This is my Father’s house
Today we look at John 2:12-25.
12After that He went down to Capernaum with His mother and brothers and disciples, and they stayed there only a few days.13Now the Passover of the Jews was approaching, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.14There He found in the temple [[a]enclosure] those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting there [also at their stands].15And having made a lash (a whip) of cords, He drove them all out of the temple [[b]enclosure]–both the sheep and the oxen–spilling and scattering the brokers’ money and upsetting and tossing around their trays (their stands).16Then to those who sold the doves He said, Take these things away (out of here)! Make not My Father’s house a house of merchandise (a marketplace, a sales shop)!(A)17And His disciples remembered that it is written [in the Holy Scriptures], Zeal (the fervor of love) for Your house will eat Me up. [I will be consumed with jealousy for the honor of Your house.](B)18Then the Jews retorted, What sign can [c]You show us, seeing You do these things? [What sign, miracle, token, indication can You give us as evidence that You have authority and are commissioned to act in this way?]19Jesus answered them, Destroy (undo) this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.20Then the Jews replied, It took forty-six years to build this temple (sanctuary), and will You raise it up in three days?21But He had spoken of the temple which was His body.22When therefore He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this. And so they believed and trusted and relied on the Scripture and the word (message) Jesus had spoken.(C)23But when He was in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, many believed in His name [identified themselves with His party] after seeing His signs (wonders, miracles) which He was doing.24But Jesus [for His part] did not trust Himself to them, because He knew all [men];25And He did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man [needed no evidence from anyone about men], for He Himself knew what was in human nature. [He could read men’s hearts.] [I Sam. 16:7.]
Footnotes:
The first time I knew of Jesus’ clearing of the temple, I was at vacation Bible School at Grace Lutheran Church here in Little Rock. They showed a film representing this event, and immediately I was skeptical. After all, I had been raised in church all of my ten years, and I had never heard of Jesus being anything other than loving. So this story could not be true, could it?
Indeed, it is true, and now, many years later, I understand why this episode was included in these Scriptures. Let’s see if we can break the Scriptures down for a clearer understanding of what is going on here.
- Jesus was at the Temple during the time of the Jewish Passover, a holy day celebrating the salvation of the Jews’ firstborn sons during the curse upon Pharoah. And why were the sons of the Israelites saved while the sons of the Egyptians were slain? Because the Israelites had acted in obedience to God who instructed that they place the blood of a lamb, spotless and without blemish, on their doorposts.
- What was being sold at the temple? Cattle, sheep and doves, to be used in sacrifices during Passover.
- What is wrong with selling animals to be used in temple sacrifice? Let’s look at Exodus 12:1-7 to see what God said through Moses.
Exodus 12
The Passover
1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb [a] for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs.
First, we see that the Israelites were to take a year old male sheep or goat from their family, or if their family was too small they were to share the sacrifice with their neighbor. Taking a sheep or goat from your own flock is quite different from buying one after you get to the temple. When we offer a sacrifice before God, it should be planned and it should be the best we have to offer. To buy an animal to be used as a sacrifice after arriving at the Temple suggested the sacrifice was not planned to memorialize one of the greatest events in the life of the Israelites, but instead was a last minute decision. And, there would be no way to know if the lamb or goat was a one year old as specified in the Scripture.
Jesus was filled with a righteous anger because the meaning of the Scripture, and indeed, the holy day of Passover, had been lost. He showed us clearly in this passage that (1) it is appropriate to display a righteous anger (anger over things that contradict the will of the Father) and (2) that people will always look for a sign, even when standing before the Son of God.
Have you allowed the cares of the world and your day to day activities to overshadow and even replace the things God has told you to do in remembrance of Him? If so, kneel before your Lord now and ask forgiveness–ask Him to place within your heart the urgency and the desire to be obedient to Him.
I am the vine…
Carol J. Grace, vine, fruit, church, growth
The chosen ones
Today I diverted my attention to 1 Peter 4 and 5, the subject of tomorrow’s Sunday School lesson. Since we have been studying the book “Enough” the last few weeks, we have not used our Sunday School quarterlies. Rather than picking up with the November 15 lesson, I decided to do a synopsis of the last three weeks: Be holy, The Chosen Ones, and Suffering for Christ’s sake.
Peter emphasizes the same sentiment found in the old Testament, as God is holy, be thou holy likewise. As we have stated already in this blog, holiness is a process by which we come to know and act like God our father. God expects holiness of us, but because of our sinful nature we can not attain holiness in and of ourselves. Because He is God, He cannot lower His expectations. But–and here is the great part–because He is God, He provided holiness for us through Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit.
Peter then goes on to talk about our being chosen. Just as the Israelites were promised they would be delivered from bondage in Egypt, Peter reminded these new Christians that they, too, were delivered from the bondage of sin by Jesus’ sacrifice. And, just as the first century Christians were chosen, we, too, have been chosen and will be delivered if we only believe. Awesome.
Peter finishes by talking about suffering for Jesus’ sake. Suffering is something we in America know little about, other than what we have read. Oh, people may make fun of us from time to time when we take a stand for Christ, but that is little to pay in order to be able to express our love and gratitude for the one who gave His life for ours. Peter makes it clear, too, that if we suffer because of our own actions that is not the same as suffering for His name’s sake.
Peter says we are to suffer according to God’s will. This does not mean what you think it does. God does not will us to suffer. God’s will for us was the Garden of Eden, but man had a different idea. So we now live in a world system not driven by God’s love, but dominated by sin. We suffer because of bad decisions we make; we suffer because of bad actions by others over which we have no control; and one day, the Bible is clear, we will suffer for Christ’s sake.
But praise God, we have been given this wonderful gift of grace. There is prevenient grace that God poured out upon us before we even knew we needed; there is saving grace that is like a life preserver thrown out to us in the midst of a sin-tossed sea; and there is sustaining grace that will accompany you until you breathe your last breath.
Do you seek after holiness each day? Do you understand what it means to be chosen? Are you ready to suffer for Christ’s sake? Do you know it’s all about grace?
Veteran’s Day–thank you for your sacrifice
It is 4:45 and I am just now sitting down to read and reflect on the Word. Since it is Veteran’s Day, I would like to begin by thanking our veterans and service members for their sacrifice for our country. God bless America, and all those who love her and serve her.
We move on to John 2 today, where Jesus performed his first miracle.
1On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” 4“Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied, “My time has not yet come.” 5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
We see several items in these short verses that warrant further review.
- First, Jesus, his mother, and his disciples were at a wedding and the wine ran out. Running out of wine at a social event was embarrassing to say the least. We are not told if the wedding party was related to Jesus, only that His mother came to him for help.
- Jesus was not yet ready to reveal His glory.
- Jesus’ mother knew Jesus had authority given to Him by God
- Jesus was obedient to His mother
Mary came to Jesus and said there was no more wine, and Jesus replied by saying what does this have to do with you or me? That statement alone would indicate the wedding party was not a family member. And, Jesus was letting His mother and His disciples know, in possibly a round about way, that His business truly was His Father’s business, and that little else mattered.
Jesus was not ready to reveal His glory, or even His purpose for being on this earth. Jesus knew the hour of His death, along with what would happen in the aftermath of the resurrection, would be the impetus for His ministry going forward, so nothing that happened at this point, to Him, was material to His Father’s business.
Jesus’ mother brought the problem of too little wine to Jesus’ attention, but she did not give Him a possible solution–indeed, she merely stepped back and allowed her son, the Son of God, to let His glory be made manifest. And Jesus, although the Son of the Living God, was obedient to His mother.
Have you been about your Father’s business lately? Did you wait on Him to direct your paths, or did you let the committee on which you serve dictate how much wine you should bring to the wedding?
Making church comfortable
I am departing from the first chapter of John today to address a comment I heard at church. We were talking about what churches are doing to accomplish growth. I kept hearing how they are changing their worship services, sometimes forming a blended service of choir, praise team, organ, instruments, and bells. That didn’t sound so bad to me, but I continued to ask what are these growing churches doing that is different than we at Asbury. It can’t be just changing the order of the service.
The answer was surprising, but even more so was the fact that at least one person in our group was all for it. The answer was this: some churches are removing all of the symbols that make church look like church so that the unchurched will not be made to feel uncomfortable by things like crosses, banners, fish, and I suppose even stained glass windows.
Is that what we have come to in the 21st century, trying to make church comfortable for the unsaved? Do you know, as hard as I try I cannot remember an instance where Jesus watered down the gospel to make it more palatable, or where the temples were modified to be perceived as more welcoming. In fact, what I read in the Scriptures is the complete opposite of a comfortable Christianity. Call me crazy (or conservative), but if the gospel doesn’t make sinners uncomfortable something is wrong.
The Mega Churches today seem to be focused on one thing, that being numbers. But it seems to me that if we water down the gospel in order to increase our numbers, we will simply be left with large numbers of unsaved people floundering and indeed drowning in a lake of sin. Is this why Jesus came and gave His life upon the cross?
No, in fact, Jesus made people uncomfortable and He knew it–why do you think the Pharisees and the Sadducees rallied against Him? Jesus did not change the message to win converts, instead He quoted from the Torah repeatedly and that is really what made the religious leaders angry–they knew the scriptures as well as Jesus and they knew He was telling the truth.
Matthew 10:34. “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 “For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’;36 “and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’
Peace on this earth is an elusive butterfly. Regardless of how much we strive to achieve peace, it will not happen until Jesus returns to earth to claim His throne. Yet, we continue to try to bring about peace, and I think that is a good thing. Blessed are the peacemakers, right? But Jesus never said anything about blessed are the compromisers, blessed are those who will do anything just to get people in the door of the church.
The symbols of the church are not idle decorations that can be tossed out at will, nor are they idols to be worshipped. The symbols of the church are salient reminders of our faith. Crosses have already all but disappeared on the exterior of churches. What used to be a beacon at the top of the steeple of the church to let all who passed know the building bearing the cross was a house of worship, a sanctuary from a sin-tossed world, has been replaced by something more amenable. After all, a cross is messy, a cross is divisive, a cross is not politically correct.
If we do not return to the faith of our fathers, to the faith that brings life and light and overcomes the darkness, it will not matter how many people we get in the church doors, because the sad fact is that people can attend church every Sunday and still be lost. And here’s something that should make anyone reading this uncomfortable–if we water down the gospel to reach more people, but those people remain lost, then how much more severely will we be judged because we have failed to live up to what Jesus called us to do? We are called to seek and save the lost, not bring them in, entertain them, and send them out in the same shape they were in when they came.
God forbid that we trade the cross for entertainment–God forbid that we trade the Word that brings life for words that feel good.
God forbid.
Seeking Holiness 