Chapter 2 Verse 13

 

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand...its interesting to me and I don't believe it to be insignificant that John says here “the Passover of the Jews.”  The Passover was not initiated by that name.  Turn over to Exodus Chapter 11...

 

Pick it up in verse 9 of chapter 11 and read through verse 14 of chapter 12.

 

And so you see there in the institution of the Passover feast it was instituted as “the Lord's Passover.”  But back over here in John Chapter 2, it has become the “Passover of the Jews.”  And that is entirely what religion does...subtly but surely the convocation to the Lord, the dedication to the Lord, the emphasis on the Lord God, becomes emphasis on man...twisted...so very twisted.

 

But Jesus came to set right so many wrongs.  To remove the vail of religion between man and God and show the Way the Truth and the Life.  We must guard our own hearts and walks so that they do not center on ourselves but rather they are keenly focused on Jesus, His righteousness, His worthiness, and His reign over our lives. 

 

If you're feeling condemned...if you're feeling that you're not good enough...then friend you have changed the Lord's Passover to the Passover of You, a subtle change but detrimental to your walk none-the-less. 

God's grace is sufficient for you...the Bible says to look not to your own righteousness but to cling to the righteousness of Jesus who has once and for all cleansed you and joined you to God the Father...so worship...cast off the depression and accept God's love...cast off the condemnation and accept God's grace...

 

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Its always “up to Jerusalem” never down.  And that is true of any decision that you make to come to God's holy city...The bible says that God dwells in Israel...and so when you say ok God, not me...you...I give you my life, I give you my marriage, I give you my career, I give you reign over even this one little decision, then understand, you are stepping up!  You are rising up! 

 

But know the truth, you can say you are going up to Jerusalem, you can plan to go up to Jerusalem, but unless you actually go up to Jerusalem, you have not risen up!  You have not stepped up!  And so when you give something over to the Lord, give it to Him!  God I give you my career, but then you groan and complain and wish you worked somewhere else!  God I give you my marriage but then you so often find yourself grumbling against your wife or talking under your breath against your husband...You have given God NOTHING!  God wants to use you right there, right then, every day and He will if you would simply let Him.  And so don't just agree, don't just say yes God I give it You, rise up!

 

So here's the scene, Jesus, heading towards Jerusalem at the onset of the Passover...Verse 14, And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. 

 

To the Jew, the temple was the center of purity and worship.  It also symbolized the nation's peculiar relationship with God...what other nation could say that they possessed the temple in which God Himself dwells.  But today, Jehovah Himself walked into His own temple and what He found must have broken His heart...he saw once again, His people being abused...

 

You see, per the law that we just read back in Exodus, each family was to bring their own offering...a male lamb of its first year without blemish...but entrepreneurs, business men in their quest for profit, had made a deal with the religious leaders...”hey, let us be the ones who approve the offerings when they are brought for sacrifice...but no doubt we'll find a blemish and under the authority of the temple priests we'll reject the offering and sell to them a pre-screened animal...one that has already been found to be without blemish...and when we do, we'll slip some change into the temple offering...

 

And also the bible says there were money changers and what that meant is those same entrepreneurs said “hey lets make our own money and call it temple currency...and when people show us their offerings and we find that blemish...

Not only will we sell them our perfect offering at a premium price of course because its pre-screened and all, but then we'll ask them to kindly use temple currency...and when they do not have temple currency we'll exchange their currency for ours...you know...at a small profit...

 

And also the annual tax to be paid to the temple of half a shekel...should it be paid with money that bears the emblem of submission to an earthly king? 

 

To the carnal man, to the flesh this almost sounds logical doesn't it?  You know make a buck...But the truth is this is exactly what the traditions of men have done to a person simply seeking Jesus.  Greed, position, and power have become the instruments of control just as they were in Jesus' time in the temple.  Religion is all just a trip laid out by man to control the people and gather riches for the religious elite. 

 

Jesus said, my burden is light, my yoke is easy, my commandments, they are not burdensome...The bible says, come directly to God as we have one mediator that forever lives to make intercession between God and man and that is the Messiah Jesus Christ.  No one else.  You don't need me, you don't need anyone, you have direct and immediate access to God the Father, to a real relationship with Him, through Jesus Christ. 

 

The bible says if God is for me then who can be against me.  If God is with us, then what can man do to us? 

And so we yield to the Holy Spirit not the busted religious. 

Jesus just emancipates (frees) this whole situation.  Malachi prophesied 400 years before Jesus came on the scene writing in Malachi chapter 3 verse 1 says “The Lord will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold He is coming.”

 

And so, there in John Chapter 2 verse 15 When He had made a whip of chords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!

 

I love the fact that John records Jesus making a weapon of sorts and then forcefully driving out the fakers.  Those antibodies that were poisoning the holy temple.  He didn't walk in and say, hey you guys, try to leave today...hey you guys if its ok with you, and it doesn't cause a scene, can you guys take your business elsewhere...

 

How many things do you and I wrestle with in our flesh and we say well I'll try, or well I'd like to change but it would just cause too much of a problem or a scene...know what...the truth is, you don't really want to change.  You have eased into a comfort of using people, getting what you want, and although you know its wrong and you maybe even don't like it, you leave the users in the temple. 

 

And you know what that does?  That drives you to keep Jesus at arm's length.  Oh you know the christianese lingo but when it comes to it, you don't have a desire to spend time with the Lord, you don't have a passion for His word...and in a way, you may even wonder why...

 

THAT is why the bible calls the enemy a deceiver.  You are deceived and lulled into a spiritual and mental pit and your temple is full of covetousness....

 

But Malachi says, The Lord will suddenly come to His temple...will you not give your life to Jesus today...Jesus will bring His weapon, His double-edged sword, if you allow Him to, and He will surgically remove all it is that so easily ensnares you, the bible says.  There is freedom in Jesus, there is victory in the Lord...but the decision is yours...what have you allowed in your temple?  Are you ready and willing for Jesus to drive it out? 

 

I love that John records that Jesus said to those who sold doves...Get out!  The dove is a symbol of peace, a symbol of restoration, a symbol of the Holy Spirit....but none of those things are found in a life lived in the flesh...the religion of the day and the enticements of this world will promise peace peace but swiftly they bring destruction.  (1 Thes 5:3)  It is only Jesus Himself, no room for anything else, Jesus Himself that is able to set us free!

 

 

Verse 17, Then His disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up!  What a great pattern, His disciples remembered the scripture found in Psalm 69...how, because they knew it!  The more I know of the Bible man the more I see God at work.  Things happen every day and we ascribe the events to “hey thats just life” well no its not...Colossians 1:17 says that by Him and through him and for Him, ALL things consist...so no its not just life, God is at work and we miss it because we don't know what He has said...hey I'll do this, and I'm going to show you that...well when this happens and that comes about, if we haven't prepared our eyes to see and our ears to hear, then man...ripped off. 

 

A great pattern shown here by John.  They know the scripture, they know God's word and then when it comes to pass, they see it and God gets glory! 

 

Verse 18, So the Jews answered and said to Him, what sign do You show to us, since you do these things?

 

Pretty interesting here that the Jews answer to Jesus is not an attack, not a full frontal assault to stop Him from destroying their profit...simply an answer.  Why?  We read that Jesus was meek and lowly and we get this mind picture I believe that is incorrect...because understand we also read that Jesus was mighty and in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col 2:9) and so I believe Jesus was noone to trifle with...why bring 100 soldiers to take one man?

Verses 19 – 22

 

Again we see His disciples paying close attention to His word and then when the fulfillment of what He has spoken comes to pass, they see it.  They catch it and the result is that it builds their faith!

 

Verses 23 – 25

 

And so many believed but John here again informing his readers of Jesus' deity, tells us that Jesus discerned their hearts and did not trust them.  He could see that their belief was surface level and not real...

 

An unknown author once said, “Man's affections may be stirred, man's intelligence informed, man's conscience convicted, but still, God cannot trust him...man in the flesh is simply condemned...only a new creation avails before God.  Man must be born again...

 

And that is exactly what we will look at next week.

 

One last thing I want to show you before we part...an interesting comparison of the first part of chp2 and the second.  Actually, a striking contrast. 

 

 

 

 

In the wedding we have a festive gathering, in the temple a scene of divine judgement.  To the wedding, Jesus was invited, into the temple He came suddenly on His own initiative.  At the wedding, He used men...in the temple, He emptied it Himself.  At the wedding, He was commended, in the temple, He was challenged.  His sign at the wedding was symbolic of His death, His sign at the temple was symbolic of His coming...at the wedding John says there in verse 11 that He displayed His glory, in the temple, John says there in verse 17 that He displayed His zeal...

 

You see, now is the time for you to turn to Jesus.  The bible says that today is the day of salvation, because just as we see the pattern here, so strikingly, there is coming a day where the day of salvation will be passed and the day of separation will arrive.  Yes I'm talking about the end of the age, because the bible foretells of that day, the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord, but I'm also talking about today.  Tomorrow is promised to noone.  The bible speaks of a man who takes security in what he has and it calls him a fool because even on that very day his life will be required of him.

 

Jesus desires to show you His glory, use you, give you true life, set you free!  But He must be invited and there must be a wedding...next week we'll spend some time talking about what it means to be born again...but suffice it to say for today, give your all to Jesus, and He has promised, He will form in you a new heart, a new nature, and a new hope...and you will partake of the free gift of salvation in Christ Jesus!