Scripture: John 2:13-22
Introduction
Zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me. Psalm 69:9
- A lot of misunderstandings come from this story about Jesus clearing out the temple.
- All four Gospels report this story, but John’s Gospel puts it at the beginning.
- The other three Gospels put the story at the end of Jesus’ ministry during Holy Week.
- The consensus seems to be that Jesus actually cleansed the temple twice.
- This may be true, however, if it is, why do neither sets of Gospels say it happened twice?
- Personally, I am more inclined to think it only happened once and was reported from different perspectives. You think about it and get back to me later.
- Another misunderstanding from this story is that it reveals an angry outburst by Jesus.
- Are we to assume that it is ok for the church to persecute that which it finds offensive?
- NO, this not the message that Jesus wants to send.
- First, humanity is inherently corrupt because of our sinful nature.
- Second, it is not our job to police the world, but to lead them to Christ.
- So much has been done in the name of Christ to put forth political and social agendas.
- Even Jesus said in John 3:17 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
- If Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world, why do churches spend so much time doing it
- There are two points I want us to consider about what Jesus did in the temple:
- The current trends
- Flipping the script
1. The current trends
- In 1966, the late John Lennon of the Beatles was quoted in an interview with Maureen Cleave of The Evening Standard:
Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I’ll be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first – rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.
- According to Jonathan Gould in Can’t Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain and America:
[The comment] drew angry reactions from Christian communities when republished in the United States that July.
Lennon’s comments incited protests and threats, particularly throughout the Bible Belt in the Southern United States. Some radio stations stopped playing Beatles songs, records were publicly burned, and press conferences were cancelled. The controversy coincided with the band’s 1966 US tour and overshadowed press coverage of their newest album, Revolver. Lennon later repeatedly apologised and clarified at a series of press conferences that he was not comparing himself or the band to Christ.
In 1980, he was murdered by a Christian fan of the Beatles, Mark David Chapman, who later cited Lennon’s quote as one of his possible motives in the killing.
- The sad thing, apart from the loss of John, is that he was right!!!
- The one thing that I don’t think he considered was that Christianity and rock music would merge.
- In fact, the trend today is towards the contemporary, high-energy church that is about 90% entertainment and 10% Jesus.
- So, if Jesus came into our churches today, what do you think He would do?
- Would He turn over amplifiers and guitars and put back 400 year-old hymns?
- Would He have an issue with Joel Osteen’s 100 million net worth or Billy Graham’s estimated 25 million estate? How about Kenneth Copeland at 300 million?
- Do you think Jesus would have taken exception to these incredible fortunes by ministers?
- I don’t think that was the issue that Jesus had when He cleansed the temple.
- Do you think that Jesus wanted only solemn worship inside the temple?
- No, I think it is easy to miss the point and jump to conclusions with this story.
- What happened to the curtain that divided the holy of holies from the outer courts?
- It was torn in half while Jesus hung on the cross.
- I think that Jesus did not like what the temple had become.
- It was a business fueled by an empty system of sacrifice.
- I think Jesus understood the practicality of selling sacrificial livestock – even His own parents bought doves to sacrifice because that was all they could afford.
- Jesus was fed up with the way that the Jewish church leadership was so self-centered.
- The enemy of the Jewish people wasn’t the Romans – it was their own corrupt leaders.
- If you want to know what Jesus would do today, just look around.
- This time, Jesus isn’t turning over tables; He’s turning over congregations.
- The current trend is to shut down churches that have lost their way.
- We are surrounded by churches that have closed and reopened under new owners.
- Fortunately, the new owners are Christian, and their attendance is thriving.
- So, what did Jesus really come to overturn? The Status Quo.
- The “we’ve always done it this way” and “that won’t ever work here.”
- Jesus came to shake things up and move humanity in a totally new direction starting with the Jews.
2. Flipping the script
- Do you know what it means to “flip the script”?
- According to Cambridge dictionary.com it means:
to do something completely differently or in the opposite way from the way it is usually done:
- Jesus literally flipped over tables, but figuratively, He flipped the script on the world.
- The current way of doing things just wasn’t working.
- Just as we have seen so many of our neighboring churches just not working.
- At this church, Jesus has flipped the script.
- Gone is the prejudice and judgementalism and arrogance that has destroyed others.
- The love and kindness here is palpable – you can feel it in the air like nowhere else.
- We are obedient to the will of God to be open, caring and benevolent to our neighbors.
- In return, He has given us much grace by offering an amazing rally point with our missions. Kind of makes you think of Amazing Grace doesn’t it?
- I have never seen so few do so much with so little – this place is mind boggling.
- Yesterday this place was a beehive of activity with folks cleaning and making it pretty.
- I believe Jesus was here and I believe He was impressed and thinking “you guys get it!”
- I was once asked if I thought we were doing the wrong thing having all the yard sale stuff inside the church.
- I’ll let Jesus answer that question for me: “That which you do for the least of these my brethren, you do for me.” Matthew 25:40
- I stopped at verse 22, but listen to verses 23-25:
Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.
- Jesus knows what is in our hearts and He knows we have a heart from missions.
- And how do we know that Jesus is OK with our yard sales? He has buried us in stuff
- Yes, Jesus has flipped the script on Biltmore and He is doing it all over.
- May the Lord continue to bless our obedience and love for this church and His mission.