the book of John 2 - Jesus Clears the Temple Courts
“When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.”
Key Points: Holiness and purity must be our pursuit
· How does Jesus’s response to what’s going on at the temple help us better understand how we view God?
· How does understanding that God is Holy help us to better view Him and live for Him in our daily lives by how we use our gifts, talents, desires and material possessions?
· How should this affect our hearts in how we treat His creation and how we can honor Him in how we care for our own bodies and others?
How should we understand and view God?
· Jesus’s response to what’s going on at the temple helps us to better understand that God is Holy and not to be taken lightly or indifferently.
What does it mean that God is holy?
· Read Isaiah 6:1–5
· Holy means, “separate” or “set apart.” He is unstained by sin and evil. He is pure and perfect in every way, and perfectly good always.
How should understanding that God is holy affect our view of Him and how we approach Him?
· Does this mean we should live in constant fear of Him?
· Does this mean that we should always be looking over our shoulder waiting for Him to strike if we make a mistake? No
· As we read in Isaiah, as the prophet Isaiah saw the Lord and all that surrounded Him, he was awestruck and filled with wonder, while at the same time, God’s holiness caused him to shudder with reverent fear.
What does Reverent Fear mean?
· For the unbeliever, the fear of God is the fear of the judgment of God and eternal death, which is eternal separation from God.
· For the believer, the fear of God is reverence (to have deep respect and admiration of God.)
· Read:
Hebrews 12:28-29 is a good description of this: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ’God is a consuming fire.’”
Proverbs 1:7 declares, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.”
Revelation 1:17 – “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.
· The apostle John demonstrated the same emotional mixture of attraction and dread when he was brought into the presence of this Holy Majestic Creator.
Is Jesus response to those in the temple justified? Yes
Why? They had turned His Father’s house of prayer into a place of business and were exploiting the poor and those who had traveled long distances to make sacrifices to God.
Matthew 21:12 “Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
· His anger was justified and rightly focused, and even self-controlled.
How does understanding that God is Holy help us to have a better view of Him?
- And how does this help us live for Him in our daily lives by how we use our gifts, talents, desires and material possessions?
- And how should this affect our hearts in how we treat the things of God and how we bring honor to Him in how we care for our own bodies and others?
Closing thoughts:
As we read in Isaiah 6:3, we see God’s holiness mixed with His power and splendor. His holiness truly reveals His love and beautiful, unique and glorious nature as the angels, “called to another and saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
· God is both the Lion and Lamb. Jesus encompasses both authority and power – and – meekness and humility.
· Revelation 5:1-10, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. 6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders.”
Living a holy life means being mindful of God in all circumstances. Learning to be ok with not living as the world around you are living.
Being called out and seeking God’s ways and living in obedience is walking in the way God has called us to.
We all have all sorts of desires within us– we all have all sorts of things we live for- will all sorts of passions within our hearts, some are not good, and some are good and honorable things.
Jesus is teaching those at the temple and us, that He wants us to understand God’s holiness and how we think about Him, approach Him, handle all He has given us (our gifts, our desires, etc. and how we must learn to take all those things and align them with God.
Jesus “anger” at the temple was not necessarily about the selling – they were people just selling animals needed to make sacrifices for the travelers. But’s how they were doing it.
The motives of their hearts were not holy and pure- they were selfish and abusive.
Thus, Jesus was very angry – a righteous anger towards those who were not honoring His Father in His house towards those who wanted to honor the Lord by making their sacrifices to the Lord.
How then can we live Holy and pure lives?
- Be obedient: Obey God's Word and say no to the world.
- Be aware of temptations: Guard your heart, be aware of your weak points, and flee from temptations.
- Pray: Ask God for strength and wisdom to resist temptation and make the right choices.
- Surround yourself with believers: Find a community of believers who can encourage you and hold you accountable.
- Have a quiet time with God: Set aside time each day to be with God.
- Worship and study the Bible: Worship and study the Bible with other believers on a weekly basis.
- Be a good witness: Let your words and deeds show that you are a good witness.
- Be humble: Respond in humility.
- Be patient: Remember that holiness is a journey, not a destination, and that God is patient and gracious.