My Father’s House (John 2:12-25)

 Sermon for Milledgeville and Whitestown UMC

My Father’s House (John 2:12-25)

Model of Herod's Temple (1st Century A.D.)

 

When I was 9 years old, Jesus Christ Superstar was a hit record. As I listened, I visualized the events of Jesus’ final week. One event was Jesus visiting the temple. In the song, The MONEYLENDERS and MERCHANTS call out

 

Roll on up, for the price is down

Come on in for the best in town

Take your pick of the finest wine

Lay your bets on this bird of mine

 

Their chant builds to a fever pitch until the piano bangs a long-sustained chord and Jesus shouts,

 

My temple should be a house of prayer

But you have made it a den of thieves!

Get out, get out!

 

I imagined the people running as Jesus hurled his whip in the air. I could almost hear the sound of coins crashing to the floor and envisioned moneychangers crawling after them.

 

John’s gospel presents this event early in Jesus’ ministry, instead of the last week of his life. John’s purpose for the earliness, some believe, is to cast the threat of death over his entire narrative. Jesus’ crucifixion is implied as early as the first chapter, when John the Baptist calls Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

 

The temple is the place where sacrificial offerings were performed. One theory about the Gospel of John is that the author portrays Jesus as God’s temple. Most of the action in John happens at the temple.

 

 

Jesus is the Word made flesh who dwelt among us. The Greek literally says that the Word tabernacled among us. Jesus as the Lamb of God points to the temple altar where burnt offerings were made. When Solomon dedicated the first temple, God filled the temple with His glory, promising that He would remain there. (2Ch 7:1-2, 16) John the Baptist saw the Spirit descend and remain on Jesus. This might be another implication that Jesus is God’s temple.

 

What Jesus says in John differs from the other gospel accounts. In Matthew, Jesus quotes Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11 when he drives out the moneychangers.

 

‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’
    but you are making it a den of robbers.” (Mat 21:13)

 

But in John’s Gospel, Jesus alludes to Zechariah 14:21 when He says, “Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”

 

Zechariah painted a future in which all nations will worship God at the temple. Jerusalem itself will be holy, as the temple is holy. Even the cooking pots in people’s homes in Jerusalem will be holy.

 

On the Day of the Lord, there shall no longer be traders in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day. (Zch 14:21)

 

By driving out the salesmen, the livestock and the moneychangers, Jesus was sending a message. The Day of the Lord has come and the messianic age has dawned.

 

John also includes a citation of Psalm 69:9, a messianic psalm associated with the crucifixion. The disciples reflecting upon Jesus’ actions, remembered that the Psalm says,

 

“It is zeal for your house that has consumed me” (Psa 69:9)

 

The Jewish leaders want a sign from Jesus that may prove His authority to cleanse the temple. Jesus tells them that if they tear down this temple, He will raise it up again in three days. The Jewish leaders took Him at His literal word. How preposterous! They said, “It’s taken 46 years to build this temple, and you’re going to rebuild it in 3 days?”

 

Jesus was talking about his resurrection. Jesus is the temple.

 

In Washington DC, lies the National Cathedral. Many US presidents and other dignitaries have worshipped there. It’s meant to be a symbol of our unity as one nation under God, a sacred place of pride in God and country. I’ve been to Washington a few times but never visited the cathedral.

 

For Jews, the temple was everything. It was a source of national pride, yes, but it was also the center of their national life. Israel was a theocracy, governed by the laws of God given through Moses, and enforced by the chief priests and their network of associates. Aside from its religious and political power, the temple was the very presence of God dwelling among the Israelites. It is at the temple that prayers were uttered for the people. The people brought their tithes and offerings to the temple. Three times a year, they made pilgrimage to the temple for Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Booths. Atonement for sin was made by sacrifice at the temple. When the temple was destroyed, it devastated the Jews. In horror, they questioned “Who are we, now that God has abandoned His temple and us?”

 

I think Milledgeville UMC has some idea what that must have been like. In 1997, this church burned down. Cherished memories of families and friends, up in smoke. It had to have been devastating.

 

The apostle Paul wrote that we are the temple of God, the church of Jesus Christ.

 

 

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If someone defiles God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, which is what you are. Guard against self-deception... (1Co 3:16-18)

 

We are God’s temple and God’s temple is holy sacred space. I often illustrate holiness by how we treat the special furnishings in the sanctuary. For instance, the baptismal is holy, used only for the sacrament of baptism. It holds water, which we bless, a sacred symbol of our new life in Christ. We would never think to desecrate the baptismal and this sanctuary by mixing up a batch of hooch and throwing a drunken party in this place.

 

But how do we desecrate our bodies which are meant to be set apart for God’s holy purposes alone?

 

For myself, I eat too much. I watch movies and listen to rock and roll. I allow the things of the world to enter God’s holy temple through my eyes and my ears. Jesus said what comes out of our mouths is what makes us unclean, so be careful that your eyes are full of God’s light. That with which we fill our hearts and minds, can lead to sinful behavior. Disciples of Jesus take every thought captive for the Lord. We use the things of the world for God’s purposes.

 

James wrote of our tendency toward selfish attitudes.

 

Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you? ² You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; ³ you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions. Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy. ⁵ Or do you think the scripture means nothing when it says, “The spirit that God caused to live within us has an envious yearning”? (James 4:1-5)

 

We are God’s temple. We are set apart from other people as holy. Our lives are not our own. They have been ransomed by the precious blood of Jesus. We are God’s possession. We are His bondservants. It’s not the place, not the sanctuary that matters as much as the people who gather here. And it’s not the people gathered as much as it is the people’s dedication, day after day, to God whom they worship.

 

John, the disciple who authored this gospel account, tells us that Jesus was in Jerusalem for Passover, the annual celebration of God’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt. But now Jesus is soon to bring about a new exodus, deliverance from the power of sin and selfishness, fear and hatred. Many people put their trust in Jesus because he cleansed the temple of merchants and moneychangers. By doing so, he sent a message that the age of the Messiah had come. But Jesus would not entrust Himself to the people. He knew what was in man. The author of Hebrews wrote of Jesus as our high priest who prays for us.

 

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. (Heb 4:15)

 

Yes, Jesus knows our weakness. He knows our every selfish thought and sinful habit. He knew what was in man. (Jn 2:25)

 

I’ve always read this in a negative light. But today I’m reading it in light of the good news. Jesus knew what was in man. He knows our sin, AND he knows our God-given potential. We are God’s temple. We are made in God’s image. And so Jesus made atonement for all of humanity, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And having cleansed us of sin, He restored God’s temple on earth when He established His church. And God moved into His new temple. On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit filled the Church. And by His Spirit, we are empowered to live holy lives.

So take a good look at your life, your body and behavior. What needs to be cleansed to assure the temple of God is holy? What earthly and sinful attitudes need to go? What sinful habits need to be broken and replaced with holy habits?

When God gave Moses the Law on Sinai, God appeared as cloud, fire and thunder. The people were terrified. They asked Moses to act as mediator for fear of dying in the presence of the Almighty. God gave Moses instructions to build a tabernacle. God moved from the mountain to the tent of meeting. And when Israel had settled in the Promised Land, Solomon built a permanent dwelling, the temple. The relationship between God and His chosen nation has always required Israel to obey the covenant. When they turned away and pursued other interests, God handed them over to their enemies and empty gods. This eventually led to the temple’s destruction and exile in Babylon, but God went into exile with His people. Though they failed to be faithful, God remained faithful to His holy people. And because God knows the weakness of humankind, God sent His only Son to earth. God fully inhabited Jesus. And now through the wonder of his cross and resurrection, The Holy Spirit lives in us. God moved from the mountain to the temple to the face of Jesus and into the hearts of all who trust in Jesus for salvation.

We are God’s temple.

You yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1^st Peter 2:5) We are the temple of God.

Together, let us serve the Lord in a way that makes Him pleased to live among us, holy and loving, hopeful and faithful.