John 2:13-22- Is God For Sale?
John 2:13-22- Is God For Sale?
13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"
17 His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."
18 Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"
19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."
20 The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
My senses were engaged by this scripture:
Let’s Visualize this scripture together:
- Jesus getting steaming mad
The making of the whip- v. 15 "So he made..."
The animals
The tables and coins flying
The voices being raised over the building of the temple and its importance
Explain the text-
Passover
Sacrifices
Money exchanging
Temple building prominence [expound]
What’s he saying about the temple being rebuilt?
The deep truth of verse 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." . The building temple was passing away. Jesus became the temple- and we by believing in him and his resurrection become the temple of the Holy Spirit
Ironically we can also become the people who violate the Temple of Christ- who clutter up the temple with the wrong things
This scripture teaches of priorities- what does this scripture say?
Other Scriptures related to sacrifice:
Cain And Abel
Other scriptures related to Jesus’ values and priorities:
- Perfume on the feet- John 12 [expound]
- Taxes to Caesar- Luke 20, Matt 22 [expound]
- Temple tax- Matt 17 [expound]
Jesus values are what? Its not about money it is about What is God’s
Giving to God without putting anything in your path that is not of God
And definitely not blocking anyone else’s opportunity to worship
Why was Jesus so upset? What’s the big deal?
They are missing the point of the temple- the point was relationship with God. People were putting barriers in the way of relationship with God.
Sermonize- Let’s take this scripture and apply it at different levels
Global- Big picture- are we the Church- with a Big C- are we taking care of God’s Body. Are we taking good care of creation- or are we using it for our convenient habits?
How about Global wealth? We have 1billion or so folks who live on less than one dollar a day- this is called extreme poverty. Meanwhile we as Americans consume 25% of the worlds resources. The extreme wealthy- live lavishly and control and influence the "elected" leaders. CEO’s make 400 times an average employee salary. How are we doing? Have we fully embraced the Kingdom of God? Have the 2 billion plus Christians in the world- really lived out the value system of Jesus?
What are we doing to make God’s world a more just- beautiful and healthy place?
Local- Why are we here as a church? So that we and others can have/become in relationship with God. I want every worship opportunity to be a place and a time where some one can come in- without any church background or any commitment to God- and I believe they should be able to leave this place and time knowing that God loves them and that there is a purpose for their life.
God is so valuable that we can’t sell anything for enough money to honor him- the only way to pay God off is to create a place where people can freely worship Him- especially the poor of Spirit-
But Jesus this is the way we’ve always done it! It works great- it is so convenient.- I can see some locals saying to Jesus that day.
What was so wrong with it.- they started to believe in the sacrifices so much- even more than the God behind it all.- Can we get to a point where we are worshiping our religious forms and not our God.
We should challenge our local worship community and look and see if there are any barriers in the way we approach worship- that may be blocking others from a worship experience. Do our actions and attitudes match up with what we say happens here? We say God meets us here as a community- teaches us and blesses us? Do we show fruit of these blessings and teachings? Or can people only see the ritual and barriers. Would Jesus run in with his rag tag bunch of followers and be warmly greeted- or would he have to make a whip first and do some cleaning up. As participants in this worship community, or in our families- we should always ask that question: Would Jesus want to be with us here?
Personal- What does this scripture say to us as individuals?
Barriers: The sins here are greed, treating the poor unjustly, religious snobbery- Remember when we believe- we become a temple- we become a part of the body of Christ- a home for the Holy Spirit
So letting sins build up in your life- not dealing with your greed, your lust, your bigotry, your anxiety- is not okay- you are devaluing yourself. God wants to live in you- and we allow this clutter to block others from seeing that the Holiest of All lives inside us. Is it time for you to let the words of Jesus in the scriptures turn into a whip- and let him clean house? Let him drive out your sheep of selfishness, your cattle of carnality, flip over your tables of treason
Challenge: Is it okay to be angry and aggressive? Jesus is not "nice" here?
I am not saying: "Whip yourself" I am saying "Respect who you really are
Accept and Love who you were created to be- a dwelling place of God
Embrace that God wants to fully inhabit your life– that he is as passionate for your life, body and soul as He was for the temple that day-
God puts passions in your soul- but the clutter can cloud us from passion
Passion: What is your deep passion? Jesus had a deep passion for people relating to Father God- things that got in the way bugged him.
You can enter more deeply into the life of God- by listening through, prayer, worship and the scriptures- you can here, see, feel and smell- the passion God has given you. Maybe it is your family- maybe it is this community- maybe it is serving the poor- Maybe it is teaching children of the love of God- maybe it is embracing the suffering.
God is not for sale- God’s value- is beyond our comprehension- but his values- His passions- are plain in scripture for us to see. And God wants us to buy into His value system His passion for the globe= his passion for our local community- His passion to live fully in each of Us
Will you buy in? The currency he accepts is a willing, contrite soul.
Buy in. Give him your soul, your life. And this transaction comes with a guarantee that my friend Robert told me, "Jesus didn’t say it would be easy, but it will be worth it."
13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"
17 His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."
18 Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"
19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."
20 The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
My senses were engaged by this scripture:
Let’s Visualize this scripture together:
- Jesus getting steaming mad
The making of the whip- v. 15 "So he made..."
The animals
The tables and coins flying
The voices being raised over the building of the temple and its importance
Explain the text-
Passover
Sacrifices
Money exchanging
Temple building prominence [expound]
What’s he saying about the temple being rebuilt?
The deep truth of verse 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." . The building temple was passing away. Jesus became the temple- and we by believing in him and his resurrection become the temple of the Holy Spirit
Ironically we can also become the people who violate the Temple of Christ- who clutter up the temple with the wrong things
This scripture teaches of priorities- what does this scripture say?
Other Scriptures related to sacrifice:
Cain And Abel
Other scriptures related to Jesus’ values and priorities:
- Perfume on the feet- John 12 [expound]
- Taxes to Caesar- Luke 20, Matt 22 [expound]
- Temple tax- Matt 17 [expound]
Jesus values are what? Its not about money it is about What is God’s
Giving to God without putting anything in your path that is not of God
And definitely not blocking anyone else’s opportunity to worship
Why was Jesus so upset? What’s the big deal?
They are missing the point of the temple- the point was relationship with God. People were putting barriers in the way of relationship with God.
Sermonize- Let’s take this scripture and apply it at different levels
Global- Big picture- are we the Church- with a Big C- are we taking care of God’s Body. Are we taking good care of creation- or are we using it for our convenient habits?
How about Global wealth? We have 1billion or so folks who live on less than one dollar a day- this is called extreme poverty. Meanwhile we as Americans consume 25% of the worlds resources. The extreme wealthy- live lavishly and control and influence the "elected" leaders. CEO’s make 400 times an average employee salary. How are we doing? Have we fully embraced the Kingdom of God? Have the 2 billion plus Christians in the world- really lived out the value system of Jesus?
What are we doing to make God’s world a more just- beautiful and healthy place?
Local- Why are we here as a church? So that we and others can have/become in relationship with God. I want every worship opportunity to be a place and a time where some one can come in- without any church background or any commitment to God- and I believe they should be able to leave this place and time knowing that God loves them and that there is a purpose for their life.
God is so valuable that we can’t sell anything for enough money to honor him- the only way to pay God off is to create a place where people can freely worship Him- especially the poor of Spirit-
But Jesus this is the way we’ve always done it! It works great- it is so convenient.- I can see some locals saying to Jesus that day.
What was so wrong with it.- they started to believe in the sacrifices so much- even more than the God behind it all.- Can we get to a point where we are worshiping our religious forms and not our God.
We should challenge our local worship community and look and see if there are any barriers in the way we approach worship- that may be blocking others from a worship experience. Do our actions and attitudes match up with what we say happens here? We say God meets us here as a community- teaches us and blesses us? Do we show fruit of these blessings and teachings? Or can people only see the ritual and barriers. Would Jesus run in with his rag tag bunch of followers and be warmly greeted- or would he have to make a whip first and do some cleaning up. As participants in this worship community, or in our families- we should always ask that question: Would Jesus want to be with us here?
Personal- What does this scripture say to us as individuals?
Barriers: The sins here are greed, treating the poor unjustly, religious snobbery- Remember when we believe- we become a temple- we become a part of the body of Christ- a home for the Holy Spirit
So letting sins build up in your life- not dealing with your greed, your lust, your bigotry, your anxiety- is not okay- you are devaluing yourself. God wants to live in you- and we allow this clutter to block others from seeing that the Holiest of All lives inside us. Is it time for you to let the words of Jesus in the scriptures turn into a whip- and let him clean house? Let him drive out your sheep of selfishness, your cattle of carnality, flip over your tables of treason
Challenge: Is it okay to be angry and aggressive? Jesus is not "nice" here?
I am not saying: "Whip yourself" I am saying "Respect who you really are
Accept and Love who you were created to be- a dwelling place of God
Embrace that God wants to fully inhabit your life– that he is as passionate for your life, body and soul as He was for the temple that day-
God puts passions in your soul- but the clutter can cloud us from passion
Passion: What is your deep passion? Jesus had a deep passion for people relating to Father God- things that got in the way bugged him.
You can enter more deeply into the life of God- by listening through, prayer, worship and the scriptures- you can here, see, feel and smell- the passion God has given you. Maybe it is your family- maybe it is this community- maybe it is serving the poor- Maybe it is teaching children of the love of God- maybe it is embracing the suffering.
God is not for sale- God’s value- is beyond our comprehension- but his values- His passions- are plain in scripture for us to see. And God wants us to buy into His value system His passion for the globe= his passion for our local community- His passion to live fully in each of Us
Will you buy in? The currency he accepts is a willing, contrite soul.
Buy in. Give him your soul, your life. And this transaction comes with a guarantee that my friend Robert told me, "Jesus didn’t say it would be easy, but it will be worth it."
posted by Palouse Fed. Church at 7:01 PM
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