John 2:13-22

John 2:13-22

“Jesus Keeps Us Clean”

March 22, 2009

Lent 4

Part 4 of 2009 Lent series “Who Do You Say Jesus Is?”

We are using the season of Lent this year to think about who Jesus is – and what Jesus means to us.

I’m asking you to focus on one basic question:

Who do you say that Jesus is?

Who do you say that Jesus is?

Remember that in Mark 8:27-29 Jesus questions the disciples about who “people” said that He was. They came up with a list of things people said about Jesus – that He was Elijah, that He was John the Baptist, or that He was another of the Old Testament prophets who had risen from the dead.

Jesus then made the question more personal by asking who they said that He was.

That’s when Peter made His confession that Jesus was the Christ.

You know – it didn’t really matter what others said about Jesus – did it?

What mattered was who Jesus was to the disciples.

What mattered was who they said Jesus was.

What mattered was that Jesus was the Christ. – the Savior – the only way to salvation – for them.

What mattered was that they said Jesus was their Lord and Savior.

The same is true for you.

You can listen to me talk about who Jesus is – or listen to others tell who they think Jesus is – but what really matters is who you say that Jesus is – who is Jesus for you.

Who do you say that Jesus is?

Who is Jesus – for you?

We’re looking at several answers to that question during Lent.

3 weeks ago we saw that the most important answer you can give to this question is that Jesus is your Savior.

Until you can say that Jesus is your Savior it doesn’t matter what else we say about Him – but once we can say that Jesus is our Savior – we can say other things about Him – things like:

1. Jesus is the one who helps me resist temptation

2. Jesus is the one who gave of Himself for me

3. Jesus is the one who keeps me clean and holy

4. Jesus is the one I want to tell others about

5. Jesus is the one I follow

Two weeks ago we saw how Jesus can help you fight temptation and last week we saw how Jesus can help you follow Him – and give of yourself in serving Him and others.

Today we’re going to look at how Jesus cleared from the temple things that distracted from worship – and how He can help you stay clean and holy before God.

After you say that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, one of the things you can say about Jesus is that:

Jesus is the one that helps me stay clean.

Indeed, Jesus can make us – and keep us – clean and holy.

Listen to God’s word as read from John 2:13-22:

Imagine with me that you were a livestock dealer in the Temple on the day Jesus came in and – literally – cleaned house. Imagine that you had been a livestock dealer in the Temple all of your life, as had your father before you, and his before him, and his before him – your family had been livestock dealers in the Temple for hundreds of years. You would always get to the temple early to claim your spot. People would look for you there — they knew you and trusted that your cattle and sheep always met the requirements specified in the law for sacrifice.

But on that day when Jesus came in and “cleaned house”, you could only watch in dismay as your livestock scattered into the city.

Your business was ruined.

Why?

How had it happened?

Who was this crazy Galilean, anyway?

You look around and see one of the followers of that crazy Galilean — the one they called Thomas — sitting alone, and shaking his head dejectedly. You run over to him and say:

“Hey — you — don’t you realize what you people have cost me?”

“I know. I know.” said Thomas.

“I’ll send Judas over tomorrow to see if we can cover your losses.”

“What was this all about?” you demand.

“I don’t know” replied Thomas.

“Something set Him off — I’m not sure what. It’s just that He feels so deeply…”

“Yea, right. That’s obvious,” you reply. .

“He seemed to think I was committing a crime or something. Doesn’t He know how the temple operates? I provide a service for the people — I sell the animals they need to sacrifice. Without me, no one could sacrifice. And if they couldn’t sacrifice, they couldn’t obey God. It’s as simple as that. So, don’t I deserve to be paid for our services? Isn’t the workman worthy of his wages?”

“Sure you are.” replied Thomas.

“Don’t take it personally. I don’t think it was directed at you.”

“Then what was it all about? Is He an atheist or something? Doesn’t He understand the law — that sacrifice is what God commands?”

“Yes, yes, He knows that. And no, He’s not an atheist. Far from it. If anything, He believes too much.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Thomas pondered this a moment —

“I don’t know. It’s strange. It’s as if He wants people to have a right relationship with God — to live in a right relationship with God — to let the commandments change their lives. Maybe He’s telling us to get right with God.”

“Well — I don’t know — all I know is that He sure turned my life upside down.” you mumbles as you walk off.

After you say that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, one of the things you can say about Jesus is that:

Jesus is the one that helps me stay clean.

Indeed, Jesus can make us – and keep us – clean and holy

What gets you worked up?

What gets you excited? Some people get excited over ballgames. Some get worked up over political issues. Others are energized by work. I know some who get excited over things such as cars or trucks. Such individuals work diligently to keep their car or truck washed and waxed at all times. They want it to be detailed properly. They want it to look good. They want it to smell good. And they get agitated when it does not.
I had a friend in college who would park his sports car sideways in a parking lot so no one could park beside him and maybe ding his car as they opened the doors of theirs.
I had another friend who got very upset when they found out we were carrying a cooler of fish in the back of his new pick up.

What gets you excited or agitated or worked up?
Jesus got angry when He cleaned out the temple.

He got agitated and angry.

That’s right, Jesus got angry. But — His anger was not a sinful anger because He was angry for the right reason. He had a legitimate reason to be agitated.

Jesus and his disciples went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. The Jewish Passover celebration commemorated the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. Passover attendance for Jewish males 12 and over was compulsory. On the 10th day of Nisan (March/April), a lamb without blemish was taken to Jerusalem and on the 14th day, between 3-6 pm, the sacrificial lamb was killed. Passover was a sacred holiday for the Jewish people. It represented the very essence of who they were—God’s chosen people.

It is difficult to imagine how Jesus must have felt when He approached the temple and found it filled with merchants and money-changers.

You might ask, “What were they doing there?”

Well, multitudes of people flocked to Jerusalem during Passover. People from all over the world traveled to the Holy City for the celebration. The purpose of these merchants and money-changers was two-fold. One, many of the people did not bring animals with them for sacrifice, so they purchased animals there in Jerusalem. Second, all Jewish males and proselytes were required to pay a half-shekel temple tax in the coinage of the Temple. Foreign monies bearing the image of a pagan deity or ruler were unacceptable; therefore, the money changers would exchange the unacceptable coinage people brought with them into the acceptable coinage of the Temple for a small fee.

When this began, these activities took place outside of the temple, but by Jesus’ time, the merchants, animals, and exchangers had moved inside the Temple courts.

The sacredness of the Temple had been bartered for profit and convenience. And as Jesus approached the temple, he becomes angry at what the temple has become.

The temple needed a good cleaning.
Ant that is exactly what Jesus does.

Jesus makes a scourge of cords and drives away the animals and merchants. He overturns the tables of the money changers and commands the profiteers to get out of the temple.
This incident brings to the disciples’ minds a quote from Ps. 69.9:

“Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Jesus was consumed with zeal for His Father’s house — and it displays itself in His actions.
Here’s the thing you need to know here — just as Jesus burned with a passion for the Temple to be holy – a holy place where people could worship God – God wants your life to be clean and holy – and wants you to have a passion for cleanliness and holiness in your life.

Jesus wants this so much that He can give you the ability to do this – in fact, He can help you keep your life clean and holy.

After you say that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, one of the things you can say about Jesus is that:

Jesus is the one that helps me stay clean.

Indeed, Jesus can make you – and keep you – clean and holy.

You see — God loves you – but He hates sin. Absolutely hates it. He has hated it since the creation. He didn’t say to Adam and Eve:

“ you made a slight mistake”

He didn’t tell Noah,

“Noah, I am going to make everybody tread water for a couple of minutes…”

He didn’t just turn the heat up in Sodom and Gomorrah to 95 degrees

God hates sin and He punishes sin.
You’ve got to understand that God loves you – but that God hates sin.

Sin is why Jesus hung on the cross.

God’s feelings about sin are pretty evident here in the story of Jesus cleaning house in the Temple.
You see — your heart is the dwelling place of God.

You can pray for Jesus to work in your life, but still have sin in your life – sin that blocks Jesus from changing you. It’s as if Jesus were saying:

“I can’t do it, I’m sorry; I can’t work in you and dwell in your heart unless I can be there alone.”

As long as you let sin remain in your life you miss out on what God wants for your life.

But – just as Jesus cleaned house in the temple – Jesus can clean your life – and make your life holy – if you will let Him.

After you say that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, one of the things you can say about Jesus is that:

Jesus is the one that helps me stay clean.

Indeed, Jesus can make you – and keep you – clean and holy
There are times in each of our lives when we need to cleanse the temple of our hearts. We need to get busy and clear it out—drive out the cattle and upset moneychangers and shovel out the dirt that is keeping Jesus from working. We need to clean the sin out of our lives.
You can sit here in Church and sing the hymns and have a good feeling – but you can’t stay here – can you?

What happens when you go into the world – live your daily lives – and have face the temptations you face every day?

You might be letting God touch your life – and then go back and let the sin pollute it again.

After you say that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, one of the things you can say about Jesus is that:

Jesus is the one that helps me stay clean.

Indeed, Jesus can make you – and keep you – clean and holy
What’s the answer?

The first step is to examine your life to see if there is anything unclean.

Too many of us go through days – or months – or years — without examining ourselves and letting Jesus examine us through His Word.
You see — your heart is like a garden — and sin is as quick to pop up as weeds are in a garden if you are not careful. If you stop examining your life and asking God to search you, you will quickly be overcome by weeds of sin.

After you say that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, one of the things you can say about Jesus is that:

Jesus is the one that helps me stay clean.

Indeed, Jesus can make you – and keep you – clean and holy

The first step to letting Jesus cleanse you and make you holy is to examine your heart and see what sins are there.

The second step is to confess your sins.

There is no shortcut to being the person God wants you to be. Being God’s person comes as you confess your sin – as you go off by yourself – and give Jesus 15 minutes of silence.

When was the last time you were still and confessed your sins to God?

Jesus wants to be the one to help you be clean and holy.

The first step is to examine your life and see what sins are there.

The second step is to confess your sins.

The third step is to repent.

Repentance is not just saying that you are sorry — it means changing your life – changing what you think, say, and do. It means making a U -Turn turning around from what you are doing and doing what God wants you to be doing.

In a garden you need to pull the weeds up by the roots.

You need to do that in your life also – and Jesus can help you if you will let Him.

Pull the weeds of sin in your heart up by the roots.

Jesus can make you clean and holy.

Jesus wants to make you clean and holy.

Jesus is passionate about your being clean an holy – just as He was about the Temple being clean and holy.

Jesus wants you to examine your life and see where the sins are – confess those sins – and live a new and different life.

A lot of folks believe that Jesus can forgive them of their sins – but belief doesn’t make you clean and holy. You can believe that Jesus can forgive your sins all you want, but the question is — have you been cleansed?

Have you examined your life – found your sins – confessed them – and then repented?

Examine your life – find the sins – confess them – and repent.

After you say that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, one of the things you can say about Jesus is that:

Jesus is the one that helps me stay clean.

Indeed, Jesus can make you – and keep you – clean and holy

One more thing you need to know – after you examine your life — find the sins – confess them – and repent – you can know that you are forgiven. This is something you need to do almost on a daily basis to keep your life clean and holy – but once you do it – let Jesus work in your life and don’t let the forgiven sins hold you back. Let Jesus forgive you – let Jesus cleanse you – let Jesus make you holy – and then celebrate that by living the life Jesus calls you to live.

Jesus – who had passion for the temple being clean and holy – has a passion for you to be clean and holy also.

Find your sins – confess your sins – and repent of your sins – and let Jesus make you – and keep you – clean and holy. Amen.