in your Bibles to the book of John. I'll be reading from chapter 2, verses 13 through 22, and then from John chapter 1, verses 14 through 16. And in this passage, Jesus drives the animals and the money changers out of the temple. And I was, well, I guess you'd call it complaining to PM. Who in the world decided to do the Book of John? And PM reminded me, you're probably gonna run into some challenging passages no matter what book. Okay, we'll plow ahead. This is God's Word, His holy and infallible Word to each of us. John chapter 2 beginning in verse 13. The Passover of the Jews was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons and the money changers sitting there and making a whip of cords he drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and oxen and he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, take these things away. Do not make my father's house a house of trade. His disciples remembered that it was written, zeal for your house will consume me. And that comes from the Psalms. So the Jews said to him, What sign do you show us for doing these things? Jesus answered them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said, it has taken 46 years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days? But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. And then from John chapter one, beginning in verse 14, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory, glory as of the only son from the father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness about him and cried out, this was he of whom I said, he who comes after me ranks before me because he was before me. For from his fullness, we have all received grace upon grace. Let us pray. Father, it is a great blessing that Jesus came to dwell among us, to show us who God is, to show us the Father, to die in our place, to show us grace and mercy. And Lord, that he would reveal God's glory to us. So Lord, we pray that as we consider your word, that we might see Jesus, that we might see his glory, And Lord, that our lives might be touched. In Jesus' name, amen. Now, here is now the second of Christ's notable signs that John records in John chapters 2 through 11. And I think I said last week that John 2 through 11 has been called John's book of signs. And just as a reminder, a sign points to something else. And so just as we saw last week that the wedding feast at Cana was a sign that ultimately pointed to the wedding feast of the lamb in heaven. So I think this passage here is a sign. Jesus cleansing the temple points to the temple in heaven, and our eternal fellowship with God that comes with it. John chapter 20, verse 30. Now Jesus did many other signs, and he uses the word signs, not a miracle. He did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in these book, but these are written. so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. And so John, out of all the events of Jesus' life, includes these here as signs. so that we might believe in Jesus Christ and have eternal life in his name. You know, in one sense, it's no wonder that Jesus drove out the sellers and the money changers from the temple. All of this was going on in what was called the Court of the Gentiles. The temple was organized in five areas. In the inmost, there is the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. This is the very throne room of God. It is the seat of God's presence with his people. And there was a great veil separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple. And then outside before that is called the Holy Place. And this is where the priests do most of their work. Outside of that is the altar. And so the people of Israel Only the priests can go into this area, only the high priest into the Holy of Holies. But the people come in to the area with the altar with their sacrifices to worship God. Outside of that was the court of the women and outside of that was the court of the Gentiles. And so all of this buying and selling took place in the court of the Gentiles. And so you can imagine if you were a Gentile, coming to the temple to worship God, and here would be surrounding you sheep and oxen, pigeons, money changers, constant noise and commotion. And so I ask, would that environment have struck your heart with the holiness and the goodness of God? Well, more likely with the greed of people. What's up with this? And even if you were a Jew bringing a sacrifice to the altar, you would have to pass through the court of the Gentiles and all of this commotion. Alfred Ederschein. who wrote a history of the temple in Jesus' era, tells about the temple tax and about the buying and selling. He says, after the lavish expenditures on sacrifices, salary, singers, and many other things, there was not only enough to pay for repairs to the temple, the city walls, the roads, the public buildings, but a sufficient amount to accumulate immense wealth. in the treasury, not even counting the immense profits of the sellers and the money changers. In other words, this was big, big business. You know, when I was reading this passage, I have concluded that it's a problem that this was a big business, but there is a worse problem, I think. And the worst problem is the detachment from worship that it brought to the common man. Rather than select a sacrifice, make sure it has no blemishes, take it as a personal offering to God, just show up at the temple, pay a little money and it's all taken care of. Sounds kind of like human nature. And the result is a personal detachment from personal worship of the personal God. If man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, then this business stands right in the way of that. And so let me see if I can describe what's going on and why Jesus drove out the sellers and the money changers. If we just back up a little bit to John chapter one, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made. So of first importance, beginning in chapter 1, verse 1, John writes, Jesus, the Word, was with God and was God. And therefore, the Son of God is transcendent, that is, beyond space and time. And then John writes that all things were made through him. Without him was not anything made, that was made. And John further writes in 1 John 1, the one, the son of God, Jesus, the one who was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life. The life was made manifest, and we have seen him and testify to you. and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and made manifest to us. God is not out there and distant. God came to dwell among men as a man, who could be seen and heard and touched. And this is the shock. The shock to the world, both ancient and now. A personal God who is transcendent, but who came to dwell on earth. Who could even be touched. Unbelievable. That the creator would condescend to take on the weakness of human flesh and actually come to dwell with human beings. And it's, like I said, it's still a shock, a cause of unbelief, but it's also a comfort. A personal God created mankind in his own image for the specific purpose of fellowship with him. God created man so that we might know him and love him and that he might know us and love us. You know, this message of God with us goes all the way back. There's a verse in Leviticus. It's an amazing verse, 2611. God says, I will make my dwelling among you and my soul shall not abhor you. Now, does that amaze you? God dwelling among you. God's soul shall not abhor you. Rather, the Son of God came even to die for you, to give you eternal life. You know, from a few weeks ago, and I reread it this morning, we looked at John 1, verse 14. And the Word, that is the Son of God, Jesus, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. So it says, the Son of God took on flesh and dwelt among us. Literally, the word dwelt comes from the Greek skeino, which means tabernacled. the word tabernacled among us. Very interesting. In other words, Jesus dwells with his people in a special way, as in a tabernacle. And while tabernacle made into a verb, Jesus tabernacles among us. And tabernacle means tent of meeting, so it is Jesus meeting with us. It is a place to come together. And in case you're wondering, the word temple is nothing more than a tabernacle set in one fixed spot. So the word temple and the word tabernacle are interchangeable. Jesus came to tabernacle among us, and that is such a unique and an important statement that we need to ask, what does this mean to you and me? What is tabernacling among us? And so in order to see this, excuse me, I'm going to go forward to the tabernacle in heaven and then back even to Eden, to the tabernacle in Eden and the tabernacle in Israel. Firstly, we consider the eternal tabernacle in heaven. Revelation 21, starting in verse 1, Then I, John, saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them as their God. And so do you see something familiar here? God will dwell with his people. Jesus came to dwell among us. And you notice the action, the initiative is on God's part. It doesn't say we'll go to dwell with God. It says God will dwell with us. Leviticus 26.11, I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. If we continue in Revelation chapter 21, then came one of the seven angels. He said, come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. So we notice that God's people, the bride of Christ, in eternity have God's glory. as a jasper, clear as crystal. The end for you and me is holiness." Continuing in Revelation 21, John says, and I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God. the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb, and nothing unclean will ever enter it. Well, that's a question. There is no temple in eternity, because God and the Lamb are the temple. And the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal flowing from the throne of God, and of the land through the middle of the street of the city. Also on either side of the river, the tree of life with its 12 kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit each month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And so this is a beautiful description of eternity. A few things to notice. There is no separate temple. the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple. In other words, the place of God's special presence, the place of God tabernacling with his people has expanded to fill everything. There is no outside and inside. Everywhere is God's special loving presence. Second, the bride of Christ, all believers has expanded to fill all of heaven. Third, nothing unclean will ever enter it. Death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning or crying or sorrow anymore. And fourth, this description is a lot like the description of the Garden of Eden. The tree of life is there. The glory of God is there. The water of life is there. It's adorned with many jewels, just as the Garden of Eden. These all directly link to the Garden of Eden. In other words, the Garden of Eden was the first temple, the first place where God tabernacled with his people. In the garden, God performed the first wedding. In the garden, God walked with Adam and Eve. You know, I've often wondered, I don't know exactly what that means, but it sounds pretty amazing. I would have liked to been there. God is present everywhere throughout the universe, but where he dwells in a special and personal way of fellowship. There he tabernacles. Now, there is a big difference between the tabernacle in eternity and the Garden of Eden. Eden did not fill the earth. There was an outside and an inside. There was an area of the earth left for Adam and Eve to expand the glory of God. And unfortunately, we know that Adam and Eve chose to sin against God and thereby spread instead death and evil and misery to all humanity. By God's grace, in the end, Nothing unclean will ever enter the temple in heaven. Now let me just observe that God knows the end from the beginning. God does everything with a purpose. God created man in his own image specifically so that man could enjoy fellowship with God. and so that man could be God's ambassador on the earth. You know, I have often said that God is relational in his very nature. God is Trinity, Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father loves the Son and the Spirit. The Son loves the Father and the Spirit. The Spirit loves the Father and the Son. This is who God is. And if God was not three in one, he could not be love. And if he was not love, he could not design us to love. He could not create us in such a way to have fellowship with himself. And there have been many people over the years that have introduced errors into the church because they can't understand the need for God to be three in one. And what happens in every case? They lose the relational nature of God. And therefore, they lose God as love. And therefore, they lose fellowship with God. The point is this. In eternity, God will dwell with his people in a special way. God will tabernacle with them without death, without sorrow, without anything defiling. And of course, the problem is that's not yet. And in Jesus' day, that was not yet. And so secondly, we need to consider this is where the tabernacle on earth comes in. For 10 chapters in the book of Exodus, God gave explicit instructions to the Hebrew people on how to build a tabernacle. And I won't go into the detail, but I'll just say that the tabernacle was to be a picture of the Garden of Eden. And so the tabernacle was designed to be a place of God's special dwelling with his people. In Exodus chapter 40, verse 34. When the tabernacle was complete, we read, then the cloud covered the tent of meeting. Tent of meeting, that's the tabernacle. And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it. and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And when they finished the permanent temple, the same thing. It says, when the priest came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord so that the priest could not stand to minister because of the cloud for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. And so you can see a connection here. tabernacle from Eden to the tent of meeting, to the temple, to Jesus. He said in this passage that he was speaking of his body as the temple, to the temple in heaven. And then there's the connection. Wherever the tabernacle is, wherever God's presence is, there's the glory of God. And when the glory of God filled the tent Moses couldn't even go in. And when the glory of God filled the tabernacle, then the priest couldn't even go in. And it says in verse 14, John chapter 1, 14, of Jesus, we have beheld his glory. Glory as of the only Son from the Father. And in eternity, even the church, God's people will have the glory of God. Now there's a problem. Wherever God has set up his place of special tabernacling with his people, people have rejected God. Adam fell to temptation in the Garden of Eden. He decided that he could be God, that he could determine good and evil for himself. He didn't need God. Well, he was expelled from the garden. His oldest son killed his second son. And that was the beginning. After God's glory filled the temple, Well, a couple hundred years, several hundred years later, in the book of Ezekiel, we read this. And God said to me, son of man, do you see what they are doing? The great abominations that the house of Israel are committing to drive me far from my sanctuary? but you will see still greater abominations. And he brought me to the very entrance of the court of the temple. And when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. I'm skipping to verse 10. So I went in and I saw, and there engraved on the wall all around was every form of creeping thing and loathsome beast and all the idols of the house of Israel. even in the temple. The people rejected God and replaced God with idols, images of creeping things and loathsome beasts. They worshiped the creature rather than the creator. And the result, Ezekiel watched as the glory of God lifted up and left the temple, never to return. And here we are back in John chapter two. And Jesus goes to the temple, and what does he find? God has been expelled from his temple. It's been filled with merchants, money changers, business, and greed. And here's the point. Why was Jesus so passionate about the holiness of the temple, because he is the son of God. The temple was supposed to be a house of prayer, a place for God to dwell with his people. But the people chose convenience instead. They chose to just show up, pay a little money, and forget God. As though God's love and acceptance could be purchased. And worse, unscrupulous men chose to take advantage of human weakness for personal gain. Right in the heart of the temple. And no wonder Jesus drove out the merchants and the money changers. Take these things away. Do not make my father's house a house of trade. Now the question is this. How do we know heaven is secure? Every tabernacle, human beings have replaced God, have driven God out and replaced with idols, with merchandise. How do we know that heaven, the temple of heaven is secure, that it won't be once again defiled? That's easy. In John chapter two, verse 19, Jesus answered them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. And in verse 21, he was speaking about the temple of his body. And that is precisely what happened. Ultimately, Jesus was crucified on a Roman cross. His body was broken, his blood was shed in order that the power of sin and death might be destroyed. You see from the first part of chapter two last week, the wedding at Cana was a sign that pointed to the joy of God with his people. It pointed to the joyous wedding feast of the Lamb where God himself And all people will finally rejoice at the victory. And the people will have union with their God. And he will dwell with them forever. And then in this passage, when Jesus drove the money changers out and described what would happen, that his body would be destroyed and that he would raise it up on the third day. It is a sign that points to the terrible price that would have to be paid in order to reach that joy. There's a reason why these two passages are together. Jesus would have to be destroyed and rise again. Jesus would have to take your hell in order that you might know his heaven. This is the picture. It's amazing. Jesus came to tabernacle among us. God said in Leviticus, I will dwell among you. And in all eternity, God will dwell with his people. Let me conclude with this. When Jesus came to tabernacle among us, when he came in the flesh, it is called the fullness of time. Because at that time, everything changed. Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus conquered death. Jesus crushed the head of the serpent. And so the Bible says that by faith you and I are made a new creation, fit for eternal fellowship with God. Jesus died and rose again, that you and I and all who call upon the name of the Lord might live and might enjoy the eternal tabernacle in God's presence. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father, it's sobering to read the effect of human sin, that in every case as you reached out to dwell among us, human beings drove you out of the tabernacle. And so, Lord, it is so fitting that we read that Jesus drove out the money changers, made the way that you might return, and made the way that we might know you in all of eternity. Our God, who was chosen by your action, by your initiative, to tabernacle among us. Amen.