Leading a Rebellion: Jesus Cleansed the Temple

Leading a Rebellion:

Jesus Cleansed the Temple

John 2:13-22

Rebel: A person who goes against authority, control, or tradition.

Introduction: When you picture Jesus in your mind, what image do you think of?

-A man walking through the countryside with his friends.

-A man wearing a white robe and a blue sash, beard, long flowing hair with product in it.

-Jesus on the cross.

-Jesus walking on the water.

-Jesus calming the storm.

-Jesus kneeling on the ground with children gathered around Him.

-Jesus healing people.

            These are all common images that come to mind when we picture Jesus. And for good reason: They are all Biblical (except for the white robe, blue sash, and flowing hair), and they all give us a happy feeling about Jesus. Like puppies—no one gets angry thinking about puppies. How can we get angry thinking about Jesus welcoming and blessing children?

            But tonight we are going to be discussing a different image of Jesus.

Scripture: John 2:13-22 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. ¹⁵ And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
¹⁸ So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” ¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰ The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple,^[a] and will you raise it up in three days?” ²¹ But he was speaking about the temple of his body. ²² When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

            In this passage it says that it was during the time of Passover. What is Passover? Would there be a lot of people at the temple or just a few? What were the sheep and oxen doing there? Who were the money changers and why were they there? Did the people who were selling the sheep and oxen, and the money changers have a Biblical obligation to be there? Think about a collegiate football program—let’s say University of Alabama. Do their hotels, restaurants, vendors, and bars make more money during the week of the Auburn game or during the week of the University of Chattanooga game?
            Did the money changers and the sheep and oxen dealers have an obligation to serve the people at the temple? Yes, but they viewed the holy festival of Passover and the people’s needs of a proper sacrifice, temple money, room, and food to make a gouging profit. And that is what Jesus took issue with.

The Rebellion: This is not the nice, happy-go-lucky Jesus that most people think about. Was Jesus angry? Is it a sin to be angry? We know that Jesus never sinned, and it’s pretty clear that Jesus was angry. Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be angry and do not sin.” In verse 15 it says that Jesus made a whip of cords. He didn’t bring a whip. He didn’t have one on his hip like Indiana Jesus. He took the time to grab some cords and fashion them into some type of weapon to drive out the animals and the money changers. Jesus was angry.     
            The money changers were there because people were coming from a lot of different countries with a lot of different currencies, mostly Roman coins with the image of a god or the emperor as a god, and it would be viewed as a sacrilegious act. There needed to be people to exchange their money for temple money, but there didn’t need people making money hand over fist in the process. It was unreasonable to expect people to travel a long distance with a sacrificial animal. It made more sense to bring money to buy an animal once you got there. But the vendors selling the animals were making huge profits in the process as well. On top of that, if you did bring a sacrifice, the animal vendors would tell you that your sacrifice was not acceptable and then take yours, sell you one of theirs, and then turn around and sell your “unacceptable” sacrifice to the next person that came down the street.
            Jesus said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a place to make money.” “You have taken something spiritual, and turned it into something base.” 
            The money changers and the vendors were doing something right for the wrong reasons. Have you ever met someone who was doing something right for the wrong reason? Someone apologizes to you, but did it in such a half-hearted manner that you knew they really weren’t sorry? Or how about if you go to a restaurant or a store and the employees have no interest in helping you? They’re just there for the paycheck. It’s one thing to do that at your job or school but if you bring that attitude into church then there is an issue.
            If you play in the praise band, do you play for the right reason? Are you there to worship and to help other people worship? Or are you there to show off your skills? Are you a part of a Bible study? Why are you there? What’s your purpose in going to camp? D-Now? Youth VBS? God is not interested in your attendance or your lip service, He is interested in you, and your right attitude. If we come to church with the same mindset as the money changers and vendors, “What can I get out of this?,” we run the very real risk of having Jesus cleanse us out of His church just like He did His temple.

Application: Jesus had righteous indignation. When something was wrong, He became angry about it in a righteous sort of way. Jesus is our example. Many times we get angry over petty things that don’t compare to the temple being used to gouge people out of their money, and then we take our anger to a non-righteous level.     
            Secondly, we need to make sure that whatever we choose to do for God, we do it for the right reason. It’s not enough to sing on key in the choir. We have to know why we’re singing on key. You could be a great preacher but if you’re doing it for the wrong reason, you’ll face some discipline from God.