Title: My Father's House (John 02:12-25)
Content The text tells the story of Jesus going to Jerusalem when the Passover was near, and when he saw people selling cattle, sheep, and doves and money changers sitting in the temple, he made a whip out of cords and drove them all out.
Since the temple is a house of prayer for all people and a place to worship God, above all else, the temple must be holy. [Holy] is,
1. It will be fulfilled when God is present.
(A church filled with the Holy Spirit, full of tears in our hearts and families)
2. It is accomplished when we set apart for God.
(Clergy, holy days, temples, scriptures)
3. It is done when you offer it for God (sacrificial lamb, cattle, dove, offering)
4. We become holy when we repent of all our sins and live according to the Word of God.
However, according to the text, people turned the temple into a marketplace where all people should pray and worship God.
As the Passover is the largest of the Jewish holidays, thousands of Jews from home and abroad come to the temple in Jerusalem, and they bring cattle, sheep, and doves to offer sacrifices. Because the offerings offered to God had to be made with no blemishes or blemishes, and the whole body had to be clean, there was a priest in charge of inspecting these offerings. No matter how clean the offering was, if the priest judged it to be unacceptable, it had to be changed again. Then he had to take the sacrifice and go out to sell it, buy another good thing and bring it back, but how hard must it have been? Using this, merchants began to gather near the temple.
Then, the merchants who colluded with the corrupt priest entered the temple and started trading. The vicious priests did not accept any sacrifices they had bought from the merchants, but they scolded them. If they bought from these merchants, they were blind and limp. He accepted even if he was sick. In the end, they bought only these merchants and made the sacrifices, but these merchants were paid several times more expensively, taking profit and sharing the profits with the priest.
And although the society at that time was using Roman money, the temple did not accept Roman money, and the Jews paid their taxes with the money used only in the temple, and the amount of the tax was half a shekel.
It is said that this is equivalent to two days' wages of a normal worker, but even this too, the merchants who colluded with the priests exchanged money in the temple and made a lot of profit, so every sacrifice offered before God was unclean. So, would God have been pleased with this? It would only break God's heart and become a sin to be judged.
There must be no injustice in the work of God. In John 12:6, some of Jesus' disciples are talking about Judas, and he says, 'I am not saying this because I am thinking of the poor, but because he is a thief, having the money box and stealing what he put there.' He said 'the devil'.
In Isaiah 1, God's people came to God on new moons, sabbaths, and festivals every new moon, sabbath, or festival to offer many sacrifices. But when they saw that they did not forsake evil and were living in their sins, God awakened in verses 12-14, saying, 'You I have come to show you, who has required it of you? You are only treading on my yard. Bring no more vain sacrifices. Incense is an abomination to me, and as it is with new moons, sabbaths, and assembly gatherings, I cannot bear to do evil with holy assemblies. It is a burden, I am weary to carry it.” And in Malachi 1:10, he says, “I wish there was someone among you who could shut the door of the temple, so that ye might not burn my altar in vain. You will not accept the offering of your hands.'
In the end, the Babylonian invasion caused the temple in Jerusalem to be burned and destroyed!
Even knowing this fact, the Jews at the time of Jesus committed a sin by making the temple a marketplace for business. Therefore, when Jesus broke, he lifted his whip and drove out the sheep and cattle, poured out the money changers' money, and drove out the merchants.
At this point, no one resisted and they had to be driven out, because they knew it was something they themselves should not do. Even though he was remorseful, he was blinded by money and was doing business.
Today, there are many religions, many temples, and many churches, so many people come and go. But a religion that does not change lives is a dead religion, and a church that does not change lives is a dead church. No matter how many people come to church, what do they do? If people who still live in their sins and lead a corrupt life just like the people of the world come to church and offer formal worship, will God be awake and accept them?
When the Israelites prepare the Passover, they must keep all the leaven from their homes. All the members of the family had to go through the house and clean the dirty things.
In this way, those who come before God even now must first of all thoroughly repent of their sins. Life must be changed by throwing away what to throw away and fixing what to fix. However, if you come before God and confess your faith, but do not cast away your sins and change your life, this is a hypocrite that has no content and only a formality, and an abominable hypocrisy in God's eyes. In the end, there is only God's judgment.
However, in verse 16 of the text, Jesus said that the temple was 'My Father's house'. In Luke 2:49, however, he thought he had lost it when he was 12 and searched for it for three days, then came back to the temple in Jerusalem to find Jesus. It is said that Joseph and Mary, who were grown up, had been looking for them for a long time, so when Jesus woke up, he said, 'Didn't you know that I had to be in my Father's house?'
Jesus referred to the temple as [My Father's house]. Do you also believe that the temple is [Heavenly Father's house]? Therefore, this house of God should not be made into a house of business.
Some have pointed out three aspects of the corruption of the modern church.
A. The mission of the church is to save countless souls, but they neglect to save souls and turn to social service. Of course, the church should also do community service. But community service is to save souls. No matter how many good things we do, if we do not preach the gospel, we only give temporary benefits to the body and cannot save even a single soul. Therefore, the church must, above all else, do its best to save souls.
B. Churches are turning to eating and drinking instead of praying.
It is very important for the saints to pray every time they gather, especially in order to pray. However, there are churches that hold tea parties and play various games to promote friendship whenever they meet instead of a prayer meeting. In this case, the church becomes a social space.
C. The operation of the church is not to tithe, but to provide expenses in other ways.
The church must always be filled with the grace of God's Word, receive the filling of the Holy Spirit through earnest prayer, and save thousands of souls through diligent evangelism and missionary work. But can we neglect this work and focus only on making money for the church?
Moreover, you shouldn't even think about making money using the church. Also, in the church, collecting money or engaging in trading is prohibited.
After breaking Jesus, he made a whip out of cords and drove out all the merchants, but the priests were the most perplexed. They too knew that this trade was illegal, so they had no excuse, so they watched for a while.
Then the priests, who were in a difficult position, asked Jesus, 'What sign will you show us because you are doing these things?' At this time, Jesus said, 'Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days.'
This Herod's Temple was built for 46 years, and he said that if it were to be demolished, it would be rebuilt in three days. That is why he wants to show us the sign that Jesus is the Messiah. As stated in verse 21, this was referring to the body of Jesus who was sanctified, so they could not understand the meaning of these words. So they asked, 'This temple has been built for 46 years, and will you raise it up in three days?' (verse 20). This meant that Jesus was nailed to the cross and rose again on the third day, so it was only after Jesus was crucified and resurrected that the disciples understood the meaning and believed.
False temples like Herod's temple must be destroyed So, Jesus did it, but in about AD 70, a Roman general Titus was sent to completely demolish it so that not a single stone was left on it.
Even today, bad churches must be destroyed and good churches that are pleasing to God must be established. In order for the church to be a holy church pleasing to God, our members must be holy.
That's why 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him."
It is the people, not the buildings, that matter to the church. The problem is who gathered together. When holy saints gather, it becomes a holy church, but when fallen saints gather, it becomes a fallen church. The church where the fallen saints are gathered is bound to be judged by God.
Finally, in verses 23-35 of the text, we can see that Jesus knows everything about us. He knows our past, present, and future and knows all of our thoughts, so above all else, we must be truthful with God. Also, Jesus knows how weak we are and how weak we are.
In Psalm 103:14, it is said that He knows our constitution. He knows our hunger and our sick and feeble bodies, and He also knows what our wishes are. Therefore, the Lord does not depend on us, but rather takes care of us. And even at this time, the Lord is protecting us with His omnipotent arm.
Dr. <Weatherhead>, who is in charge of a church in England, noticed that a young man named <Jim> stopped by the church every day. One day, when I asked him why he went to church like that every day, Jim said, "The world makes me tired. But when I come to church and say, 'Jesus, I'm here. He always gives me strength.”
‘Jim, I am Jesus. I have come to take you home. Don't be afraid, I'll go through a dark valley with you. Because I am ready to go home with Jesus.”
Dear saints, let's live holy!
I pray that all the saints who will receive the Lord and build the kingdom of heaven in their hearts and walk with the Lord every day will welcome the Lord with a clean body that is free from blemishes, blemishes, and blame on the day the Lord returns.