Sermon
delivered on March 27th, 2016
By: Pastor Greg Hocson
Scripture Text: John 2:11-22
Introduction
After attending a wedding at Cana and
performing the miracle of turning water into wine, our Lord with His mother,
His brothers and His disciples went to Capernaum and stayed there for a few
days. Then Jesus with His disciples went up to Jerusalem to keep the
Passover as He was accustomed to do. But when He went to the Temple, which is
very important to the Jews, the place where the sacrifices is offered and where
His Father is worshipped, He was grieved because He found people selling
sheep, oxen and doves and the money-changers sitting there within its
walls. When He saw His Father's house being desecrated and being turned into a market
place, it caused Him to display His holy anger. When He saw what was taking
place in the Temple and because of His passion for the His Father's glory,
it caused Him to display His righteous indignation.
The Cleansing of the Temple
John 2:15 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.
The conduct of our Lord in the temple
reminded the disciples of the words of the psalmist ...
John 2:17 And his
disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
His love and passion for the Father's
house consumes Him and it was revealed when He saw it being destroyed by the
religious leaders of His day.
The Jews' Demand for a Sign.
After our Lord had driven out those
who are selling sheep, oxen and doves within the Temple's walls, we are told
that the Jews objected against it.
John 2:18 Then answered
the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou
unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
What sign do you show us to prove you
are authorized and commissioned to do these things? Being Jews and if
they cared about the purity of the Temple and the honor of the Father, they
should have been glad that someone is willing to stand up and seek to
make things right in the Temple. They should have stood with Christ, and assisted Him in cleansing the Temple. But instead they were upset and they questioned His
authority and demanded proof of His authority.
Christ's answer to their demand.
The Jews required for a sign, for
a miracle but our Lord did not gratify their unreasonable demand. He
refused to work a new miracle to convince them, but instead He referred them to
a future event, which, if it is accomplished, would satisfy their demand.
John 2:19 Jesus answered
and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise
it up.
Nobody in the crowd understood the
meaning of our Lord's statement. There were two groups of people that did not
understand the significance of Jesus' word.
1. His enemies
They had no clue what our Lord was
talking about. They thought He was referring to the physical Temple.
John 2:20 Then said the
Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up
in three days?
They were surprised and confused with
Christ's statement. They thought that building the Temple in three days is
impossible and an arrogant claim. But if they had realized that He was talking
about His death and that how He would resurrect Himself after three days they
would even be more amazed and upset.
They took these words from our Lord
and distorted it and used it against Christ in at least two occasions -
At the trial of Jesus, in the high priest's palace, one of the charges brought
against Him was that He said He would destroy the temple.
Mark 14:57 And there
arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, 58: We heard
him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three
days I will build another made without hands.
Not only did they misunderstood
what Christ said, but also they misquoted Him. The false witness said,
"I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days
I will build another made without hands." But that's not what He said.
What He said was, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
At the cross, when He was bleeding and dying, the passers
by reminded Jesus of what seems to be an impossible promise.
Mark 15:29 And they that
passed by railed on (insulted) him, wagging
(shaking) their heads, and
saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, 30: Save thyself, and come
down from the cross.
To them Jesus was an impostor, a
blasphemer, someone who arrogantly claimed to have great power. "You
who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and
come down from the cross. Where is now the power you claim to have?"
This is one of the things I love about
the Lord Jesus Christ. I love the way Christ He treated and responded to His
enemies. The One who has all power and authority could have easily come
down and destroyed all of them but He did not. He did not respond in anger and
vengeance.
Jesus Announcing His Death and
Resurrection
Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up:
As we all know now that Jesus spoke
here of the temple of His body. Christ is announcing His death and His
resurrection. Christ knows what is coming. He was aware of what is going to happen.
Please understand that when Jesus
said, "Destroy this temple," He
was not commanding them, but He was
simply prophesying. Our Lord was prophesying His death and He knew that the religious
leaders themselves would be the means by which the prophecy will be
fulfilled. Jesus knew that these religious leaders would attempt to
destroy His body, but He also knew that they would not succeed.
Jesus Willingness to Go to the Cross
Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up:
What an affirmation of His willingness
to go to the cross and die but then to overcome it with His resurrection.
Jesus Giving the Jews the Unltimate and Final Sign
Destroy this temple, and in
three days I will raise it up:
Jesus confidently claimed the power to
raise Himself from the dead, and He repeated the claim in ...
John 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have
power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have
I received of my Father.
In raising Himself from the dead He
would give them the final and ultimate sign that He was the the
Messiah, that He was God manifest in flesh. It would prove that He is God and
if God, then the He has the absolute right and authority to cleanse the defiled
temple which bore His name.
We are told that Christ ...
Romans
1:3 Concerning his Son
Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh; 4: And declared to be the Son of God with power, according
to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
There is another group that did not
understand ...
2. His disciples
Even His disciples at the time He
spoke these words, did not understand the meaning of the sentence. It is true
that John informs us that Christ's was referring to His death and resurrection.
John 2:21 But he spake of the temple of his body.
But at the time that it was spoken,
none of the disciples including John understood what He meant. It was only
after the death and resurrection of Jesus that His disciples understood and believed
both the Scriptures and this specific promise of Jesus.
John 2:22 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.
A comfortable and an encouraging truth
Isn't this encouraging, for three
years they had no idea what these words, Destroy this temple, and in three
days I will raise it up: meant.
But after Christ has risen from the
dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this unto them; and they
understood and believed the Scripture.
John 2:22 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.
"For three years it was a dark
and useless saying to them. For three years it lay sleeping in their minds,
like a seed in a tomb, and bore no fruit. But at the end of that time the
darkness passed away. They saw the application of their Master's words, and as
they saw it were confirmed in their faith. "They remembered that He had
said this," and as they remembered "they believed."
It is a comfortable and cheering
thought, that the same kind of thing that happened to the disciples is often
going on at the present day. The sermons that are preached to apparently
heedless ears in churches, are not all lost and thrown away. The instruction
that is given in schools and pastoral visits, is not all wasted and forgotten.
The texts that are taught by parents to children are not all taught in vain.
There is often a resurrection of sermons, and texts, and instruction, after an
interval of many years. The good seed sometimes springs up after he that sowed
it has been long dead and gone. Let preachers go on preaching, and teachers go
on teaching, and parents go on training up children in the way they should go.
Let them sow the good seed of Bible truth in faith and patience. Their labor is
not in vain in the Lord. Their words are remembered far more than they think,
and will yet spring up "after many days." (1 Corinthians 15:58; Ecclesiastes
11:1.)" - J. C. Ryle
This is what keeps me going. This is
what keeps me preaching Sunday after Sunday, because I know God's Words
will not return unto Him void.
Isaiah 55:10 For as the
rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth
not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the
sower, and bread to the eater: 11: So shall my word
be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not
return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Practical Applications
What practical instructions can we
learn from this incident?
1. We are to be committed to the House
of God
We are to be committed to the House of
God because Christ is! Christ is committed to the glory of His
Father and the purity of His house and worship. Christ is passionate and
devoted to the house of God that He will not tolerate all irreverent
behavior in the house of God. He showed righteous indignation. He
displayed holy wrath He saw that His Father's house is being desecrated.
This may be applied to the New
Testament church of God which is the house of God, where He dwells; where the
word of God is read and preached. Jesus Christ is zealously committed to the
house of God. He loved it, and was always jealous for its honor and purity.
Such was Christ's zeal that He could not bear to see it dishonored and
profaned.
If God is our Father in heaven, and it
is therefore our desire that His Name may be sanctified and honored. There
should be something in us that want to rise up and do something, when His Church,
God's House is being polluted or neglected.
No Strange Fire!
We need to jealously guard the
house of God from becoming a market place, a club house, a social gathering, an
entertainment center.
Make sure that we do not introduce any
strange fire into our assembly like what Aaron's sons did.
Leviticus 10:1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of
Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense
thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.
2: And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died
before the LORD.
(cf. Numbers 3:4, 26:6)
The incident should cause us to be
careful what we do when we come to the house of God. We should jealously guard
it and get rid of anything and everything that is offensive to Christ.
2. We are not of all men most
miserable!
Destroy this temple, - there is a
challenge!
And in three days I will raise it up - there's
the promise and He kept it!
In light of this truth, we must
remember that we are not of all men most miserable, but rather we are of all
men most blessed.
1 Corinthians 15:17 And
if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18: Then
they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 19: If in this life only
we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 20: But now is Christ
risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of
them that slept.
We serve a risen and a powerful Saviour! "The Lord is risen indeed!" that is our
message.
Because He lives we too shall live
He who had power to raise Himself from
the dead, had promised in His word ...
John 11:25 Jesus said
unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
Because He is risen we can live
victoriously
We do not have to live defeated lives.
We have a powerful Savior. May we all experience the power of His resurrection
as His disciples did.
Because He is risen we can overcome
sin and temptation
Are you struggling with temptation and
sin?
Romans 4:25 Who was
delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Because He is risen we can overcome
the Devil
Are you being harassed by Satan, day
and night accusing you?
Jesus rose to be your advocate and
intercessor.
Romans 8:33 Who shall
lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God
that justifieth. 34: Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen
again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us.
Because He is risen we can face
tomorrow
Are you afraid of tomorrow? You don't
need to if Christ is your Saviour. Commit your life
to the One who holds tomorrow!
God sent His son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal, and forgive.
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.
What a blessed Saviour
we have! What a blessed gospel we preach - the gospel of a living powerful
Christ who raised Himself from the dead and now He is calling sinners to
believe Him and to trust Him. He is ready, He is willing and He is ready to
save. All you have to do is come. Come humbling yourself before Him. Come
believing who He claims Himself to be. Friends, Jesus Christ is the Son of
God, the true Messiah. His enemies sought to destroy Him by nailing Him to the
cross. But they did not succeed, for after three days He raised Himself back to
life, just as He said He would.
Come! Come to the Saviour and experience the power of His resurrection! Amen!