About Jesus - The First Cleansing of the Temple - August 8, 2021
Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2021 2:44 pm
John 2:12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.
13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.
17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
21 But he spake of the temple of his body.
22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
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Believers are faced with a dichotomy. On the one hand, it is possible to attach too much significance to a particular place or building on Earth as if we can receive God’s blessing or commune with him only in those places or buildings. In his defence before the Council, Stephen mentioned that “The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia...”, i.e. Access to the Almighty is not limited to a place such as Jerusalem or a building such as a temple built by human hands. On the other hand, a building dedicated to the creator or his worship deserves to be treated with a respect that is not accorded to other buildings.
How, exactly, to exhibit such respect is, of course, up to each believer but, when believers are convicted that buying and selling or charging a fee to attend a concert in such a building is disrespectful, the least they can do is to “vote with their feet” - not attend gatherings where such things are likely to occur. If they are voting members of the organization that owns the building, it is appropriate to follow the advice Jesus gave as recorded in Matthew 18:15-17, starting with the person or persons who approved or maybe even encouraged those kinds of activities on the premises. Every true believer has spiritual authority but, Is it appropriate to stand in such a building and say what Jesus did? “Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.”
Only if you know whether doing so will do more good than harm.
The man who drove the money changers from the temple was the God of Moses incarnate. It was he who instructed Moses about the building of the portable temple (aka sanctuary) in the wilderness and who instructed Moses about the ceremonies that were intended to represent both his sacrifice as the Lamb of God and his priesthood in the temple in heaven.
In his cleansing of the temple at the beginning of his earthly ministry, Jesus was removing some of the obstacles that had been preventing people from understanding the symbolism of both the building and the ceremonies he had ordained.
If the priests that performed the ceremonies and the Levites who were defrauding the people had been willing, they could have learned the lesson Jesus was trying to teach them. Two things mitigated against them learning it. They were not willing to admit that a poor peasant from Galilee could understand the significance of the temple and its services better than they did. And they were not willing to be deprived of the wealth that the unholy traffic was providing to them.
It is reasonable to assume that the poor people who had come to Jerusalem for the celebration of that Passover were well aware of the blessing that would have accrued to them if the priests had taken the advice of Jesus to permanently “take these things hence”. It is likely that the poor never forgot the lesson he had taught them on that occasion.
Three and a half years later, when Jesus left the earthly temple, he said,
“Your house is left unto you desolate.” (See Matthew 23 and Luke 13.) When Jesus died on Calvary, the inner veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom. (See Matthew 27 and Mark 15.) The system of animal sacrifices was fulfilled by the death of the Lamb of God.
By his death and resurrection, Jesus became the minister of the temple in haven. (See Hebrews 8, 9 & 12.) Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25
Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16
13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.
17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
21 But he spake of the temple of his body.
22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
***************************************************************************************************
Believers are faced with a dichotomy. On the one hand, it is possible to attach too much significance to a particular place or building on Earth as if we can receive God’s blessing or commune with him only in those places or buildings. In his defence before the Council, Stephen mentioned that “The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia...”, i.e. Access to the Almighty is not limited to a place such as Jerusalem or a building such as a temple built by human hands. On the other hand, a building dedicated to the creator or his worship deserves to be treated with a respect that is not accorded to other buildings.
How, exactly, to exhibit such respect is, of course, up to each believer but, when believers are convicted that buying and selling or charging a fee to attend a concert in such a building is disrespectful, the least they can do is to “vote with their feet” - not attend gatherings where such things are likely to occur. If they are voting members of the organization that owns the building, it is appropriate to follow the advice Jesus gave as recorded in Matthew 18:15-17, starting with the person or persons who approved or maybe even encouraged those kinds of activities on the premises. Every true believer has spiritual authority but, Is it appropriate to stand in such a building and say what Jesus did? “Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.”
Only if you know whether doing so will do more good than harm.
The man who drove the money changers from the temple was the God of Moses incarnate. It was he who instructed Moses about the building of the portable temple (aka sanctuary) in the wilderness and who instructed Moses about the ceremonies that were intended to represent both his sacrifice as the Lamb of God and his priesthood in the temple in heaven.
In his cleansing of the temple at the beginning of his earthly ministry, Jesus was removing some of the obstacles that had been preventing people from understanding the symbolism of both the building and the ceremonies he had ordained.
If the priests that performed the ceremonies and the Levites who were defrauding the people had been willing, they could have learned the lesson Jesus was trying to teach them. Two things mitigated against them learning it. They were not willing to admit that a poor peasant from Galilee could understand the significance of the temple and its services better than they did. And they were not willing to be deprived of the wealth that the unholy traffic was providing to them.
It is reasonable to assume that the poor people who had come to Jerusalem for the celebration of that Passover were well aware of the blessing that would have accrued to them if the priests had taken the advice of Jesus to permanently “take these things hence”. It is likely that the poor never forgot the lesson he had taught them on that occasion.
Three and a half years later, when Jesus left the earthly temple, he said,
“Your house is left unto you desolate.” (See Matthew 23 and Luke 13.) When Jesus died on Calvary, the inner veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom. (See Matthew 27 and Mark 15.) The system of animal sacrifices was fulfilled by the death of the Lamb of God.
By his death and resurrection, Jesus became the minister of the temple in haven. (See Hebrews 8, 9 & 12.) Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25
Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16