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2-1-11-Why_InternetJesus clears the templeRead John 2:12-25 The Passover celebration took place yearly at the tempt in Jerusalem. Every Jewish male was expected to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem during this time (Deuteronomy 16:16). This was a weeklong festival-the Passover was one day, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread lasted the rest of the week. The entire week commemorated the freeing of the Jews from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:1-13). Jerusalem was both the religious and the political seat of Palestine, and the place where the Messiah was expected to arrive. The temple was located there and many Jewish families from all over the world would travel to Jerusalem during the key feast. The temple was on an imposing site, a hill overlooking the city. Solomon had built the first temple on the same site almost 1,000 years earlier 949BC), but this temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians (2 Kings 25). The temple was rebuilt in 515 BC. and Herod the Great had enlarged and remodeled it. The temple area was always crowded during Passover with thousands of out-of-town visitors. The religious leaders crowded it even further by allowing money changers and merchants to se up booths in the court the Gentiles. They rationalized this practice is a convenience for the worshipers and as a way to make money for temple up keep. But the religious leaders did not seem to care that the court of the Gentiles was so full of merchants that foreigners found it difficult to worship. And worship was the main purpose for visiting the temple. No wonder Jesus was angry! The temple tax had to be paid in local currency so foreigners had to have their money changed. But the money changers often would change exorbitant exchange rates. The people also were required to make sacrifices for sins. Because of the long journey many could not bring their own animals. Some who brought would have them rejected for imperfections. So animal merchants would do a flourishing business in the temple courtyard. The price of sacrificial animals was much higher in the temple area than elsewhere. Jesus was angry at the dishonest, greedy practices of the money changes and merchants, and he particularly disliked their presence on the temple grounds. The were making a mockery of God's house of worship. John records the first clearing or cleansing of the temple. A second clearing occurred at the end of Jesus ministry, about three years later. God's temple was being misused by people who had turned it into a market place. They had forgotten, or didn't care that God's house is a place for worship, not a place for making a profit. Our attitude toward the church is wrong if we see it as a place for personal contacts or business advantage. Make sure you attend church to worship God. Jesus was obviously angry at the merchants who exploited those who had come to God's house to worship. There is a difference between uncontrollable rage and righteous indignation-yet both are called anger. We must be very careful how we use the powerful emotion of anger. It is right to be angry about injustice and sin, it is wrong to be angry over trivial offences. Jesus made a whip and chased out the money changers. Does this example permit us to use violence against wrong doers? Certain authority is granted to some, but not to all. For example, the authority to use weapons and restrain people is granted to police officers, but not to the general public. The authority to imprison people is granted to judge, but not to individual citizens. Jesus had God's authority; but he knew it was not appropriate for him to use it in his position. While we want to live like Christ, we should never try to claim his authority where it has not been given to us. Jesus took the evil acts in the temple as an insult against God, and thus he didn't deal with them halfheartedly. He was consumed with righteous anger against such flagrant disrespect for God. The Jews understood Jesus to mean the temple out of which he had just driven the merchants and money changers. This was the temple Zerubbabel had built over 500 years earlier, but Herod the Great had begun remodeling it, making it much larger and for more beautiful. It had been 46 years since this remodeling had started (20 BC), and it still wasn't completely finished. They understood Jesus' words to mean that this imposing building could be torn down and rebuilt in three days and they were startled. Jesus was not talking about the temple made of stones, but about His body. His listeners didn't realize it, but Jesus was greater than the temple (Matthew 12:6). His words would take on meaning for his disciples after his resurrection. That Christ so perfectly fulfilled this prediction became the strongest proof for his claims to be God. The Son of God knows all about human nature. Jesus was well aware of the truth of Jeremiah 17:9 which states, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Jesus was discerning, and he knew that the faith of some followers was superficial. Some of the same people claiming to believe in Jesus at this time would later yell "Crucify him!" It's easy to believe when it is exciting and everyone else believes the same way. But keep your faith firm even when it isn't popular to follow Christ. If you compare your spiritual life to the rooms of a house, which room do you think Jesus might want to clean up; (a) Library-the reading room? (b) Dining room-appetites, desires? (c) Workshop-where you keep your gifts, skills, and talents? (d) Recreation room-where you hang out after work? (e) Family room-where most of your relationships are lived out? or (f) Closet-where your hang-ups are? Do you resist or welcome Jesus "cleanup" operation in your life? How so?
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