We turn in God's inspired word this evening to John chapter 2. John chapter 2 opens with the account of the first miracle of Jesus' earthly ministry, changing the water into wine at Cana of Galilee. We're going to take up the reading at verse 12 and read to verse 25 and the text that we consider is going to be particularly verses 14 through 22. So pay close attention to that part of the passage. John 2 beginning at verse 12. After this he went down to Capernaum he and his mother and his brethren and his disciples. And they continued there not many days. And the Jews' Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money sitting 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, and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence. Make not my father's house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building. and wilt thou rear it up in three days?' But he spake of the temple of his body. 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. When he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name. When they saw the miracles which he did, But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man." Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, the text that we consider is the record of a particular incident at the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry. And you might remember that miracle of Cana that I refer to that opens this chapter was Jesus' first miracle. But that miracle was somewhat limited in its scope and witness and reach being performed at a private occasion. The text before us this afternoon, however, records an event that the Jews were not to forget. By this cleansing of the temple, Christ entered fully into the work which his father gave him to do. And this incident reveals the heart of Jesus' work. The context reveals that Jesus had gone down to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. He went as one under the law. He went in accordance with the Old Testament law to celebrate, to observe that ceremony and feast in which everything pointed to Him. And along with the few disciples he had gathered by this time, Jesus went to Jerusalem, the city of God, and the temple, the dwelling place of God. He went because there he was to reveal himself as the Messiah. who came to establish the true temple of God by fulfilling all the types and shadows of the Old Testament, the laws and ceremonies, the feast days and sacrifices. But as we shall see, his first revelation of himself as the Messiah certainly did not come in a way that we would expect, nor in a way that the Jews would have anticipated. It is, however, God's way, the way of His perfect holiness, the way of maintaining the holiness and majesty and authority of God. So with those introductory remarks, I call your attention to the cleansing of the temple. We notice, first of all, the astounding act. Secondly, the amazing sign. And finally, the blessed reality. This text records an astounding act on the part of our Savior. And it shows what a terrible misconception many people have today about Jesus. If we are to understand what occurs here we have to consider carefully the setting. The event takes place at the temple. And the temple, as you remember, was God's house, not that God was confined to dwelling there, not that he was confined within those walls. When Solomon dedicated the temple, he led the congregation in an inspired prayer, saying, Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house that I have built That's recorded for us in 1 Kings 8. But the essential idea of God's house is that it is the place where God receives his people into his covenant fellowship. The covenant is typically represented in that temple. It was there that God, the friend sovereign of his people, lived under the same roof with his people, his friends, servants in Christ. And it's important that we understand that essential significance of the temple. God would take his people into the fellowship of his own life of love. You can't explain Christ's reaction to what goes on here any other way. He saw there more than just a beautiful building, more than just a gathering place for worship. He saw the very dwelling place of God, the revelation of His loving embrace of His covenant people. It's somewhat difficult for us to understand this because today, if we think of the expression, the house of God, we tend to think in terms of the church building, non-essential. If you don't have an edifice, you might meet in a gym, you might meet in a storefront. It might not be the most comfortable situation, but there's certainly nothing wrong with it. If your church building is destroyed, that doesn't prevent you from gathering together in worship, not today. But the house of God in the Old Testament was fundamental to the life of God's people. The house of God as represented in the temple was central to the very typical existence of Israel as the people of God. it represented the fact God dwelt there in that land. And now as Jesus enters the courtyard of the temple, he finds a deplorable sight. Now to get the correct picture in your mind, you have to remember the temple wasn't merely a good-sized building such as we have here. Rather you must have in mind a temple complex or compound. Some of us in some of our travels have seen some of the old forts with their high walls within which are found various buildings and open courtyards. well if you get that picture in your mind then you will have a better idea of the temple if you picture it as a building. Within the walls of the temple compound or complex there was this sacred edifice which itself was almost a compound within the compound. Picture a mall within the fort and to the west end stood the massive sanctuary itself comprised going from east to west of the porch and the holy place and behind the veil the holy of holies and the sanctuary to the west anchored a mall of side buildings which themselves surrounded an open courtyard But all around those buildings and within the main walls of the temple compound, there was a large open courtyard, the Court of the Gentiles. And that Court of the Gentiles was open to anyone, provided they followed the set rules of decorum and reverence. But as one approached the sacred edifice, again that mall within the fort, if you will, There was a beautifully ornamented marble screen, four and a half feet high, which both in the Latin and Greek language warned the Gentiles to go no farther upon pain of death. So you have in your mind now the general layout of the temple complex. And entering the gates, you would find yourself in that massive court of the Gentiles. That's the area into which Jesus entered. And mind you, it wasn't just the sanctuary that constituted God's house, but the whole complex. Everything within the walls, within those outer walls. And it was the time of the Passover celebration. When Jews from all over the kingdom came to present their offerings and to observe their deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. And while the Passover was intended to point God's people to the coming of the Messiah, who would also fulfill the picture of the Passover Lamb, that aspect of the Passover had been lost almost entirely. Jesus entered into the temple compound to find a scene resembling the combination of a feedlot, an active sale barn, and an open marketplace. That huge courtyard was filled with bellowing cattle, bleeding sheep, buyers and sellers hollering to be heard over all the other noise. In fact, I don't know how much worship could even have gone on inside the sacred dwelling place for all the noise in the outer courtyard. It wasn't as if those buildings were well insulated. It wasn't like the inner temple, the inner sanctuary of the temple compound was sealed off in air-conditioned comfort. Not only did the noise have to be horribly distracting, But imagine the stink. If you were a Jew and wanted to make your way into the sanctuary to worship God, you had to fight your way through all the cattle and sheep and buyers and sellers who were running around stopping people as they were trying to get through, all the while trying to catch your breath in the oppressive heat and the stink of all the manure. Well, the origin in one sense was quite natural. At all the festivals, but especially at the Passover, an almost inconceivable number of animals were offered as sacrifices to the Lord. And all the animals presented for the sacrifice had to be free of blemishes, of which the rabbis enumerated no less than 73. blemishes that were not to be found in those offered now that takes more than a superficial inspection you understand and so the priests and undoubtedly some other Jewish leaders in cahoots with them saw a great business opportunity here they simply told the people no more bringing your own animals to the temple we don't have time to inspect them The only animals to be sacrificed are those that have been pre-inspected and are here for sale on the site of the temple. So they had those cattlemen selling their cattle in the courtyard of the Gentiles and passing on a percentage of the sales to the priests. The matter of money changing was conducted in a similar way. custom had it that nothing but the half shekel of the sanctuary could be received at the temple sanctuary and when the people came to the temple every male Israelite had to pay the temple tax the temple tribute that ancient half shekel now for you and for me That would be like the church council demanding your offerings had to be paid in Chinese coins of the 11th century. And bear in mind, if you didn't pay the temple tax, you would be excommunicated. So all these Jews came from all over the kingdom with their Roman coins and different coins for different parts of the empire and they had to exchange their money at the temple. They had to take the current coins and exchange them for those ancient half shekels. And again to avoid the appearance of usury, a grievous sin according to Old Testament law, the law strictly governed the amounts that the money changers were allowed to charge. But that amount was exorbitant. About half day's wage for every half shekel. And of course, the Jews merely recycled those half shekels. They were ancient coins only to be used in the temple. It wasn't as if there were a market among coin collectors for those coins. Those half shekels might just as well have been wooden tokens. But in order to obtain one for the required temple tax, you had to give up a half day's wage every time you enter the temple. Now you can imagine how these things affected those who came to worship at the temple. They came to worship and immediately had to cough up significant money to the money changers, then step their way through this combination feedlot, sale barn, careful to avoid all the manure, gagging on the stench, while supposing to have their minds fixed on the great deliverance Jehovah had given them. It was scandalous. It was an offensive desecration and detraction from holy worship. And as Jesus came to this scene, his soul began to burn within him. And as there were all kinds of short ropes lying around, which had been used to lead the animals and tie up the crates of doves, Jesus reached down and began picking up some of those short ropes until he had several of them in his hand, and with those ropes he proceeded to make a whip. And then from the back of the court, and working his way toward the gates, He entered into the heart of that tumultuous crowd driving the whole business out of the temple. It was an astounding act. Cows bellowing as they moved toward the gates, their rough cattle drivers unable to do a thing about it. the sheep moving the same way, while this young man in peasant's garb from Galilee was kicking over their tables, the tables of the money changers, coins rolling every which way, and above all, the noise of his voice was heard speaking with authority to those who had been selling doves, these things hence. Make not my Father's house an house of merchandise." It was one unbelievably chaotic sight. Jesus' disciples stood there astounded. As they watched this unfold they knew that they were witnessing a wonder. How else could this possibly be explained? Surely the resistance of just a handful of men could have prevented this whole chaotic exodus. there's no explanation except that in the blazing fury in his eyes and the inexplicable authority in his voice and action, the divine power and authority that lay hidden in Jesus' human nature suddenly burst forth and those simple human beings who were before him were helpless, powerless. They didn't know why. And when it was all over, in just a matter of minutes, the entire courtyard was empty of all but Jesus' disciples and the Jews were now coming from their own courtyard to see what had taken place. Oh yes, there remain the remnants of the wretchedness, the piles of manure, the coins strewn about the courtyard, the overturned tables, the rest of the trash. And then the text tells us in verse 17, and his disciples remember that it was written, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. In other words, they saw in Jesus the fulfillment of what we sang earlier from Psalm 69. Psalm 69, as I mentioned, is one of those Psalms that is clearly messianic. Although written by David, applicable to his particular historical situation. It's a psalm that clearly prophesies of the coming Messiah and of the sufferings of the Messiah. And so you find different portions of the psalm quoted in the New Testament with reference to Christ and so it is here. As the psalm describes the sufferings of our Lord, suddenly there appears this verse, verse 9, for the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Now it's evident from the psalm that Christ's sufferings, which he suffered all his life long, was were sufferings that found their culmination at the cross and in fact it was especially at the cross that Christ gave clearest evidence that he was consumed by zeal for God's house for the realization of his covenant fellowship with his people And so the question is, why did this Holy Spirit, in the inspiration of Scripture, see fit to apply that text already here, at the very beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry? Why is this astounding act of Christ, pointed to as the fulfillment of Psalm 69 verse 9, and that brings me to my second point. This astounding act of our Lord was also an amazing sign. The Jews had no explanation, of course, for what had just happened. On Jesus' part, this was the public proclamation of His divine power and authority, a revelation of Himself as the Son of the Living God And because of that relationship in which he stands to God, he would also rise up in protest over this desecration of his father's house. And this was meant especially for the priests and the rulers of the Jews. They were not ignorant, after all, of the ministry of John the Baptist, who purportedly had been sent to announce the coming of the Messiah And after all, we learn in John 1 that the rulers of the Jews had sent some of their own number, priests and Levites from Jerusalem, to ask John who he was and what he was about. And John had proclaimed that there stood one among them whose sandal he was not worthy to unloose. that was the day before John baptized Jesus. And so I say the Jews were not ignorant of John's announcement of the imminent appearance of the Messiah. Jesus' cleansing of the temple was meant especially for their instruction and rebuke. But the Jews could only ask the question, how could this man possibly have done this? they well understood by his astounding act he had claimed an authority in the temple greater than their own. What else could they understand when they heard the words or when those words that he had said were told them Make not my father's house and house of merchandise. He was claiming a relationship to God as a son to his father. And so we read in verse 18, Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign showest thou, seeing that thou doest these things? What sign can you show us? of your authority in doing these things and notice they didn't ask him directly to explain his authority they said give us a sign show us that you have the right to do what you've done now rather peculiar it is that they approach him that way to me It shows that they suspected that he was indeed claiming to be the promised Messiah, but they asked for a sign. Jesus answered and said unto them, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. A dark saying that was. And one that the Jews could not understand that time and were certainly sure to misinterpret. But that's the sign. And an amazing sign it is. You see, Jesus had already given them a sign. The wonder that he had just performed. in clearing out the temple as he had done was itself a sign and a clear sign at that it demonstrated that his was no human power and they saw that clearly but they wouldn't have it they wanted something more specific a sign that was acceptable to them and so Jesus spoke the words destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." It set forth a claim that his was a power that no man could exercise. But when I say that they were almost sure to misunderstand him, that's exactly what happened. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and that wilt thou rear it up in three days? You see, they did what most people do today when they read scripture and come across the word world. They almost immediately think of the world in terms of humans, and that, all humans, head for head. Well, as you would expect, the Jews, in hearing the term temple, immediately thought in terms of that temple compound in which they were gathered. And Jesus made no attempt to correct them. He left that mysterious saying to be misinterpreted and applied against himself. But it becomes evident that that saying took deep hold upon the Jews. It was talked about. It became fixed in the memories of many and it troubled them. And so some three years later, when they had Jesus bound and brought before the Sanhedrin after he was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, and they were trying to find a charge on the basis of which they could condemn him to death, there came certain men who reminded them of this saying. They twisted it. They used it against Christ. And Mark records their testimony in Mark 14, verse 58, and listen to how it paraphrases and twists what Jesus said, not unlike how the NIV and other of some of today's modern Bible translations paraphrase and even twist the words of our Lord. So they said, we heard him say, destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another temple made without hands." And when they had finally nailed Him to the cross, they marched by that cross shouting, You see, they couldn't shake free from this sign that Jesus had given them. But the text tells us Jesus was not speaking of the earthly temple, but of the fulfillment. He spoke of the temple of his body. Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up that the temple was a picture of the body. of Christ. How is that? Just as the earthly temple was God's dwelling place, so in the body of Jesus God dwelt. The temple was only a picture. The body of Christ is the reality. Go back one chapter and read what John wrote in John 1 verse 14 and see how Christ revealed the glory of God in a way that the temple couldn't even begin to reveal that glory. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And of course we see that only as we also make the confession of John 1 verse 16, and of His fullness have all we received and grace for grace. But in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. That was the power that Jesus revealed in the cleansing of the temple. So true was it that Jesus' body is the true temple of God that the type was inseparably connected with the reality. And that would become unmistakably clear when three years later they crucified Jesus. That's why when Jesus died on the cross, you remember, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. That was the end of the temple. The earthly temple was destroyed. God no longer dwelt there. And so Jesus said, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. That wasn't just a proposition. that wasn't an if, that was a command. Destroy this temple. And they did. Not then, for the time had not yet come, but they did some three years later. And that very act of destroying the temple of Jesus' body was the means that Christ used to cleanse the whole house of God That's why in a remarkable way this temple cleansing was a summary of all God's work. An amazing sign. He came the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. But that temple of His body was even as the courtyard, the temple complex and the courtyard of the temple, His body was polluted. polluted not because of anything in him, not because he himself had any sin or guilt, no more than the temple buildings could be said to bear corruption, but Jesus bore the guilt and the sins of all his people. Our guilt was imputed to him. And that was the source of the deepest grief that Jesus bore when he witnessed the corruption of the temple. And I might add when he looks upon our worship and sees us carrying into the sanctuary all the thoughts of our worldly business and earthly worries, failing to worship God with spotless purity and holiness. He sees and saw all that corruption as a picture of the fact that his own body had to be corrupted by bearing the guilt and sins of his people. The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, you see. He says, I will do what is necessary to cleanse thy house, my father. I will be consumed even by thy wrath." That's the only way the house of God can be cleansed. That's the only way you and I can be saved. And that points us to the blessed reality of the cleansing of the temple. The disciples saw this as a fulfillment of Psalm 69 verse 9, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. But this word wasn't fulfilled in Christ until he was literally consumed in death. All for the purpose of building and establishing Father's house. This act of temple cleansing recorded in John 2 is not itself the fulfillment of Psalm 69 verse 9, for Jesus did not intend nor expect in this way to put an end to the desecration of the temple. But this was prophetic of the real spiritual cleansing and sanctifying of God's house as it was accomplished through his cross and resurrection. Jesus said, mine is the authority to destroy the works of the devil and to build the everlasting house of God's covenant. For the zeal of my father's house hath eaten me up. That was his only purpose in life. Jesus had no side issues. We do, don't we? Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, what ye shall drink, what ye shall put on. Jesus has to remind us, doesn't he? We have all these side issues because we're so easily distracted from what is essential, what is spiritual. We say we seek the kingdom, but we must also eat. Jesus had no side issues. Everything was for the house of God. No wonder people didn't understand him. Could you? He was consumed, not by the enemy, but by zeal. For the zeal of God's house, he had to die. He willed to die. In that zeal, he was nailed to the accursed tree He came to clean up the house of God. Get out sin. Get out devil. Get out powers of darkness. And no man can understand. Jesus said, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. But Jesus was consumed with zeal. that we might live again as born-again members of God's house. And he had the victory. The Old Testament was a pretty sorry picture of what we enjoy today because of Christ. It's true the temple was one compound in which God and his people dwelt together in covenant fellowship, in one house but in the Old Testament God lived there over in one corner of his house and the people on the other side and between them was the veil and not only that but between that most holy place and the gathering of the people was not only the veil but the altar of burnt offering and the altar of incense and the priesthood The covenant fellowship that that temple pictured was but a faint reality. The birds, the sparrows, the swallows were able to get closer to God than his own people. That's what we sang about from Psalm 84. It's a remarkable picture set forth there. In his longing for the courts of the Lord, David expressed his envy of the sparrows and the swallows. While he can come only into the outer court, he sees those flying into the very sanctuary of God. But he cannot, because the blood of atonement had not yet been shed. But now the reality has come. the true temple of God, even the body of Jesus Christ, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And by way of the cross and through his resurrection from the dead on the third day, our Lord Jesus Christ has glorified the temple, removed the veil, and ushered us into the very fellowship of God our Savior. Think of this. You are the body of Christ. God takes us into his own triune covenant life. Christ has cleansed the temple. Isn't that amazing, beloved? What a blessed reality. So great is the blessedness that is ours, We can't even begin to comprehend the glory of it all. Someday we shall see, and what a day of rejoicing that will be. Amen. Our Father who art in heaven, we thank Thee for this day in Thy sanctuary where we could taste of Thy fellowship in Jesus Christ our Lord. How rich are the blessings of dwelling in Thy love! Fill our hearts with Thy praise, also as we go forth from Thy house, that we may walk as Thy people in the midst of this world. Keep us from sin, and bless us in the week ahead, and forgive our sins for Christ's sake. Amen.