Trouble in the Temple - Part A

Both of these signs the scientific reforms in the temple driving them out in the sign that he predicts of the temple. His resurrection are both very important signs and they are related to each other. It's really all about believing believing believing. John includes this story because he wants to show us how what happened in the temple caused his disciples to have even more fully in him we could have you heard this or not but a couple years back. There was a study that showed shampoos can make you fat panicked because that is true. There are chemicals various products we use the can have an adverse effect on our hormones. No way.

When using shampoo make you fat. We all hear outrageous claims such as that of a regular basis, is why it's so important to check that while Jesus made it extremely outrageous and many are ready to discount it without ever checking the facts will continue today in John chapter 2 as you turn there will joint Skip hides shares how sometimes people have a little trouble communicate never had a conversation with somebody where you're speaking.

One thing but they're hearing something entirely different.

Now my wife and I do this all the time and one of the worst examples of that is the time when Nathan was just a little guy was the fall Festival and he was dressed up in his biblical costume and we were to meet at Dion's before coming to the church so I heard. I heard her say Dion's pizza and I even asked her which one because in this town there are several of them and I was certain I heard the right one but I went to Dion's pizza and she wasn't there.

She went to it different outlet and I wasn't there so the whole time she's there with Nathan thinking about me how insensitive this guy is you won't even show up to see his own son in his constant and then I'm at the other. Dan's going. I can't believe how insensitive she is. She called me and told her to meter. I've ordered the pizza. Nobody's there. The words Dion's pizza in our minds meant two different locations. One of the most humorous examples of this was an English girl who wanted to go to school at a Swiss Christian school. She visited the place she decided she would relocate to Switzerland from England, but she wrote the schoolmaster asking for some more information. In her letter she said when I was undergrounds. I did not see the restroom course in England the restroom goes by the initials WC which means water closet that's restroom, so she asked for the WC. I noticed there wasn't a WC in the dorms or nearby while in Switzerland it doesn't mean the same thing WC in this Swiss schoolmaster's mind. He couldn't figure out what it meant, and his English wasn't very proficient so he showed her letter to the school chaplain and the only thing they could come up with is that WC must be a reference to the famous Westside Chapel which wasn't far from their grounds. So he writes a letter back to this young lady looking for the restroom with this letter. My dear Mdm., I take great pleasure in informing you that the WC is situated 9 miles from the house in the center of a beautiful grove of pine trees surrounded by lovely grounds. It's capable of holding 229 people it's open on Sundays and Thursdays only as there are a great number of people expected during the summer months. I suggest that you come early. Although there is usually plenty of standing room. It may be of some interest for you to know that my daughter was married in the WC and it was there that she met her husband. I can remember the rush.

There was for seats.

There were 10 people to every seat usually occupied by one. It was wonderful to see the expressions on their faces.

You will be glad to hear that a good number of people bring their lunch and make a day of it, while those who cannot afford to go by car arrived just on time. I would especially recommend that you go on Thursday when there is a piano accompaniment.

The acoustics are excellent and even the most delicate sounds are heard everywhere. The newest addition is a bell donated by a wealthy resident of the district things every time a person answers. I can't go on.

That's that's that's the gist of the letter while she meant something very different than what he heard same initials two different meanings. We have some of that same situation going on in John chapter 2, over a word that is mentioned five times it's the word temple five times in our paragraph. The temple is spoken about two more times. The word house which refers to the physical, historical building, when Jesus at my father's house is mentioned twice as seven times altogether. There's a reference to the temple, but two of those times when Jesus uses the term. He's not speaking up the physical historical building. He speaking of his physical body, which will rise from the dead. So we have two things going on here and you'll see where it breaks up.

We have a sign that Jesus does in the Temple of Jerusalem, but he speaks about the ultimate sign of his temple. His body resurrected from the grave. Let's look in verse 12, and will pick up our story. After this he went down to Capernaum.

He, his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and he did not stay many days there in the Passover of the Jews was in hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem and he found in the temple.

Those who sold oxen and sheep and does an moneychangers doing business when he made a whip of cords, he drove them 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 dogs take these things away not make my father's house a house of merchandise that his disciples remembered that it was written zeal for your house has eaten me up so the Jews answered and said to him, what sign do you show to us and to do these things Jesus answered and said to him them, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.

The Jews said it is taken 46 years to build this temple will you raise it up in three days, but he was speaking of the temple of his body. Therefore, when he had risen from the dead, his disciples remembered and they believed what he had said to them, and they believed the Scripture and the Word was Jesus had said the Jews are thinking purely of construction. Jesus changes the conversation to speak of resurrection. Now both of these signs the sign that he performs in the temple of driving them out and the sign that he predicts the temple his resurrection are both very important signs and they are related to each other. It's really all about believing believing believing. John includes this story because he wants to show us how what happened in the temple caused his disciples to have even more belief in him. I don't know how you have pictured Jesus in the past that is physically, but if you were to go by the Western portrayals and the little cards that portray Jesus in the last 100 years, you might get the idea that he was some kind of thin, scrawny, puny, effeminate little man until you read the story and you see one human being with a whip driving all whole group out single-handedly, including their animals and you think this guy is a man. He is a man's man and he is angry. I'm sure that at this point, his disciples were thinking. They just started following him. This guy is unpredictable. You never know what's going to happen when he's around. They go from the marriage supper at Cana where he brings joy and he sits around the table joyfully to now anger where he's overturning the tables, and Jerusalem.

I find it interesting really because this is the first public appearance on spiritual grounds. He was at a wedding supper in Cana but now he's in the temple of Jerusalem were everybody's watching and the first thing he does is not teach them the Bible give them nice words about love and grace and mercy. First thing he does in a public launch is to eat with a whip, those who are merchandising in the Temple of Jerusalem very intriguing story. Let's begin with verses 13 and 14 and just think about the passion that Jesus has for God's holiness and reverence.

Now he speaking about the temple in Jerusalem. The historical temple. Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand. And Jesus went up to Jerusalem and he found in the temple.

Those who sold oxen and sheep and does in the moneychangers doing business Passover was the greatest of all of the Jewish feasts.

It commemorated them being delivered out of Egypt.

If you are male and you are Jewish and you live within 15 miles of Jerusalem you are required to be there every single Passover at the temple. That's a requirement beyond the requirement. If you are Jewish at all.

It would be her lifelong dream. Even if you live in the far corners of the world to go at least once and celebrate Passover in the great city of Jerusalem.

That is why even to this day. At the end of the Passover meal.

The Seder feast. The glasses raised and everyone says next year in Jerusalem that's their hope to celebrate in Jerusalem and what it means is pilgrims from everywhere were streaming into that city. So Jesus lays Capernaum and starts the 90 mile walk south with his disciples to Jerusalem, the roads would have been crowded and the closer he got to Jerusalem they would be congested because people from everywhere came to that one city, Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian tells us that during one Passover season alone.

During this time they slaughter 256,000 lambs in the temple and the going rate of people to lambs was 10 people to one lamp.

Typically, so there could have been 2 1/2 million people in Jerusalem during this feastwas limited what that meant is if you owned a home in Jerusalem, you would open it up to visitors and it was forbidden for you to charge rent, she'd always have visitors in the home. If you lived in Jerusalem. Jesus often stayed with Lazarus, Martha and Mary just on the other side of the Mount of olives.

But if you got to Jerusalem early enough, a lot of people would camp around the temple like the tribes of Israel did around the tabernacle just to do it. If you walk to the streets of the city you hear songs being sung stories being told riddles and word games being played. If you were to go to into a synagogue four weeks before the Passover on week 432 and one. They would always be talking about the significance of the Passover season just to bolster their faith and get people ready. If you walk into a Jewish home.

During that time the women were busy cleaning the pots and the pans and sewing the close and getting rid of the leaven that would be in the house. Passover lasted one day was on the 14th day of Nissan, the Jewish calendar, but it was followed by another feast For seven days called the festival of unleavened bread, so it was an eight day feast and I'm sharing all of that with you because I want you to know this was a huge deal and there were lots of people watching this event happen more people meant more profit. The businesses in Jerusalem would flourish during this week and even those who have a business in the temple.

Verse 14 highlights that Jesus found in the temple. Those who sold oxen and sheep and doves in the moneychangers doing business little phrase those who sold in the Greek language has a definite article and it's literally to use polling toss the sellers and it speaks of an identifiable group of people that were well known in Jerusalem. Everybody knew about these guys this is how it would work.

Let's say you came from a couple hundred miles away is taken you a long time to get there.

We are not to drag animals with you the whole way syllabi when there to sacrifice so they were ready for you come in the temple notes that we have an app for that you need a lamb.

We got the app we got one right here you can afford the land you needed. We got in after that and then you had to exchange her money because foreign money was not accepted in the temple. You had to have the half shekel the temple shekel or the Galilean called the Terrien shekel because of the weight of silver so you are to take your money in exchange.

Well, there was a fee for that and the fee was two hours of a working man's wage of a daily wage two hours of that wage just to exchange money and for every half shekel that they gave you change in exchange for larger coins was another two hours of the days wait so you can end up costing you an entire day's wage just to make money exchange in the temple. Not only that, but rabbinic literature tells us that the inspectors yes there were animal inspectors to make sure your animal was clean and rejected if it was unclean.

They spent 18 months on a farm. Learning how to distinguish clean from unclean or animals that were once clean but that became unclean. You see how that would work.

You would bring up clean animal to be sacrifice and you had it inspected but these inspectors will look it over.

God, I'm sorry but this isn't quite right sacrifice. We found a flaw and see if I will look right here is microscopic.

But I can see it, you can I been trained, they were rejected. So here's the picture. All these people are coming to worship God with pure hearts and their being charged an arm and a leg to worship God are not permitted into the temple unless they exchange the money and have one of these animals is certainly going to the movies cost you 10 bucks for the movie but 250 bucks for popcorn and a coke.

So Jesus comes to the temple.

It is a religious zoo in the temple. It's a charade it's a circus it's like the psychological traps that are still used for making money for certain ministries and other write you a personal letter and have your name in it and then they'll begin the letter. Dear so-and-so, I was thinking of you this week the Lord laid you on my heart and I've been praying specifically for you. They don't know you from Adam, and then I'll say encloses a little prayer cloth, put it on your head and believe in you will be healed or pour oil on your head and you will be healed and course and their special offering that I get a bunch of these have gotten over the years I I collect them. That's her run out of room so I don't do it as much. But here's one that says and I will turned around so you can see who it is you might not be surprised, but is says candlelight miracle request on December 24, Christmas Eve. We will light a red miracle candle and release our faith for your Christmas miracle request and you just check off what you need.

You can check often hears boxes, a new home sleeping disorder deliverance from a habit all and by the way at the bottom you check this off. Enclosed is my Christmas miracle seed faith gift where they like that term and then I saw this in Jesus name. Expecting a miracle or what comes with that is a little blurb that says in the letter they sent with it. The word of God also says one can put a thousand to flight into can put 10,000 to flight. Mixing your faith and actions with that of miracle, believing partners in parenthesis.

My dad and I makes your prayers 10 times more powerful, but you did know that your prayers would be 10 times more effective if you just sent them that money.

It's a sham, and Jesus comes to the temple and finds that these people aren't allowed to worship without this nonsense so verse 15 when he had made a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers money and overturned the tables, you can bring a whip with him. It wasn't like he had this all prepared a bullwhip was in the back pocket. He just found cords lying on the temple or the animals were bound with and just started making the court� And he went after them. He's angry that you know something Jesus didn't have an anger issue.

He didn't require anger management classes know he was exercising his rightful authority as Messiah over his father's house. This is righteous indignation and did you know that the Bible actually commands us to be angry but sin, not in.

Here's an example of an it's a great example. It highlight something that is typically overlooked by most. Even most of us don't want to acknowledge this attribute of God called his wrath but it's a theme not just in the Old Testament but runs all through the Bible, even into the new all the way to the book of Revelation Arthur W.

Pink even says the Bible includes more references to God's anger, fury and wrath than it does to his love and tenderness in 1700s. Charles Wesley penned a poem that became a song gentle Jesus, meek and mild look upon a little child Jesus is meek and mild and gentle. If the person that is dealing with is sincere, honorable and penitent, but when it comes to religious hypotheses. He is not gentle Jesus. He's a lethal judge is not gentle Jesus when it comes to the holiness of God and here he's angry that time when Jesus goes to the synagogue. It says in Capernaum and there's a man there that has a paralyzed arm with her hand.

Some translations render it and as soon as Jesus comes in the synagogue.

All the leaders are watching and did a wonder if you can heal on the Sabbath. W.

Nono can heal on the Sabbath like they could ever healed anybody there looking to see if Jesus will heal on the Sabbath.

The Bible says in Mark three geniuses looked around at them with anger deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts of people who have a picture of Jesus being very placid passive person obviously haven't closely read the Bible.

If anything, Jesus was very passionate there for a few moments were that seem like this episode in the temple continue to explore what we can learn from it. But for now here's something to help strengthen your relationship with God's world record again confirmed the selling of all time, research, and portions of Scripture then translated into 3500 different pitches. There's a difference between having access to change her life to practical Bible study from observation. This legal interpretation which must lead to application somebody once but if you want to meet industry is where you take Bible truths and you shoe leather unknowns where the rubber meets the road. You do it Jesus increase the effectiveness of your personal Bible study and enjoy it.

Thanking you when you get $25 or more to help keep his teaching ministry on and take the mystery out of studying Scripture, 819 to 18 or get online securely connected to COM/even Jesus was distemper every now and will continue to look at one example that next right here and critically Skip weekend edition of presentation