The-Rock-Talk #9
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Cleaning House
John 2:13-14
Here at the beginning of His ministry, by cleansing His Father's house, Jesus claimed a special relationship with God. He was the Messiah who had divine authority but the Jews challenged His claim.
13And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
The most important sacred festival of the Jews commemorating their deliverance from death and bondage in Egypt.
14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:
15 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;
16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.
The business of money changers and the sale of animals and doves was permitted in the court of the Temple for the convenience of pilgrims to the Passover. It made it easier for them to offer the appropriate sacrifices and gifts at the Temple but the practice had become more characterized by irreverence and greed.
17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
Jesus' actions reminded His followers of this, that this zeal for God's House would eventually lead to His crucifixion by the authorities.
18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
In demanding a sign, the Jews wanted some supernatural act that would prove that Jesus was the Messiah with authority to cleanse the Temple.
19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
Jesus' body was the Temple because in Him, not in the Temple building, the fullness of God dwelt among people. The Jews would destroy that Temple by crucifying Him but He would raise it up. Then, by the power of the Holy Spirit, His body - the Church - would become God's special dwelling place on earth.
---by Keith R. Vaughan