Jesus Loves Me, this I know
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong.
They are weak but He is strong.

"They are weak, but He is strong"--What does that mean?

He is strong. What is he strong TO DO? He is strong to save!! Yes, but what does that mean? He is strong to destroy his enemies!!

We often think about Jesus as this mild-mannered, loving, kind, person. And to those who love him--to those who belong to him, he is! But what did the Jews think of him that day in Jerusalem when he entered the temple courts and drove out the money changers?

Imagine if you will, what is happening that day. You are a Jew, you have traveled a hundred miles on foot to be here in Jerusalem for the Passover Of course, you couldn't bring a sheep with you to sacrifice for the Passover, so you were planning on purchasing one here at the temple, so that you could celebrate the Passover with your family. You are standing in line at one of the tables, so that you can change your money: after all, at home you use the standard Roman coins, but here in the temple you have to use the special Jewish coins. Once you have your Jewish coins, then you will go over to one of the stalls and purchase a sheep for Passover. On the other side of the courtyard, closer to the Holy Place, you see a few people trying to pray--but the noise and the clamor, and the stench of the animals is clearly annoying to them. You feel bad for them, but after all, Passover only happens once a year; and the markets are already crowded, so the temple courtyard is the logical place to take care of business!

SUDDENLY you hear [the sound of a whip] and a loud voice crying out "Take these things away!!!!" You spin around in time to see this man knocking over tables; He opens the pens where the animals were kept and with a crack of his whip, drives them toward the temple gate. Some of the merchants and money changers are scrambling for their goods and animals But others start to yell and complain! The man with the whip stares at them, grabs them by their beards, and says "Do not make My Father's house a house of trade!!" And with that, he drove them out of the temple --throwing their money to the ground and tossing tables right and left!!

Astonished and bewildered, a crowd gathers around. Nobody condemns him--after all, this IS the Temple, and according to the Law, this really shouldn't have been happening! But you are curious. Why did he do this? Is he a prophet? The prophets used to do things like this--whenever Israel sinned, God would send a prophet to rebuke them. Who is this man? One of the Jewish leaders asks: "What sign do you show us for doing these things?"

The man answers: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up!"

What? This is absurd!! It has taken 46 years to build this temple, and this man will raise it up in three days? What is he talking about? He is either a prophet or a madman!!!!

Standing behind the man are a few men who appear to be his friends or disciples or something... So you go over to them and ask: "what is going on here?" One says, "This is Jesus of Nazereth--he is the Son of God, the Promised Messiah" Another adds, "remember that it is written, 'Zeal for Your house has eaten me up'! I'm not really sure that I understand what this means, but these signs seem to suggest that he is the Messiah!"

What is Jesus doing? Why does Jesus drive out the money changers?

Remember 1:51--(read) Here Jesus reminds them of Genesis 28, where Jacob has the dream of the stairway to heaven, that the stairway to heaven is the the place where earth and heaven meet: and he calls it "the house of God and the Gate of heaven" John is showing us, already here in chapter two, that Jesus Christ IS the temple--he IS the place where earth and heaven meet. He IS the house of God and the gate of heaven.

1. The temple is where earth and heaven meet The earthly temple as a picture of the heavenly temple Exodus 40--the tabernacle was filled with the glory of God 2 Chronicles 5-7--the temple was filled with the glory of God

This is why the people of God were so concerned when the glory of the Lord did not descend upon the new temple after the exile. Where was God? Haggai 2:1-9 Where is the glory? God has restored his people from exile, but the glory has departed from Israel. Yet God promises that the glory of the second temple shall be greater than the glory of Solomon's temple! They have not seen it yet, but it will come when God restores his people. And indeed the glory of the second temple WAS greater! Because Joseph and Mary brought the baby Jesus to the temple And when he was 13, he sat in the temple and taught there! And here in John 2, this second temple had the glory of being cleansed by Jesus Christ, the Son of God himself!!!! But even the glory of this second temple was no match for Jesus Christ! It could only point toward him! Hebrews 9--the heavenly tabernacle A place where God may meet with his people--and forgive their sins

2. In Christ, earth and heaven meet in human form He is God--the Creator He is man--the creature The OT temple was designed as a picture of Christ. It was the place where God dwelt in the midst of his people.

Tonight we will be looking at the Old Testament rituals for the Day of Atonement. The high priest would offer sacrifices in order to cleanse the tabernacle. The temple itself could be defiled by the sins of the people. If the temple becomes defiled, then there is no way for God to dwell with his people. And this was why God could not dwell in humanity before. Since humanity was defiled by sin, it was not a fit dwelling place for a holy God. Therefore Jesus offers himself as the perfect sacrifice to forever cleanse humanity. And with Jesus himself as the true temple, he now cleanses us as his temple- the dwelling place of God with man!

No one had anticipated that this structure of gold, wood and stone, was actually a picture of a man. That's why no one gets it. Verse 22 says that it was only after the resurrection that the disciples realized what this meant. Jesus radically reinterprets the Old Testament. Neither Moses nor Solomon had envisioned a human temple. But that is because they could not imagine God becoming man. But in Jesus, "the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us." God will now dwell with his people in a personal way.

But in dwelling with man personally, the eternal Word of God did not entrust himself to man. Note v23-25 Jesus does not entrust himself to his followers. What does that mean? Jesus does not entrust himself to them. He knows what is in them. He knows that the crowds will one day betray him. He knows the wickedness that is in their hearts. And so he does not commit himself to them. Does he love them? Yes Does he serve them? Of course! Does he entrust himself to them? NEVER He is the new temple. He is the place where earth and heaven meet. As the mediator between God and man, he cannot entrust himself to man.

Instead, Jesus entrusted himself to his heavenly Father. Zeal for his Father's house consumed him. This is a quote from Psalm 69, a lament that calls upon God to destroy the wicked. Jesus came to Jerusalem at the Passover and found the Jews mocking the temple. The temple was to be the place of worship-not a place of trade. The enemies of God had destroyed the proper function of the temple. Now Jesus will set about cleansing the earthly temple, as a picture of what is about to happen. The enemies of God will destroy the true temple-his body-as well. But the enemies of God cannot triumph in the end. Because if they destroy the temple of his body, he will raise it up in three days.

What is going on here? Chapter 2 reveals Jesus' first sign, and focuses on the response of those around him. After Jesus manifests his glory in turning water to wine, "And his disciples believed in him." (2:11) After the disciples came to understand the meaning of what Jesus had said, "And they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken." (2:22) And while he was at the Passover feast, "Many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing." (2:23)

Three times in this chapter it says that people believed him. John declares to us who Jesus is. Jesus has revealed his glory. He is the true temple. Will you believe in him? Will you believe the Scriptures? Will you believe in his name? Jesus does not come as a mild-mannered fellow. John does not portray him as a gentle teacher with soft, comforting words. John shows us Jesus as a fiery prophet who has come to turn your world upside down. He turns the water of the Jewish purification rites into the wine of rejoicing. He turns the tables of the money-changers upside down, driving out the wicked with a whip. Jesus does not allow others to set the terms of the relationship. If you want life, you must believe in his name. But to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (1:12) And indeed, now you are being built into that glorious temple of the body of Christ.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Copyright © 2003 Peter J. Wallace