John 2: 13-25 ( Jesus Cleanses the Temple)
When was the last time you got mad???? How did you react???? What did it feel like- the rage inside of you?? What did you do???
Usually when we think of God we think of His love! We think of the fruits of the Spirit, His promises, His never-ending supply of goodness and kindness. We think of Spiritual growth and maturing- and Most importantly we think of How he demonstrated His love to us by dying on the cross and raising from the dead three days later!....But He is also a God of wrath and anger for judgment against all unrighteousness and sin! He hates sin and whatever God thinks of --SO SHOULD WE! We have been given the Mind of Christ and we are made in His image, therefore even though are hearts flesh’ is full of evil we should hate sin just as Jesus does!
Now we are going to look at the anger of Jesus as He drove out the Jews and money changers because of what they were doing in the temple.
BACKGROUND-
The Passover of the Jews was at hand (should be the Lord’s Passover). This was where the male Jews over nineteen were required to pay a temple tax. As a result of the tax, tax collectors and inspectors were gathered around in the temple. However, these officials would NOT take secular coins because they had the image of the Roman emperor, whom the pagans worshiped as god. To put such coins into a treasury was thought of as an offense. So in order to accomodate this problem merchants set up shop in the temple to exchange secular coins for sacred coins. In other words - They were stealing, cheapshotting, or almost taking people’s money!!
When Jesus arrived and saw what they were doing- He was outraged-FURIOUS, I personally would never get in the way of Jesus Christ or do anything to make him mad.
After making a whip of cords Jesus drove them out of the temple with their oxen and sheep( but not doves...) and poured over their tables and overturned the money onto the ground. "Take these things away! Do not make my Father’s house a house of merchandise"!
WOW!-Jesus had just publicly started His ministry and after all these years of teaching in the temple He had finally come to address the temple as His Father’s House., He was now making His power and name known to His Messiaship. With the disciples and Pharisees realizing they asked for a sign.
Jesus answered, " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up". LETS STOP RIGHT HERE.
From our viewpoint Jesus was talking about raising His BODY back up not the man made temple.
- So from the start here - What did Jesus do?
- He cleansed the temple -He got rid , drove out , casted out the moneychangers and what came with them.
For me - it is like this- being such a good looking guy j/k - I compare this to washing your face. You have to wash your face daily to get rid of all the dirt, blackheads, and future pimples- but if you do not take the time to DAILY wash your face of all the impurities your face will not turn out fully clean and it will continue to be dirty until you take some action- COMPRENDE’
Scripture: I Cor. 3:16- Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?
HOW CAN YOU CLEANSE THE TEMPLE (your body)?- besides soap
Let’s take what the King said- v. 16-"TAKE THESE THINGS AWAY!. Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise"!- HOW SIMPLE, but NOT EASY!!
If any things/thought/action in your life is causing you not to please God it is time to get rid of. Whatever causes defilement(pimples), uneasiness, hate, anger, confusion, depression-it is time to get rid of them right NOW.
The Bible says to PUT ON CHRIST in Ephesians.
WELL>>>> HOW DO YOU DO THAT?????
Jesus says in this passage that He will raise His temple up in three days and that same power is in you with which He was raised from. WORD !!! It is our responsibility to get tapped into that power by getting INTO HIS PRESENCE
I believe the key way for getting into His presence is confession (getting real before God) Have you ever been real with your God?? Sometimes I feel lower than whale manewer! SOme days are crap and terrible- Have you ever been that real before your God (positively and negatively) ???
It says in James 4:6- God resists the proud But gives grace to the Humble. ----Jesus’ message is a life of purity and a lifestyle of holiness
Confession is the ROAD to change and the GATEWAY to Healing! To choose Jesus is a walk of self denial, suffering, and giving your will to Christ! It is all about turning your will over to God ONE DAY AT A TIME. He knows every pure and dirty thought/action you have ever done
WHAT IS STOPPING YOU FROM GIVING YOUR TOTAL EVERYTHING TO HIM?? He exemplified it for you in this passage- "Zeal for his House has eaten me up" - even the disciples noticed it . Zeal means passion and Jesus lived HIs life in total passion and total seeking commitment to His Father in Heaven and He showed His pure passion right here.
Let Christ live through you and let " Mr. Clean " purify you of your sins or present sin that you are struggling with. Stop feeling guilty on what you have done and start depending and being real and having an intimate relationship with your Savior and Friend!
