just types and shadows, but Jesus is going to wash us whiter than snow. He’s fill us with His Holy Spirit, and cleanse us and sanctify us with the truth. The temple is just a building built by man… and Christ is going to dwell in our hearts.
Of course; the people couldn’t get it… their minds were darkened by sin. So they think when Jesus says “Destroy this temple and in 3 days I’ll raise it up.”, that He’s talking about the literal, physical building of the Temple… He’s not… He’s talking about His body, but they’re like, “Are you crazy? It’s taken us 46 years to build it.” And for the record, it still wasn’t done. It was like Oklahoma highways… we keep sending money down state, but the highways never get done. It actually took them another 30 years to complete the Temple. And what’s really interesting is that they finished it in 63 A.D. - Just in time for the Roman Empire to completely destroy it in 70 AD. And they did. They tore it apart, stone by stone.
Ok… so what does all this mean to you and me? Well I think we’ve already seen it… First of all, God is more concerned with true, honest worship than He is with external ritual, and going through the motions. We’re to love Him with our whole being – heart, soul, mind, and strength. We’re to focus on Him, and prepare our hearts, and bring our thoughts into submission to Him and His will. He’s the object of our praise, and our worship. He’s our hearts desire. So worship isn’t about us… it’s focused on Jesus, and directed to Jesus. And secondly; when we don’t worship God correctly… when we abuse the grace and freedom, and authority He’s given to us, and twist things around to suit our own sinful desires. God can become displeased with that… even to the point of righteous anger. When we do that… when we make it about us, and about what our own sinful desires prefer, rather than what God commands – it’s an affront to Him.
CLOSING
