Malachi prophesied that the “messenger of the covenant” would come and cleanse the temple and
the priests. (See Malachi 3:1-5) There
were kings of old who cleansed God’s temple. Hezekiah was one of them.
Jesus is fulfilling the prophecy of the cleansing of the
temple. He is also dealing with the priests who are in cahoots with the
merchandizers and moneychangers in fleecing God’s worshipers by charging
exorbitant prices for God’s required sacrifices. Jesus has all authority over
the temple of God because He is God.
Judgment comes to the house of God first. 1 Peter 4:17
Whip
of Cords
So He made a whip out
of cords, and drove them out of the temple area. V13
Perhaps these cords were those used to
tie the animals to a post or restrain them. Jesus set the animals free by
loosening them from what bound them. Then He made a cord, cracked the whip and
drove the animals, doves, buyers and sellers out of the temple court. John did
not say that Jesus hit any animal or person with the whip. No doubt the anger
and authority in Jesus’ voice and the cracking of the whip moved them to obey
Him. Jesus is righteously angry over what is happening in the temple of God. It
has been turned into a marketplace – a den of thieves. The people from the leaders down had lost
reverence for God’s temple and were taking advantage of God’s people. These
leaders, merchandizers and moneychangers as well as the Romans were desecrating
God’s temple. Jesus said to those who sold doves, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father’s House into a
market!” v16 Jesus who is God must have righteous indignation against sin
or He wouldn’t be God. God hates sin and doesn’t want His temple defiled by it.
Again, Jesus is fulfilling scripture. Hosea 9:15 speaks about the punishment of Israel for its wickedness.
God says through Hosea, “I will drive
them out of My House.” These religious leaders and priests well-schooled in
the Older Testament scriptures should have remembered Hosea’s word of the Lord
about driving the unholy out of His house. Jesus continually quoted Older
Testament scripture to show those present that He was fulfilling these
scriptures right in front of them.
Jesus’ disciples had not yet seen this side of His nature –disciplinarian
and Judge. Jesus is not only Savior; He is also the righteous Judge. Unlike the
Jewish leaders and merchandizers, Jesus’ disciples did remember the
scripture in Psalm 69:9: “Zeal for Your
house will consume Me.” His disciples realized that Jesus was fulfilling
this psalm in their seeing and in their hearing.
Jesus had zeal for His Father’s House and exercised His
authority over it. Jesus had the right to cleanse His Holy Father’s House
because He is the Son of God who is holy and equal with God. Those who love and
serve Jesus have authority through Him.
Jesus had righteous indignation against these religious and
secular leaders, but through His grace and truth, He draws sinners to Him with
cords of love not judgment. Hosea 11:4: “I
drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them.” Jesus fulfilled this scripture for all. (See Matthew 11:29) He not only draws us with cords of love; He takes the yoke of the Law off of our necks and feeds us His grace and truth.
New
Name for the Temple – My Father’s House
Jesus used a “new” more intimate name for God’s temple. The
Jews saw God as Father, but they did not call Him by that name. They thought
God too holy and sacred to use such an intimate name for Him. Jesus, however,
knew God as His Heavenly Father to whom He was closely bound as a father and a
son as one, not one whom He must keep at a distance. Jesus called God “My Father” many times in the Gospels.
Jesus and the Holy Spirit will draw us into a closer and more
intimate relationship with the Father as sons and daughters. Followers of
Christ can fight sin and pursue holiness with the blessed assurance that the power
of the Godhead will bring us to victory.
New
Authority – New Temple
The Jewish religious leaders question Jesus’ authority to
cleanse the temple. They demanded a sign to prove His authority. Then the Jews demanded of Him, “What
miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this”” John
2:18 Jesus responded with a somewhat
puzzling statement. “Destroy this
temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” V19 The Jewish leaders
were thinking about the physical temple made of stone, but Jesus is talking about
the spiritual, eternal temple not built by man but by God. “But the temple He had spoken of was His body.” V21 Jesus is the Eternal, Living Temple of
God – the very presence of God. These
leaders were looking with “natural” eyes, but Jesus was talking about the “spiritual”
Temple of God – Jesus and His Body of believers.
The ultimate sign will come when He is crucified and raised
from the dead on the third day. When this happened, His disciples remembered
His statement about the temple and believed the words Jesus had spoken. It took
three years from the time Jesus said this prophecy until they saw it happen with
their very eyes. The Jews and Gentiles who rejected Jesus saw the sign but
wouldn’t accept it. Instead, the Jews would use Jesus’ statement about the
destruction of the temple to convict Him and send Him to the cross. (See Matthew 26:61) The earthly temple
in Jerusalem will be destroyed, but Jesus who is the Eternal Temple of God will
never be destroyed, nor will His spiritual Body.
New
Priesthood
Jesus will usher in a “new” order of the priesthood – the order
of Melchizedek. God foreshadowed this in the priest-king Melchizedek in Genesis 14:18. (See also Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:6, 10-17) Under the
order of Melchizedek, believers are a royal priesthood – both priests and kings
– as our Savior is both God’s and our High Priest and King. God wanted the
Israelites to be a royal priesthood, but they could not live up to God’s high
and holy standards. So, God sent Jesus, His High Priest and King, to fulfill
God’s requirements in the Older Testament. In the Older Testament, these two
offices were separated, but in the New, the two become one in Christ and in His
believers, just as the two testaments become One in Christ. Christ’s followers
become priests and kings through His righteous work, not through our own.
Once we are living in the eternal, spiritual, holy Jerusalem,
a physical temple will not be necessary. Revelation
21:22: I did not see a temple in the City, because the Lord God Almighty and
the Lamb is its lamp. Today, Christ’s Body of believers made up of Jews and
Gentiles is to be the living temple and light of the world. Jesus will do what
the Jews could not do as well as us because we are all sinners and not holy.
Jesus came to earth to fulfill the requirements of the Word of
God in the Older Testament and open the way to God through love, grace and
truth. In Christ, there is to be no more outward ritual or manmade religion. It
will come from the heart through love of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit and
others. When we are “in Christ,” we are the temple of God connected to Him
heart to heart and Spirit to Spirit. We are His royal priesthood in Him.
The
Heart of Man
John says that while Jesus was in Jerusalem at
the Passover Feast, “many people saw the
miraculous signs He was doing and believed in His name. But Jesus would not
entrust Himself to them for He knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony
about man, for He knew what was in a man." 2:22-25
Jesus knew that those who came to
Him just because of His signs and wonders would not remain with Him when the
miracles ceased. Jesus wasn’t after the masses who were attracted to His
miracles. He wanted the small remnant who loved Him, were surrendered to Him
and followed Him and His ways to the end. He knew the heart of man so He relied
solely upon His Heavenly Father as He walked the earth to carry out God’s plan
and purpose for His life. Jesus would
entrust His Truth to His chosen few who would begin the building of His Temple
in the hearts of those who believed in and followed Him. Jesus indeed knows our
hearts and is looking for those with surrendered, committed hearts who will follow Him to the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment