“Cleaning House "(John 2:13-22) Lent 3, Series B, March 11, 2012

1.            Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word this 3^rd Sunday in Lent comes to us from John 2:13-22, where we see our Lord Jesus clean out His Heavenly Father’s house.  In our Old Testament lesson today we see that the Lord rescues His people the Israelites out of the land of slavery in Egypt and makes His covenant with them by the Ten Commandments. Since He’s become their God by His grace, they shall be His people, having no other gods before Him (Ex. 20:3). Our God is jealous for us as a husband for his wife and as a father for his children. He’s named us with His Name and called us to rest in Him (Ex. 20:5–9). So too our Lord Jesus, is jealous for His Father’s house, because it’s to be a place of grace and Sabbath rest for His people, and not a house of trade (John 2:16–17). His zeal consumes Him as He gives up the temple of His body on the cross, but in 3 days He raises it up again to be the true temple forever (John 2:17–21). By His crucifixion He cleanses all of us of our sins, and in His resurrection He becomes our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30).  The message is entitled, “Cleaning House,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.            It’s amazing how rude human beings can be to one another. Maybe someone raised his voice harshly to you in public. Maybe you hear language at work or on the softball field that doesn’t even belong in the locker room. We like quiet and calm.  But, sometimes what appears rude may simply be the outburst of strong conviction. Someone sees a miscarriage of justice or something wrong going on and just can’t remain quiet and polite. Conviction, zeal for a cause, demands a dramatic response.  In our text this morning, Jesus upsets the moneychangers in the temple and more! He creates a scene and offends. Is he being rude? No, it’s zeal for God’s house. Finding his Father’s house being misused and abused, Jesus’ zeal simply can’t be kept under wraps. In Jesus’ cleansing the temple of God’s house, we see Christ’s zeal revealed.

3.            John 2:14-16 says, “¹⁴In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵So 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. ¹⁶To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”  Here we see that when Jesus arrived at the temple in Jerusalem, he found serious distractions from the Passover festival. It was like opening day at the county fair. Some were selling animals and birds for the sacrifices. Others were changing money for the foreign visitors, who needed to pay their temple tax with a specified Jewish coin (Exodus 30:13–16).  But, there wasn’t just distractions taking place, there were also gross abuses going on.  The sellers had a corner on the market much like the vendors at Busch stadium have today. They were exploiting the people. Greed gathered wealth. Their greedy practices were subverting the true worship of God in the temple.  Here we see Jesus take action; he made a whip used it to drive out the cattle and sheep along with the marketers. He scattered the coins, overturned the tables, and ordered those who sold the doves: “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”

4.            John 2:17 continues saying, “¹⁷His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”  The Lord came to His temple. He came as a “refiner and purifier” (Malachi 3:1–4). He declared himself the Son of the Heavenly Father. His disciples watched, no doubt frightened and amazed. Being well-versed in Scripture, they recalled one of David’s psalms that spoke of the Messiah and applied it to Jesus: “Zeal for your house consumes me” (Psalm 69:9). In fact, that same psalm predicted some of the rejection and suffering that lay ahead for our Lord Jesus.

5.            Jesus had taken his stand against turning his Father’s house into a marketplace. What can we learn from this episode for today? God’s Word doesn’t say that all selling by the church is sinful. From what’s described, we might conclude that whatever detracts from worship, whatever distorts the church’s mission, whatever cheats God’s children should be driven from the church like the cattle from the temple.  We also see that Jesus’ integrity and character are so different from ours! Our character is often like that of the merchandising Jews, as we use God’s Church for our own ends. We seek the glory and praise of others. Pastors and elders use their positions to manipulate their people. Worshipers seek a me-centered service of good feelings and emotional highs rather than a God-centered one. We worship with dollar bills rather than tithes. Or, we give our tithes, but with tainted motives. Our thoughts wander while in worship. We treat God’s Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper casually, as if they were another chore to do.

6.            The “zeal of the Lord of hosts” (Is 9:7 ESV) meets us in the person of Jesus. No polite, “Well, let’s see about this,” when it would rob God’s people of the comfort and assurance of forgiveness they should receive when they come into the temple. No playing it safe, blending in, keeping quiet, even though this sort of outburst will get Him killed. No greater love, mercy, and humility could be shown us sinners than what we see in the person of Christ. With all zeal, he was obedient and reversed the curse of Eden. With all zeal, He overpowered the devil and bound Him forever. With all zeal, He covers us today with the drenching waters of Baptism. The zeal of His body and blood covers, cleanses, and cures us from our sin.

7.            This person of the Lord Jesus genuine. Unlike the money changers and sinners like us, He offers more than a fair exchange. He exchanges our guilt for His innocence. He exchanges our crosses of damnation for His cross of salvation. He exchanges our weaknesses for the strength of His resurrection. He exchanges the weak things of our world for the strong world of His heaven. He exchanges, on the Last Day, our vile bodies for His victorious, resurrected one.

8.            John 2:18–19 continues this story saying, “¹⁸Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”  ¹⁹Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”  The Jewish leaders reacted in a guarded way to Jesus’ actions. Instead of addressing the faults Jesus had exposed, they asked Him for a sign to prove His authority to clear the temple.  And Jesus offered them one. But, as we’ll see, it wasn’t the kind of sign they wanted. “Destroy this temple,” Jesus said, “and I will raise it again in three days.”

9.            John 2:20–22 says, “²⁰The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ²²After 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.”  The Jews then became quarrelsome. They responded: “This temple has been 46 years in the building, and you are going to raise it in three days?” They were unbelieving. But, Jesus wasn’t talking about the temple He’d just emptied of sellers. He was talking about the temple of His body. He was saying He would die and rise again.

10.        The image of the temple for Jesus’ body was important. Just as the presence of God was manifest in the temple for God’s people, so in the Word become flesh was God manifest among the people. He fulfilled in person what the temple only foreshadowed. To destroy Jesus was to destroy the temple of God.  And yet, unbelief doesn’t recognize a true sign when it’s pointed out.  Instead, it becomes a sign of judgment. So these Jews later tried to use Jesus’ words against Him at his trial (Matthew 26:61). Even when Jesus rose from the dead to fulfill this sign, these Jews hardened their hearts to the truth. The disciples, on the other hand, “recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.”

11.        When we feel abused by taxes, by poor health, or by the struggles of life, the Holy Spirit is near.   Luther reminds us that, “God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father” (Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation, p. 17). St. Paul reminds us, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation” (Rom 1:16 ESV).  This power in Christ is unmatched. His energies all move toward the intent of His Church. Even the gates of hell can’t prevail against this lowly but mighty body of believers. His zeal and power will one day raise our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body. Our Lord Jesus, though seemingly destroyed on the cross, was instead raised in power on Easter. And because He lives, we live forever.  The Lord has cleansed our sinful selves to give us an eternal home of glory in heaven.  Amen.