Jesus in Real Time

John 2:13-22New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Clears the Temple Courts

13 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.”[a]

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.

The story from John that I just read you appears in all four Gospels which tells us that each writer of the respective Gospel found this story important enough to share it.  Each version is slightly different and it appears much earlier in John than it does in the other three.  Whenever I have preached on this story or when I have heard this story preached to me, I remember the anger of Christ being the focal point.  It is one of the very few times in any of the Gospels where we find this kind of anger from Jesus so we often use it as an excuse for us to an in similar way when provoked like Jesus was provoked that day.  When preached correctly, this can be effective in helping us to grow in our faith but this morning I am going to preach it a little differently.  This morning I want us to think of it like we were there.  I want to take us to that moment so that we can see Jesus in real time during this very heated and important moment in his ministry.  

The Temple had many courts that lead to the actual Temple (where the Arc of the Covenant was).  First was the court of the Gentiles, then the court of Women, then the court of Israelites, and finally the court of the Priests.  The money-changers and animals would have been in the outermost court where the Gentiles worshiped.  The scene would have been chaotic from the beginning.  There would have been cattle and sheep making the noises and smells they typically do.  There would have been doves chirping.  Bartering would have been taking place and pilgrims changing money in order to pay the Temple tax.  The outer court of the Gentiles would have been a difficult place to worship God to say the least.  The Gentile court was the furthest from the Temple proper to begin with and then it was more of a marketplace than a place of worship.  Imagine how hard it would be to worship in here if there were cattle, sheep, doves, salesmen and money-changers all going on while we do the invocation or Lord’s Prayer.  It would have been incredibly difficult for anyone to worship under those conditions.  It is easy to see why Jesus was angry.

We often focus on the anger of Jesus when we read this scripture and the other versions of it but this morning I want to focus on why Jesus was angry.  What got him to that point?  We know Jesus made a whip, flung coins everywhere, overturned tables, and chased sheep and cattle from the Gentile court.  We know Jesus was very angry.  But I don’t know if we know the full story as to why.  There are three reasons that Jesus acted in the manner he did that day.  1). First, the obvious reason is that business was being conducted in the Temple.  Business that was not conducive to the glorifying of God.  Worship was being conducted without reverence.  In other words, the worship was empty, worship didn’t mean anything to the person offering it.  It was worship in which the holiness of God was totally  forgotten.  In the Gentile court that day there would have been disputes over money, arguments about the worth of coins, bartering over the exchange rate, and the overall clatter of the market place would have made the Temple court a place of irreverent worship.  The lesson here is that each of us should do our best to rid ourselves of irreverent worship.  Our worship should be prepared and meaningful.  2).  The second reason for Jesus’ anger was the animal sacrifice aspect of the Temple.  For those who could afford it, animal sacrifice was the quickest way to get back into the good graces of God.  All the while, many prophets had been preaching against animal sacrifice in the first place.  For example, Jeremiah 7:22 says, “For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices...”  Hosea and Isaiah also talk about vain burnt offerings.  Burnt offerings did nothing to bring one closer to God.  Remember when I said that God is relational?  Lets think about this, does burning part of an animal that you could barely afford in a place that only High Priests can go really bring anyone closer to God.  No.  Burnt offerings may be difficult for us to imagine in today’s world but we all still have our own burnt offerings that do not bring us closer to God.  We all have things that we hold onto for whatever reason.  We all have some sort of chain that keeps us held back from fully seeing the glory of God.  Reason 3). Jesus was angry that this market was taking place in the Gentile court.  Even if a Gentile had gained the courage and the two days pay to gain access into the Temple, the best place that they could worship was a market full of cattle, sheep, doves and money changers.  The conduct of the outer Temple shut out the Gentile seeking to know the glory of God.  The lesson here is that we should never do or say anything that keeps a “Gentile” from pursuing the glory of God.  Romans 14:13 says, “Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.”

There is one final act to the scene I have set for you this morning:  Jesus was asked to show a sign of his authority to act in the manner he did.  Imagine the Gentile court in a complete wreck and a money changer approaching Jesus and saying, “Whoa, whoa, wait a minute man, by what authority do you destroy this place?”  I imagine a smirky, sarcastic, know-it-all asking Jesus to prove himself and Jesus replies by simply saying, “Destroy this Temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”  The snarky little man saying, “Hold on, you mean to tell me that it will take you three days to raise this Temple after they spent 46 years building it? Yea, right.”  At this point, the disciples agreed with the snarky little man because someone came back to edit the Gospel of John and had to add that they disciples recalled what Jesus said that day and then they believed the scripture and the words Jesus had spoken.  A neat little addition if you ask me.  The disciples had no clue what Jesus was saying that day.  They too questioned his authority.  It was not until after Jesus rose from the dead that this made sense.  

Here is what I want you to take away from today: Yes, Jesus got angry.  But rather than focusing on the anger it is important for us to understand why he got that way.  We do not want to be a modern day money changer.  The Biblical scholar William Barclay said it this way, “Is there anything in our church life -- a snobbishness, an exclusiveness, a coldness, a lack of welcome, a tendency to make the congregation into a closed club, an arrogance -- that keeps the seeking stranger out?”  In other words, to do not be the reason someone cannot become closer to God.  That someone may even be yourself.  Amen.