Verse 13, 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 cards, he drove them 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 and
house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered
that it was written, the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up. Then answered the Jews and said
unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing thou doest these
things? Jesus answered and said unto
them, and watch this, destroy this temple and in three days
I will raise it up again. Then said the Jews, Forty and
six years was this temple in the building, and wilt thou rear
it up in three days? but he spoke 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. Now the first thing always for
us to do is to set the context of the scripture, how it bears
upon the passage in the second chapter of John, to find out
the background of the Jews' question that they raised here in verse
18. Now, we need to understand the
time is rather early in the open or the public ministry of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is not toward the middle
or the end, but it happened in the earlier part of the ministry
of our Lord. Previously, he had been identified
by John the Baptist as the one sent from God who was the Messiah. He had also been baptized by
John, whereby the father gave a great and glorious witness
unto him as his son. and the Lord in moving about
had been calling and gathering together his apostles and disciples
that he would teach and train and leave the word of the Lord
in their hand. Gil thought that at this time
there were five of those that had been already selected by
the Lord. And here in the second chapter
of the Gospel of John, we notice very quickly that there are three
things in this chapter that are brought before us. Number one,
in verse 1 through verse 11, there's that miracle of the Lord
of the turning of water into wine. at the wedding feast in
Cana of Galilee. Verse 12 is a very short summation,
or it records there a short time that our Lord went and spent
in the city of Capernaum, there with his mother, his brother,
that is to say his family. You'll notice something about
John and his writing of his gospel. You will note that John in this
gospel never refers to Mary by her name, always referring to
her as the mother of Jesus. Then in verse 13 through verse
17, you have the Lord's attendance at the Passover in Jerusalem,
and one of the things that he did was the cleansing of the
temple. He cleansed it of those who had
made the house of God a house of merchandise, and the money
changers, their tables overthrown, and they were driven out, and
them that bought and them that sold. Now concerning the first,
The miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. The miracle of our Lord turning
water into wine. Verse 11 calls it, and notice
it very carefully, this beginning of miracle. This beginning of
miracle did our Lord in Cana of Galilee. It was the commencement,
as we might say, of the public miracles of our Lord, and this
one, unlike so many, was done in a more private and a social
setting. A wedding, perhaps, of friends
and of family. But this beginning of miracles
did the Lord do in Cana of Galilee. He manifested forth his glory,
and the scripture said that his disciples believed on him. And though it was the beginning
of the Lord's miracle, Yet John is the only one that is inspired
to record it in his gospel. Then in verse 12, there was that
short time spent down in Capernaum, perhaps awaiting the arrival
of the time of the Passover. By the way, the Lord spent quite
a bit of time in the city of Capernaum, Matthew 4, 13, making
his dwelling there at a time. And the Lord did several great,
notable, wonderful, undeniable miracles there in Capernaum,
Matthew 11 and verse 23. though they repented not at what
they saw at the hands of our Lord. But the immediate background
of our text is the Lord's appearing at the Passover and his cleansing
of the Jewish temple recorded in verse 13 through verse 17. Now, let's take the time to just
refresh ourselves with a little background on the matter of the
Jewish Passover. You remember it had been given
to commemorate their deliverance out of the land of Egypt, and
the Lord had passed over all of those dwellings where the
blood was upon or over the doorposts in their house. And this became
a standing ordinance, the Passover. Exodus chapter 12 and verse 14. They were to keep it yearly throughout
their generation. All Jewish males of a certain
age were required at a certain time to appear before the Lord
in Jerusalem. You will remember that the Lord
himself, as a youth of 12 years old, had attended the celebration
of the Passover with Joseph and Mary. You'll find that in Luke's
account, chapter 2, 41 through And during the Passover, many
gathered in Jerusalem. The city was packed. Some came
from faraway places and great distances to make their sacrifices
and their pilgrimage and such like. And there was a provision
made in the law that they might bring money with them in order
to buy the sacrifices that they might need or offer during this
time. And they could have their foreign
currency exchange, you'll find that provision in the book of
Deuteronomy chapter 14 verse 24 through verse 26. But as usually is the case, or
as always is the case, corrupt men corrupt the things of God. They had made the father's house
and house of merchandise a house of trading a house of gain getting
selling profiteering therefore desecrating the house of God
or if you will the temple and And I think that the tense of
the Lord's words in the Greek, so say some, is this, stop making
my father's house and house of merchandise. Now, it's kind of
like our word, the word that's used here. Emporion, or we might
think of it as what we used to call an emporium, or a mart,
a place of buying and selling. Now, if this was wicked on their
behalf, think how wicked were the selling of indulgences in
the earlier history of the Catholic Church. Now the Lord drives them
out of the temple. He makes him a whip. And the
disciples remember, as they see that, the zeal of my house hath
eaten me up. A passage from the psalm chapter
69 and verse 9. Now, two things before we move
along in our study and text of the day. Catch three words. My father's house. My father's house. Now, the Lord makes here a very
weighty statement if we do not miss it, that in the excitement
of the moment might have gone over the head of the Jews at
that present time. my father, my father's house,
which of course was a reference to that temple in Jerusalem. It was the place where God put
his name and where God put his glory among them. And it was
dedicated to his service and his worship, the temple at Jerusalem. Now the point being, as Gil wrote,
the Lord declares that God, whose house the temple was, to be his
father and him to be the son of that father, that is the son
of God. It was a clear claim of the relationship
of Christ to God and the eternal father. And that being true,
It declared his sovereign right, his sovereign right to act to
vindicate the sanctity of his father's house or of the temple
of worship. Again, the three words, my father's
house. Now, did we ever wonder? what
Joseph and Mary thought. You remember when they went to
the Passover in Luke 2, and the Lord was missing on their return
journey, and they looked everywhere and were worried, searched here
and there, and finally finding him They said, did you not know
we were worrying? And the answer of our Lord in
Luke 2 and verse 49 must have given them pause. The 12-year-old
Lord said, know you not that I must be about my father's business? Luke 2 51. Secondly, looking
here at my father's house, or the father's house, the temple
of God, where God, I repeat, manifested his presence, inside
were the vessels of the service of the temple. It was here that
the priests served. It was here that sacrifice was
made for the sins and atonement of the people. Now, let me say,
there's nothing like this today, nor will there ever be again.
Not since Jesus died and that house was left unto them desolate,
Matthew 23 and 38, and was finally destroyed completely as the Lord
foretold in Matthew chapter 24, verse 1 and 2. Not one stone, left upon another that shall
not be thrown down." Now, let's come to the reaction of the Jew
to the Lord's cleansing of the temple. It must have been a great
spectacle to behold, if we can imagine. Here's a man, an unknown
man at that time, for the most part, with a whip in his hand,
entering into the temple. He overturns the tables of the
money changer and their coins fall about the place. Men began
to scatter and began to flee. People gasping in surprise, utter
surprise, the sound of startled animals in the temple and such
like. Now, are we surprised at how
the Jews reacted on this occasion? Might we not expect them to meet
the Lord's acts of cleaning the temple with violence? May we not have expected that
as upon other occasion. Why did they not seek to take
him or to throw him off a cliff or to stone him? Why did the
temple police not rush forward and take our Lord into custody? Well, instead of that, In verse
18, they asked the Lord to provide them a sign to justify his action,
saying unto him, What sign, what visible token will you show us,
seeing as how you've done these things? What kind of a sign will
you show to confirm your right to have done these things? This
never did any other man in the history of that temple. Never
before was it done, or at least it's not recorded. No prophet
ever did it. No high priest ever did it, though
the people were corrupt in their days as well. After all, these
people asking our Lord, they are the rulers, the gods, and
the leaders of the temple worship. They were the keepers of Judaism,
if I may use that. They were the authorities in
the nation as far as religion went. And so they, in effect,
asked the Lord, What is your authority to be a reformer of
such long-established custom in the temple? Who or what are
your credentials for these things? By what authority? You remember, the Jews require
a sign, 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 22. Their anger was
temporarily bridled. And I want to ask the question,
why was their anger temporarily bridled? at what the Lord had
done and said. Well, let's remember a couple
of things about their situation. Why they were not then and there
more violent. Number one, would you consider
the history of their prophets their great men was one of great
miracle working power, men working miracles, men of God. Remember Moses and all the wondrous
signs in Egypt and out in the wilderness. Remember the mighty
works, the mighty work. and many of Elijah and Elisha,
which were sent from God. And they sometimes dealt very
harshly with the people. Remember Moses making the people
drink the molten cat? You remember Isaiah or Elijah,
the prophet and the bears that go forth and destroy those who
mock the man of God. And so in reforming times, Moses,
Elijah, Elisha, others, dealt very harshly and severely with
the people. But the second thing for us to
keep in mind, because of the prediction of Moses and the psalm
and the prophet, the generality of the Jews lived in expectation
of a mighty one that was to appear among them. who would be called
Messiah. Moses spoke of one like himself
that God would raise up, Deuteronomy 18 and 15, and Malachi chapter 3 and verse 1 the Lord
whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple even the messenger
of the covenant again in Malachi chapter 4 verse 4 verse 5 and
6 the closing words of The Old Testament are these I will send
you Elijah before the coming of the dreadful day of the Lord
unquote and so the Jews expected one to redeem Israel Luke 24
and 21 They asked John, who are you? In other words, are you the Messiah? The very same John at one point
sent word to Jesus and asked him in Luke 7 and 19, Are you
he that should come, or should we go on looking for another? The Samaritan woman had knowledge
of this. She said to our Lord in John
chapter 4 and verse 25, I know that Messiah come, and when he
come, he will tell us all things. Thus, these Jews, in seeing what
the Lord had done, at first would proceed carefully in this matter
and know more about it. So let's go back to verse 18. They asked not, who are you? They asked him not, who are you?
Who do you say that you are? What is thy name? But they asked
of him a sign. And I think that the word sign
translated here is the word semion, a sign, a wonder, a token, an
indication, something to distinguish him as one from God and as one
having authority. Note here, if you will, that
the Lord promises them a sign, but he couches his answer in
such a dark saying and in such figurative language that they
completely miss the meaning of our Lord saying this, destroy
this temple and in three days I'll raise it up again. What
sign would you give? This one. Destroy this temple,
and in three days, I will raise it up again. The saying adversely
affected the Jews. It was a turning point, if I
may say, in this discussion and confrontation with them. Because
hearing that, the Jews took this to be an irrational claim, and
an absolute absurdity, saying unto the Lord, there in our text,
46 years was this temple in the building, and you're telling
us that you will raise it up again in three days. The Jews
never forgot this claim. They never let this go. from their mind. In Matthew 26
and 61, they used it against him before Caiaphas, the high
priest, and the Sanhedrin council. This they used against him, saying,
we heard him say, destroy the temple three days, I'll raise
it up again. Again in Matthew 27 and 40, when
the Lord is on the cross in the agony and in the process of his
dying, they pass by the Lord and they mocked him saying, You
that claim to destroy the temple and build it again in three days,
save thyself. You made such a stupendous claim
of raising the temple in three days. Now, if you be such a one,
save thyself. Deliver yourself. If you be the
son of God, come down off of the cross. Surely they sarcastically
taunt him. He that can do the first can
do the second. He that could raise up a temple
in three days could deliver himself and save himself from the death
of the cross. And any who claim to save others
ought to be able to save himself. He that saved others, let him
save himself, they said. But let's look at verse 21 of
our text here in John chapter 2. John gives us here, thank
God he does, or we'd be like the Jews. He gives us here one
of his famous explanatory clauses that are so frequent in the Gospel
of John, saying, the Lord spake of the temple of his body. The Jews thought he spake of
the material temple. John says he was speaking of
the temple of his body, the sanctuary of his body. That is, he was
speaking, predicting, foretelling his coming death and resurrection. Now while the Jews took it as
referring to that material temple that they so admired at Jerusalem,
the building that he had just cleansed, where they met and
worshiped and sacrificed. But let's make a short word study
here, looking at the word temple and the way that it is used here. It is used here some three times
from the same word in verse 19, through verse 21. It is a word
that means a dwelling place, such as a shrine or a temple. And the point to consider in
this is the same word is used of the Lord as is used of the
material temple. This temple the temple of his
body. In fact, two of the three times
here, it is a reference to the fleshly body of the Lord rather
than the temple. Not just his body, but also his
person and his being. In verse 19 and in verse 21,
destroy this temple. He spoke the temple of his body
while verse 20 refers to the physical temple in Jerusalem
So the question is what is the Lord? Claiming when he refers
to himself as a temple What does the Lord mean by that? What are
we to take from it? What are we to understand when
he spoke of the temple of his body? Now before we answer that,
let's know that there is another word translated temple along
here in this place, in verse 14 and 15, for example. And if
I understand the meaning, if I understand them right, the
words in verse 14 and verse 15, the temple, refer to a holy place,
including the whole complex, while the word in verse 19 and
in verse 21 refers to a central or inner sanctuary. And the Lord used the latter
to refer unto himself, the inner sanctuary. And so the Lord used
that one. So back to the question again. What is the Lord implying when
he calls himself a temple? And John does so as well. Now
we have heard, we know from the Old Testament and that system
of worship that God put his glory and his presence in the tabernacle
above the mercy seat between the cherubim. You'll see that
in Exodus chapter 40, verse 34 through verse 38, when the tabernacle
was all finished, brought together, and reared up, we read, the glory
of the Lord filled the tabernacle, unquote. The Lord God is referring
to the one that dwells between the cherubims Psalm 80 verse
1 Isaiah 37 16 1st Samuel chapter 4 verse 4 all of those refer
him that dwelleth among or between the cherubim thus the Incarnate
Christ is claiming deity When he said, destroy this temple,
he spake of the temple of his body. He is the one in whom God
is manifest. the flesh verse Timothy chapter
3 and verse 16 He's the one who came full of grace and truth
John chapter 1 and He is what Paul declares in Colossians chapter
2 verse 3 In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and of
knowledge. Says again in Colossians 2 and
verse 9, in him, that is in Christ, dwells all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily. That's because in Colossians
1 and verse 19, It pleased the Father that in him should all
fullness dwell. Colossians presents a unique
perspective of our Lord and of his relationship unto God. Now the Lord did claim equality
with God. Here he's claiming it, destroy
this temple. I'm the dwelling place. I'm God
manifest in the flesh. But you remember again, John
10 verse 30. I and my father are one, which
the Jews took as blasphemy and were ready to stone the Lord,
but his hour was not yet come. Now, the deity of Christ, his
godhood, that he is God, is the very foundation of Christianity. very foundation, take away his
absolute deity and his godhood, and what is left to bear up Christianity? Christianity, not just without
Jesus, but Christianity without the deity of Jesus Christ leaves
one to be little more than a deist in their form of worship. Whatever
they might claim, Christianity or whatever, take away the deity
of our Lord and you fall down into the basement of deism. But let's say more about the
sign which the Lord would give as the authority for cleansing
the temple. As the Lord, and get this if
you will, the Lord varied the signs of his authority from place
to place and in accordance with the ones asking or desiring a
sign. For he knew what was in man. John chapter 2, verse 25. He need not commit himself falsely. He knows what is in every man. When they ask, he knew their
motive. He knew good or bad as to their
motive. Now when these At the cleansing
of the temple, asked for a sign of his authority, he gave them
a mysterious answer. Not open and clear, like he did
the woman of Samaria, I'm he, he said unto her. He gave them
a mysterious answer, couched a bit in darkness, saying to
them, destroy this temple or this sanctuary, and in three
days, I'll raise it up again. Now, just for a minute, on the
other hand, when John the Baptist was shut up in prison, in Luke
7, 19 through 23. I don't know if John fell into
a moment of doubt or whatever, but he sent two of his disciples
to put the question to Jesus, are you he that should come or
should we keep on looking for another? What moves John is kind
of hard to say. It is the Lord's answer, however,
that is important and that is our focus. They come and they
ask Jesus, two disciples, are you he that should come or should
we look for another? What's Jesus' answer? He does
not say, open it, go back and tell him, I'm the Messiah, rest
in me. It is the Lord's answer that
we look at. What was his answer? He said,
go tell John what you have seen and what you have heard, that
the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the
deaf hear, The dead are raised, the gospel is preached unto the
poor. You see that in Matthew 11, 4
and 5 and Luke 7 and 22. The Lord's point being, These are clear, open manifestations
of Messiah. When he came, he would be one
who would do many mighty works, and could not except he come
from God, except God be with him. So as I said, he does not
answer yes or no, but he tells the things that are being done,
and John, being a spiritual man, could recognize these the works
of Messiah. Now for the sign here in John
chapter 2, destroy this temple and in three days I'll raise
it up again. Now let's bring in another one
in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 38 through 40. Some scribes and
some Pharisees said to the Lord, calling him master, now master,
teacher, teacher, calling him teacher. We want to see a sign
from you. You've been doing these things
and we want to see a sign from you. The Lord's answer is harsh
if you're there and looking at it. Evil and adulterous generation
seeks a sign and there shall no sign be given it But the sign
of the prophet Jonah and what was that? Jonah was three days
and three nights in the belly of the great creature So the
Son of God shall be three days and three nights in the heart
or in the bowels of the earth Jonah was either preserved alive
or died and was raised again out of the whale's belly. And
the great whale spit him out or vomited him out upon the dry
land. We read in Jonah chapter 3 and
verse 6, Even so, Christ died, was placed in a tomb, but was
preserved from seeing corruption, and he lived again on the third
day. So the question is, why was the
Lord so harsh? with those Jews in Matthew chapter
12, calling them an evil, adulterous generation. No sign but the sign
of the prophet Jonah refusing to give them more. Why was that? Well, as Spurgeon wrote in his
commentary on Matthew chapter 12, They ignored the many signs
and wonders and miracles that the Lord had already done among
them. And what more would convince
them? Once the rich man said, oh, but
if one went from the dead and warned my brethren, they will
believe. But here's the heart of the two
texts in John 2 and Matthew 12. Two points. Number one, the Lord
did many mighty works. He healed all manner of disease,
Matthew 4 and verse 23. He cast out devils, Matthew 8
and 16. He read the thoughts of men who
came before him, Matthew 9 and verse 4. He raised the dead. He cleansed the leper. Blind
eyes were given sight, as in John 9, and deaf ears were unstopped,
issues of blood were healed, the lame walked, the poor had
the gospel preached unto them. And these things were witnessed
by many, as seen in Acts 2, 22 and 23. By his mighty works was
he approved of God, Among them in other words as Spurgeon wrote
one great evidence of his being Messiah was based upon his Miracle
the wonders and the things that he did in John chapter 14 verse
11 the Lord said to his inner circle in close one Believe me
for the very works sake I Now, the second point, so Messiah
would be a great miracle worker, a great wonder worker. Now, the
second thing is point number two, what we have just mentioned
are the, don't misunderstand me, the lesser signs. All those things we just mentioned,
I call the lesser sign. That is, lesser by comparison,
while the great sign, his resurrection from the dead after three days
in the grave now that grave he was dead placed in the grave
that grave was sealed it was guarded for consider Moses Joshua,
the prophets, many of them, did many like miracles unto Jesus. So did the apostles afterward.
But Moses and the prophets, Elijah and Elisha, did many miracles
like unto those of our Lord. Many miracles, many great signs. And yet the ultimate sign The
great sign that sets Jesus apart and above Moses and the prophets
is the resurrection from the dead after three days. Only Jonah stands as a type of
Christ's death and resurrection. And the likeness to that great
sign, again, it was Spurgeon who wrote, As Jonah's ministry
was certified by his deliverance from the sea, so the Lord's ministry
in person are attested by his resurrection from the dead after
three days. Now remember, three days and
three nights are the operative word and time in this place. How often the Lord declared,
my again and again, especially unto his followers and disciples,
that after death, he would rise again. But he pinpointed it. I will rise again on the third
day. I'm going to give you some scripture
where the Lord said the third day, John 2, 19, Matthew 12 and
40, Mark 8, 31, Luke 9 Luke 18 33 Luke 24 and
7 24 and 21 24 and 46 and Matthew chapter 16 and verse 21 our Lord
when speaking of his death added and then added After three days he shall rise
again the Lord added that to his death now remember also how
the Jews were Determined remember last Sunday the burial of Jesus
how the Jews were determined that he stay in that grave three
days and three nights and They were interested only in the three
days and the three nights. Command, therefore, they said,
that the supplicant be made sure until the third day. Not four, not five, not a week,
not a month, but until the third day. Because, you see, they had
him dead. They had him in the grave. They
had him buried. They had him sealed up. They
had soldiers watching over the tomb. So they would do all that
they could to keep their victim in the grave past three days. pretending to foil the plot by
the disciples that they might come and steal him away and then
put out the news that he's risen again from the dead. Lest the
disciples come under the cover of night and steal him, they
say, guard the tomb until the third day. Now, let's close. The question, how important is
the resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead? How important
is it? He died, he shed his blood, he
lay in the grave. Is it that important that our
Lord live again? Well, says Paul, 1 Corinthians
chapter 15, Verse 14, if Christ be not risen from the dead, our
preaching is vain or empty, and your faith is also vain or empty. His resurrection is a necessary
step toward his exaltation and glory Philippians chapter 2 verse
9 for he suffered first Then to enter into his glory as he
said to the two on Emmaus Road in Luke chapter 24 Now I'd like
to close with one more text It deserves a whole sermon in itself. We don't have that time. And
it's Romans chapter 1 and verse 4, that Christ was declared to
be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness
by the resurrection from the dead. Listen to all of that.
Determined, designated, declared to be the Son of God by the historical
event of the resurrection. This declared Him. This vindicated
every claim He had ever made. This opened the way for His exaltation,
glorification, and entrance into glory, and the right hand of
God as our high priest forever and forever. So, not just his
death, which he died a death no other man ever died. No other
man ever died like he died. No one ever had the manifestations
when the Lord was dying. But by his resurrection as well,
it sets him apart from all others. And let's remember, he raised
himself. He raised up himself. Not another
prophet came to the tomb as of old and raised him from the dead. He lay his life down. He took
it up again. For he said, I will raise it
up again. Not raised by power outside of
the Godhead, but taking up his life again. after the appointed
time in the grave. Destroy this temple and in three
days I'll raise it up again. Thank God for that gospel message
of our Lord and for this being in our Bibles.