A.We typically think of Jesus as a passive, peaceful man calmly and patiently teaching the people.However, there are two occasions recorded in the Bible where we see a much different side of Jesus.
1.On these occasions, Jesus was aggressive even to the point of violence.Once it is recorded that “He made a scourge of cords” (John 2:15) to use as a weapon against certain people.
2.The zeal and passion of Jesus on these occasions demand our notice.What could provoke the Prince of Peace, who did not even defend Himself at Gethsemane (Matt. 26:50-56) or before Pilate (Matt. 27:11-14), to this explicit display of righteous indignation?
B.It was the desecration of His Father’s house, the temple of Jerusalem, that drove Jesus into action.
1.In our lesson, we will consider a short history of the temple and the two occasions when Jesus purged the corruption from the temple.
2.We will also consider what these events reveal about our Lord and how they affect us today.
II.THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM
A.God promised Israel through Moses that once they inhabited the Promised Land, there would be a fixed place “for His name to dwell” where the people would offer worship (Deut. 12:10-14).This house would replace the tabernacle that Israel moved with them in the wilderness.
B.This promise was fulfilled in the temple of Jerusalem, which was not built until the days of King Solomon.
1.Solomon received the plans for the temple from his father David (1Chron. 28:11-21).
a.King David received the plan for the temple from God (1Chron. 28:19), and he collected the materials for its construction (1Chron. 22:1-5; 29:1-9).
b.However, he was not allowed to build the temple himself because he had shed so much blood (1Chron. 22:8).Therefore, David charged Solomon to build the temple as God had decreed (2Sam. 7:4-17; 1Chron.17:3-15; 22:6-16; 28:9-10).
2.After David’s death, King Solomon built the temple according to God’s plan.
a.Construction began in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign (1Ki. 6:1).Hundreds of thousands of workers were employed (1Ki. 5:13-18) and seven years were required for completion (1Ki. 6:38; approx. 960 B.C.).
b.During its construction, God promised Solomon that He would “dwell among the sons of Israel” as long as Solomon would abide in the word of God (1Ki. 6:11-13).
c.When the temple was completed, the Ark of the Covenant was brought in (1Ki. 8:1-9), and “the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD” (1Ki. 8:10-11).The temple was then dedicated (1Ki. 8:62-66).
d.Solomon’s temple was a spectacular structure filled with the finest materials and treasures.It was a potent symbol of God’s presence among the people of Israel.
C.After the days of Solomon, the temple cycled through various states of disrepair, and eventually it was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 B.C.
1.The state of the temple was symbolic of the spiritual state of the people.As the people neglected God, the temple was also neglected with its treasures often carried away by enemies.
2.Shortly before the invasion of Babylon, Ezekiel saw a vision in which the glory of God departed from the temple and Jerusalem (Ezek. 8-11).Thus, God no longer dwelt among His people, and He gave them over to conquest (2Ki. 25:9-17)..
D.After Persia conquered Babylon, a remnant of the Jews was allowed to return and rebuild the temple.
1.King Cyrus of Persia decreed that the temple would be built in Jerusalem (2Chron. 36:22-23) and provided for its financing (Ezra 1:1-4; 6:8-12).
2.The rebuilt temple was only a shadow of Solomon’s temple, and many of the old men wept when they first saw its foundations (Ezra 3:12-13).
E.By the time Jesus came, the temple had been greatly expanded and beautified.Herod the Great, Roman king of the Jews, started the project in 20 B.C., and it took forty-six years to complete (John 2:20).
F.Herod’s temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. and never rebuilt.Today, the site is occupied by the Mosque of Omar, the second most holy place in the Islam religion.
III.JESUS CLEANSED THE TEMPLE
A.In the first century, the temple in Jerusalem had become a place of commerce and corruption.
1.Merchants had set up shop to sell animals, oil, wine, and other things necessary for sacrifices and worship in the court of the Gentiles.
2.Moneychangers provided currency exchanges to travelers for a fee so that they could purchase the elements needed for sacrifices and worship.
3.This commerce had become a source of extortion and corruption in the temple.
B.Jesus began and ended His ministry on earth by purging this corruption from the temple.
1.The first occasion happened early in His ministry and is recorded in John 2:13-17.
2.The second occasion happened when Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time before He was crucified (Matt. 21:12-16; Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-46).
3.On each occasion, Jesus drove out the moneychangers and merchandisers, declaring that this business had no place in His Father’s house.
IV.LESSONS TO LEARN
A.Lesson 1: God will not tolerate corruption in His house.
1.The presence of corruption and extortion in the temple of God provoked Jesus to anger against those who turned His Father’s house into a robbers’ den.
2.Today, God’s house and temple is the church.
a.“…the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth” (1Tim. 3:15).
b.A stern warning is given in 1Corinthians 3:16-17 to any who would corrupt the holiness of God’s church, which is now the temple where He dwells.
3.If Jesus was provoked to anger by the corruption of the temple, how much angrier will he be if His church is corrupted?
a.Solomon’s temple was dedicated with the blood of many animals, but the church was dedicated with the blood of the Son of God, indicating the superiority of the church over Solomon’s temple.How great and glorious the church must be!
b.Christ died to make His church pure and holy (Eph. 5:25-27).Anyone who corrupts His church is disrespecting the blood sacrifice of Christ.
4.Yet many today consider the church to be little more than a social organization to be managed and operated like a common business rather than a holy dwelling place of God.
5.May we be certain not to allow God’s house to fall into a state of disrepair because of corruption.
B.Lesson 2: “Zeal for Your house will consume Me” (John 2:17; Psa. 69:9).
1.Contrary to the typical passive depiction of Jesus, we see Jesus as aggressive in defense of God’s temple because of His zeal.
2.Are we zealous for the Lord’s house as the Lord was for the temple?
a.The church is “the pillar and support of the truth” (1Tim. 3:15).When error and false teaching threaten the church, who will rise in its defense?
b.Christians are often more willing to defend themselves, their families, and their friends than they are to defend their brothers and sisters in Christ and the church collectively.This is not the pattern or the priority set by Christ.
c.“…contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).
C.Lesson 3: When Jesus purged the temple, He entered not as a worshipper but as the Lord.
1.On both occasions when Jesus cleansed the temple, the Jews perceived correctly that He was acting on authority greater than man’s (Matt. 21:15-16; John 2:18-21).
2.His claim that the temple was His Father’s house and that God was His Father made Him equal with God (John 1:1-3; 5:18).
3.When we consider the humble Man Jesus, who subjected Himself to others, we see the sacrificial Lamb of God.When we consider Jesus as He purged the temple, we see God on earth exerting His authority and power.This is the one who will sit in judgment of all men (2Cor. 5:10).
D.Lesson 4: Jesus drove out the corruption and took possession of the temple.
1.Similarly, Jesus has now driven out the corruption and taken possession of every Christian.
2.Not only is the church considered as the temple of God, but also each Christian is a temple of God, for the Spirit of God dwells in the Christian (1Cor. 6:19-20).
3.Therefore, let there be no corruption of sin found in the body and mind of the Christian.
a.Christ has taken ownership of every Christian, and He is likewise zealous for each one as He is for the whole church.
b.To corrupt the body and mind with sin is to provoke the righteous indignation of the Lord.Therefore, let us keep ourselves pure and holy, glorifying God in our bodies.
