JOHN 2 v13-end

The traditional image of Jesus is the stained glass window of Him, pictured as the meek and mild person, whilst the gospel passage for today shows Him full of anger.  Anger is thought to be wrong, but there is a case for righteous anger as we read into the incident described. 

Jesus had gone to Jerusalem to observe the Passover, which fell about the middle of April.  According to Jewish law, every male Jew living within twenty miles of the city had to attend, but many others travelled long distances to be present to celebrate this major feast, which commemorated the rescuing of the Jews by God from the suffering in Egypt, for the Jews never forgot their ancestral home or faith. It was the dream of every Jew to attend one such feast in their life. 

Every Jew over nineteen years of age had to pay a temple tax, which had to be in Jewish coinage, but the currency generally used was Roman, which was viewed as unclean.  This meant that there were moneychangers.  If they had conducted their business honestly, they would have been giving a service, but they overcharged. 

In addition to the tax, they were obliged to take a sacrifice of a dove or a lamb, and this had to be one in perfect condition.  The Temple authorities appointed Inspectors to examine the animals, for which a fee had to be paid.  It was common for the Inspectors to declare the offering unworthy, and the alternative was to sell them one of their own, which in essence meant a form of blackmail.  It was this that moved Jesus to anger.  He took some cords and made whip, which he used on the men making money by false means. 

Jesus was angered because He felt sympathy for the people worshipping, and being exploited.  He saw God’s house being abused, and being turned into a market place rather than a house of prayer.  He drove out the sheep and the cattle, scattered the moneychangers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then He told those selling doves to get them out.

The Temple had a series of courts from the inner Holy place, where only priests could enter; then the court for Jewish men, next the court for women, and the outer court which was for Gentiles, which was where the buying and selling was being carried on.  A Gentile was limited to this one area, and one might attend to meditate or pray, but the place was in an uproar.  Jesus was anxious that no one should be prevented from seeking God. 

The disciples were embarrassed by the actions of Jesus! They had not been with Him very long; they did not know Him very well. They had been attracted by the amazing things He said, and the things He did. They believed with all their hearts He was the expected Messiah;

This practice had been going on for decades and, without any appeal to authority, taking on Himself this action of driving out money-changers, pouring out their money, driving out the animals, and even driving out the people with a whip! They were probably also fearful of what the authorities would do about this flagrant challenge to them. They knew these self-righteous Pharisees would not let Jesus get away with this. But as they watched Him do this, there came flashing into their minds a verse from the 69th Psalm. ‘The zeal of thy house has consumed me, has burned me up, has seized hold of me and devoured me and made me to act’. They began to understand that God does not compromise with evil.

The reaction of the Jews was natural, they wanted to know what right Jesus had to act as He did.  They asked for a sign to justify His actions and He replied, ‘destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up’.

The Jews mocked this, for the Temple had taken 46 years with 18,000 men to build, but Jesus was saying He was the temple,  There had been three Temples, built there as somewhere for God to live, and if you wanted to meet with God you went there.  He was saying He had the right to destroy the Temple because HE was the Temple of God, and through Him we meet with God.  When He died God ripped the veil of the Temple from the top to the bottom.

We have to ask is there anything in our Church life which would cause a stranger to turn away, a lack of welcome, an air of exclusiveness, a coldness, or as in many Churches, trying to make it into a closed club.

What we have here, is also a dramatic statement about the importance of worship for us. Religion must never be seen as a convenience.  It is a tragedy if we only worship God when it is convenient. God is after a seeking heart.

He is more interested in communion than in ceremony. I have seen Churches where more concern is shown in ritual and dressing up than sincere praise and worship.  Nor should we think that only one’s own particular denomination is the true one, as some really do, and consider others as not as worthy as themselves..

What God wants is for us to fellowship with Him, for us to touch Him through prayer, to commune with Him in worship, to have fellowship with Him and serve Him with all of our hearts. Having church is not going through the motions. It is coming into a divine encounter with the living God, one which changes our lives.

Through true worship and service, our lives touch the lives of others. True worship and service are themselves living testimonies to the power of God.

In this passage there is much else we can learn. Jesus is visiting the Temple, and purifying the house of God, revealing how much he disapproves of all irreverent behaviour in the house of God.

The selling of animals angered him and caused him to overturn their tables. On no other occasion in our Lord’s ministry do we find him acting in this way, acting with such righteous indignation and angry wrath. He was not pleased by the way the priests did not act.  We see him expressing his displeasure in the strongest manner.

This should raise deep searchings in the minds of clergy, especially in Cathedrals where all kinds of events are allowed, well beyond reverence.

I recall a Dean of a Cathedral declining to hold a school service of praise, at which a most admired Vicar  was to be the preacher (since died) Yet subsequently allowed a theatre group to hold a play which was totally unsuited for a place of worship.

In other places, the Cathedrals are used for all manner of events, one containing a miniature golf course, but sales of goods for some charity  of a secular organisation.

On other occasions services are held on Sundays specially to pray for animals, which are allowed to be present with emotions rampant. Again, there is an inappropriate action

 Churches may not have the same contents as Jewish Synagogue, but they are  places where the Word of God is heard and preached. And worship is held. The Methodist Church has allowed services celebrating the work of LGBTQ, once in Wesley’s chapel, the most revered place in Methodism. It seems to be forgotten that the (well organised) organisation, is opposed to that which we as Christians believe.  The person who takes worldly matters into, a place of worship is offending Christ.

We see how people may remember religious words after they are spoken, sometimes well after, yet a meaning which never occurred to them at the time eventually do

I have experienced people telling me about a sermon I had preached, and how it meant to them when sometime later it helped them, and it feels quite rewarding and encouraging to hear.

When children are told the stories of Jesus in  simple tender ways, they remember them and most often like what they heard. Sadly, children of these days are deprived of much religious teaching  as parents don’t have time or perhaps interest, and schools which are supposed to hold assemblies, can ignore holding, but must accept to hold classes of sexual teaching.  How lucky we in the older age ranges were to have schools of some integrity.

The passage shows how Jesus understands our hearts, and is fully aware of the counterfeit Christian. So many people think an occasional attendance at Church, qualifies them as a certified Christian. Jesus knew that what people stated with their lips was not what their heart was portraying. True belief stands firm, when ideology and false Christianity is used.

We are faced with a woke ideology, promoted by young people and those mentally confused, which have persuaded the Methodist Church to be interested in, and the Church of England will no doubt follow, where we are told not to call God our Father as it is causing diversity. Their frozen minds, forget Jesus taught us what to say and for centuries it has been applied.

We are not say mothers and fathers in case it upsets single people. Doesn’t it make you wonder how confused and bigoted some people are, and those who take up such nonsense, are even more in ned of help

The truths which Jesus showed us, should make hypocrites and false teachers tremble, they may fool men but they don’t deceive Jesus. A strue  Christian may feel weak at times, but can say, ‘Lord I am a poor sinner but |I am trying to be true to you. You know all the secrets of our hearts, mine may be weak but it clings to you.

The false Christian tries to avoid the eyes of an all loving Saviour, but the true Christian is happy to have the eyes of Jesus  on him/her morning, noon and night for we have nothing we wish to hide13-end

The traditional image of Jesus is the stained glass window of Him, pictured as the meek and mild person, whilst the gospel passage for today shows Him full of anger.  Anger is thought to be wrong, but there is a case for righteous anger as we read into the incident described. 

Jesus had gone to Jerusalem to observe the Passover, which fell about the middle of April.  According to Jewish law, every male Jew living within twenty miles of the city had to attend, but many others travelled long distances to be present to celebrate this major feast, which commemorated the rescuing of the Jews by God from the suffering in Egypt, for the Jews never forgot their ancestral home or faith. It was the dream of every Jew to attend one such feast in their life. 

Every Jew over nineteen years of age had to pay a temple tax, which had to be in Jewish coinage, but the currency generally used was Roman, which was viewed as unclean.  This meant that there were moneychangers.  If they had conducted their business honestly, they would have been giving a service, but they overcharged. 

In addition to the tax, they were obliged to take a sacrifice of a dove or a lamb, and this had to be one in perfect condition.  The Temple authorities appointed Inspectors to examine the animals, for which a fee had to be paid.  It was common for the Inspectors to declare the offering unworthy, and the alternative was to sell them one of their own, which in essence meant a form of blackmail.  It was this that moved Jesus to anger.  He took some cords and made whip, which he used on the men making money by false means. 

Jesus was angered because He felt sympathy for the people worshipping, and being exploited.  He saw God’s house being abused, and being turned into a market place rather than a house of prayer.  He drove out the sheep and the cattle, scattered the moneychangers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then He told those selling doves to get them out.

The Temple had a series of courts from the inner Holy place, where only priests could enter; then the court for Jewish men, next the court for women, and the outer court which was for Gentiles, which was where the buying and selling was being carried on.  A Gentile was limited to this one area, and one might attend to meditate or pray, but the place was in an uproar.  Jesus was anxious that no one should be prevented from seeking God. 

The disciples were embarrassed by the actions of Jesus! They had not been with Him very long; they did not know Him very well. They had been attracted by the amazing things He said, and the things He did. They believed with all their hearts He was the expected Messiah;

This practice had been going on for decades and, without any appeal to authority, taking on Himself this action of driving out money-changers, pouring out their money, driving out the animals, and even driving out the people with a whip! They were probably also fearful of what the authorities would do about this flagrant challenge to them. They knew these self-righteous Pharisees would not let Jesus get away with this. But as they watched Him do this, there came flashing into their minds a verse from the 69th Psalm. ‘The zeal of thy house has consumed me, has burned me up, has seized hold of me and devoured me and made me to act’. They began to understand that God does not compromise with evil.

The reaction of the Jews was natural, they wanted to know what right Jesus had to act as He did.  They asked for a sign to justify His actions and He replied, ‘destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up’.

The Jews mocked this, for the Temple had taken 46 years with 18,000 men to build, but Jesus was saying He was the temple,  There had been three Temples, built there as somewhere for God to live, and if you wanted to meet with God you went there.  He was saying He had the right to destroy the Temple because HE was the Temple of God, and through Him we meet with God.  When He died God ripped the veil of the Temple from the top to the bottom.

We have to ask is there anything in our Church life which would cause a stranger to turn away, a lack of welcome, an air of exclusiveness, a coldness, or as in many Churches, trying to make it into a closed club.

What we have here, is also a dramatic statement about the importance of worship for us. Religion must never be seen as a convenience.  It is a tragedy if we only worship God when it is convenient. God is after a seeking heart.

He is more interested in communion than in ceremony. I have seen Churches where more concern is shown in ritual and dressing up than sincere praise and worship.  Nor should we think that only one’s own particular denomination is the true one, as some really do, and consider others as not as worthy as themselves..

What God wants is for us to fellowship with Him, for us to touch Him through prayer, to commune with Him in worship, to have fellowship with Him and serve Him with all of our hearts. Having church is not going through the motions. It is coming into a divine encounter with the living God, one which changes our lives.

Through true worship and service, our lives touch the lives of others. True worship and service are themselves living testimonies to the power of God.

In this passage there is much else we can learn. Jesus is visiting the Temple, and purifying the house of God, revealing how much he disapproves of all irreverent behaviour in the house of God.

The selling of animals angered him and caused him to overturn their tables. On no other occasion in our Lord’s ministry do we find him acting in this way, acting with such righteous indignation and angry wrath. He was not pleased by the way the priests did not act.  We see him expressing his displeasure in the strongest manner.

This should raise deep searchings in the minds of clergy, especially in Cathedrals where all kinds of events are allowed, well beyond reverence.

I recall a Dean of a Cathedral declining to hold a school service of praise, at which a most admired Vicar  was to be the preacher (since died) Yet subsequently allowed a theatre group to hold a play which was totally unsuited for a place of worship.

In other places, the Cathedrals are used for all manner of events, one containing a miniature golf course, but sales of goods for some charity  of a secular organisation.

On other occasions services are held on Sundays specially to pray for animals, which are allowed to be present with emotions rampant. Again, there is an inappropriate action

 Churches may not have the same contents as Jewish Synagogue, but they are  places where the Word of God is heard and preached. And worship is held. The Methodist Church has allowed services celebrating the work of LGBTQ, once in Wesley’s chapel, the most revered place in Methodism. It seems to be forgotten that the (well organised) organisation, is opposed to that which we as Christians believe.  The person who takes worldly matters into, a place of worship is offending Christ.

We see how people may remember religious words after they are spoken, sometimes well after, yet a meaning which never occurred to them at the time eventually do

I have experienced people telling me about a sermon I had preached, and how it meant to them when sometime later it helped them, and it feels quite rewarding and encouraging to hear.

When children are told the stories of Jesus in  simple tender ways, they remember them and most often like what they heard. Sadly, children of these days are deprived of much religious teaching  as parents don’t have time or perhaps interest, and schools which are supposed to hold assemblies, can ignore holding, but must accept to hold classes of sexual teaching.  How lucky we in the older age ranges were to have schools of some integrity.

The passage shows how Jesus understands our hearts, and is fully aware of the counterfeit Christian. So many people think an occasional attendance at Church, qualifies them as a certified Christian. Jesus knew that what people stated with their lips was not what their heart was portraying. True belief stands firm, when ideology and false Christianity is used.

We are faced with a woke ideology, promoted by young people and those mentally confused, which have persuaded the Methodist Church to be interested in, and the Church of England will no doubt follow, where we are told not to call God our Father as it is causing diversity. Their frozen minds, forget Jesus taught us what to say and for centuries it has been applied.

We are not say mothers and fathers in case it upsets single people. Doesn’t it make you wonder how confused and bigoted some people are, and those who take up such nonsense, are even more in ned of help

The truths which Jesus showed us, should make hypocrites and false teachers tremble, they may fool men but they don’t deceive Jesus. A strue  Christian may feel weak at times, but can say, ‘Lord I am a poor sinner but |I am trying to be true to you. You know all the secrets of our hearts, mine may be weak but it clings to you.

The false Christian tries to avoid the eyes of an all loving Saviour, but the true Christian is happy to have the eyes of Jesus  on him/her morning, noon and night for we have nothing we wish to hide