Temple Attitudes – Part 2
Matthew 21:12-17
June 8, 2008
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT USED IN MY MESSAGES IS BORROWED FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE."
Me: I usually have very little trouble submitting to authority.
Usually, I’m a pretty compliant guy. I try to respect my bosses, and my District Superintendent.
But there was one person who had authority over me when I worked for Pizza Hut, lo those many years ago in Brookings back in the late 80’s.
I was a lowly Shift Supervisor, but I thought I was pretty cool because I got to wear the vest and tie that they and the restaurant manager got to wear.
You know you need to get a life when you get excited about wearing polyester that smells like greasy food even after it’s been washed, know what I mean?
Anyway, back to the story.
We got two new Assistant Managers, and they were over us little Shift Supervisors.
I got along fairly well with one of them, but the other person and I didn’t get along well at all.
In fact, it would be safe to say that when we looked at the weekly schedule and saw that we were working together, our blood would begin to boil right there.
I literally begged the other Assistant Manager to work us at different times or when she or the Manager could be there to be a buffer between us.
I gotta tell you – she was very tough to work with.
She had her degree in restaurant management, but knew absolutely nothing about what it took to run a Pizza Hut.
I, on the other hand, had been there for about a year and had worked my way up from cooking and washing dishes, to waiting tables, and now had this position.
Which I wasn’t all that good at, to tell you the truth. But that’s beside the point.
The point is that I had a horrible time submitting to this person’s authority. And it hindered our work together.
We: Anybody else here had a situation like that?
Maybe some of you are going through something like that now, and you’re thinking, “Thanks a lot, Brian – I was finally able to relax over the weekend and you go and remind me of what’s waiting for me tomorrow.”
Authority is something we all struggle with from time to time, especially when it comes with the authority that God wants to have in our lives.
We’re kind of the opinion that God can take care of His stuff and we’ll take care of ours.
The only problem with that is that since God made everything, He actually owns it, and that means that He has authority over it.
But when it comes to letting God have authority in our lives, we want to hold back. Right?
God: Authority is one of the emphases in this episode of Jesus’ life during His last week on earth before His death.
I think you’ll see that as we work our way through the passage.
Matthew 21:12-17 (p. 698) –
12 Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 "It is written," he said to them, "’My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ’den of robbers.’"
Last time we focused on verses 12-13, and we looked at three facts:
* The main issue Jesus was addressing was the extortion of the pilgrims.
Those coming to Jerusalem without animals to sacrifice for Passover were being ripped off by the moneychangers and the animal merchants.
* The temple is not the church building; the temple is you and me.
The temple is made up of people – all those who have put their faith in Jesus and follow Him.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
I said that there is no mention in Scripture of “God’s house” being a church building. And that the phrase “house of God” is the same way. It is never used in the New Testament as a mention of a church building or church property.
* The temple should be a house of prayer.
In other words, this temple should be characterized by our conversation – our relationship with God.
And the point I tried to make about all of this was that we need to keep ourselves – this temple from being robbed.
In other words, making sure we guard our temple from those things that would take away from our love and service to Christ.
Today I want to focus on verses 14-17.
14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant.
16 "Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him.
"Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, "’From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?"
17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
Jesus’ healings had more than just physical significance. The lame and blind were not allowed full access to temple activities. So when Jesus healed them physically, it allowed them to participate in the worship and sacrifices.
In a very real sense we see Jesus’ authority in “creating” purity in all those desiring to worship God. (NIV Application Commentary)
He’s making these people “pure” – without defect so they could go to the temple.
That’s only one thing that gets these religious leaders upset.
What really gets their goats is what the kids are saying and shouting about Jesus.
It’s because of these healings in the temple area here that the children start shouting what they had heard as Jesus entered Jerusalem in that triumphal entry:
"Hosanna to the Son of David,"
They were totally pumped at seeing what Jesus was doing. They caught that something very special was happening.
The chief priests and teachers of the law got very upset at this. Why is that?
I think one reason was that they were seeing even more of an erosion of their power.
Jesus was real threat to the hold they had over the people of Israel.
But I think the main reason is that the religious leaders objected to the concept of Jesus as “the Son of David.”
Remember, that was a term reserved for the Messiah, and these guys had no intention of believing Jesus could be the Messiah.
But Jesus heard what the children were saying and didn’t stop them, because what they said was true – He was the Messiah. (Life Application New Testament Commentary.)
In fact, not only doesn’t He deny what the children are saying, He says that this is exactly what the Scriptures were talking about in Psalm 8:2 –
From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.
He was saying that this Scripture was about Him.
By receiving their praise, Jesus was declaring He was worthy of praise as their Messiah. (The Bible Knowledge Commentary)
And we see Jesus not just claiming to be the Messiah, but also exercising an authority that was reserved for the Messiah.
He did that by driving the corrupt folks from the temple area so the Gentile believers and the blind and lame could worship God.
He did that by healing people who were previously excluded from worshiping at the temple.
And He did that by accepting the praise of the children.
So what’s the main point of all this? What’s the main point of Jesus driving out the cheaters, healing people for worship, and accepting the praise of children?
I think that in this immediate context, the main point was that the Messiah has authority over the temple.
As He mentioned in chapter 12, “One greater than the temple is here.” And He demonstrates that in what we see in this passage.
But I think it has significance for us today.
The Messiah still has authority over the temple of today.
What is the temple of today? Followers of Jesus.
If you have put your trust in Jesus to forgive your sins and give you a home in heaven, then you are a temple of God, according to the Bible.
You: 3 questions for us to consider:
1. Are you a temple?
In other words, have you taken hold of the forgiveness that’s available for all who ask for it from Jesus?
I’m not asking if you’re a Wesleyan. I’m asking if you have taken Jesus for yourself.
We live in a very diverse world, don’t we?
Male-female, Republican-Democrat-Independent.
We like different kinds of music – jazz, heavy metal, disco (shudder). And we have different tastes in food. We come from different ethnic ancestries and have different philosophical viewpoints.
But the bottom line is that there are really only two types of people: those who have been forgiven of their sins and have a home in heaven, and those who don’t.
If you are not cleansed, then you are like those in the outer temple area, unable to access God.
On our own, we’re sinful and unclean. We are impure and cannot come into the presence of a holy God.
Yet Jesus, through His sacrifice on the cross, is able to make you and me pure. He cleanses us and heals our spiritual deficiencies so we can have full access to God.
We’re blind and lame spiritually, and without the healing that Jesus brings we’re excluded from the presence of God because of our sins.
The Bible says that our sins keep us separated from God.
But because of Jesus and His death, we can be healed of our sins and given access to God the Father.
And all we have to do is call out to God for it. We don’t get it by going to church or being baptized or “being religious.”
The only way to obtain forgiveness of sins and a home in heaven is to ask for it, recognizing that without Jesus, you have no hope them.
At the end of the message I’m going to offer a prayer that you can say in your own heart in order to make that a reality for you.
2. Does the temple need cleansing?
I mentioned in part one of this little mini-series that we need to do what we can to not allow our “temples” to be robbed.
One big step we can take in that is to ask the Holy Spirit to come and fill us completely with a love for Christ that pushes out a love for anything that goes against Him.
This helps us recognize those things that rob us of devotion to Him and gives us the power to do something about it.
The third question is…
3. Are you vocal about your allegiance to Jesus?
We’re told by society that faith is a private matter and that we shouldn’t tell other people about it.
My response is that your faith in Christ is very personal, but it should never be private.
1 Peter 3:15 (CEV) –
Honor Christ and let him be the Lord of your life. Always be ready to give an answer when someone asks you about your hope.
We are commanded by God to tell others about Him and how to have their relationship with God restored through faith in Christ.
I’m not suggesting you shove it down people’s throats, obviously. I’m saying we need to be ready when the opportunity presents itself.
Ask God to help you recognize when He’s giving you an opportunity to say that you follow Jesus and what a difference He’s made in your life, and for the courage to take advantage of that opportunity.
We: We need to be a people who actually live as though we love Jesus and believe He has authority over us.
Do we live as people who know the lingo of Christianity and talk a good talk, or are we people who have the excitement of these children and that excitement carries over into every area of our lives?
When people look at you, do they see the joy of Christ or do they see someone just going through the motions?
When they see you do they see that you actually believe Jesus died and rose for your sake, and that your hope is in Jesus and Him alone?
And do they see you as thankful for that, or do they see you as thinking you’re in some sort of religious shackle that keeps you from enjoying life?
What do they see when they see you and when they see us?
My hope is that they’ll see that this temple loves Jesus and lives for Him. That we’re serious about calling ourselves Christians because that means more than just going to church somewhere. It means that we want our lives to reflect Jesus in all we think, do, and say.
Let’s pray.
