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John 2:13-25
John 2:13-25
The Lord Jesus Christ went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. This is the first Passover recorded in the Gospel of John chapter 2 and verses 13 through 25. And you see the Lord Jesus Christ in three different ministries. First the ministry of cleansing. He went into the temple and he found in the court of the Gentiles they had turned it into a supermarket. In order to make it convenient for the Jews who came from a distance, they were selling oxen and sheep and doves. They were changing the money and so forth. This began as a convenience and finally turned into a merchandising ministry. They had turned their religion into a business. What did Jesus do? He cleaned them out! He went and got a whip of small cords and He drove them out. He said, “You’re making My Father’s house into a den of thieves, a house of merchandise!” (v. 16, paraphrase).
I think of all the rackets in the world, religious rackets are the worst; to use religion, to use Christianity as a facade, as a cloak to cover up selfish business. Jesus Christ today still wants to cleanse the temple. He’d like to cleanse His Church of some of the things that are going on. He wants to cleanse our lives of some of the things that are going on that should not be there. Jesus Christ is not only the cleanser of the temple; He’s also the builder of the temple. They said to Him, “Who gave you the authority to do this?” He said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Now He wasn’t talking about Herod’s temple. He was talking about His own body, and He knew that they would try to destroy Him. They would take His body, nail His body to a cross. Ah, but He would be raised from the dead on the third day.
And today He is building a temple, His Church, and you and I as believers are living stones in the temple of God. Jesus Christ is the cleanser of the temple. Jesus Christ is the builder of the temple. Jesus Christ is building. Satan is destroying. Jesus Christ is building temples. The devil is making trash heaps. I wonder which of these we are following today. Let’s let Jesus Christ cleanse our lives; build our lives to the glory of God.
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By Back to the BibleJohn 2:13-25
The Lord Jesus Christ went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. This is the first Passover recorded in the Gospel of John chapter 2 and verses 13 through 25. And you see the Lord Jesus Christ in three different ministries. First the ministry of cleansing. He went into the temple and he found in the court of the Gentiles they had turned it into a supermarket. In order to make it convenient for the Jews who came from a distance, they were selling oxen and sheep and doves. They were changing the money and so forth. This began as a convenience and finally turned into a merchandising ministry. They had turned their religion into a business. What did Jesus do? He cleaned them out! He went and got a whip of small cords and He drove them out. He said, “You’re making My Father’s house into a den of thieves, a house of merchandise!” (v. 16, paraphrase).
I think of all the rackets in the world, religious rackets are the worst; to use religion, to use Christianity as a facade, as a cloak to cover up selfish business. Jesus Christ today still wants to cleanse the temple. He’d like to cleanse His Church of some of the things that are going on. He wants to cleanse our lives of some of the things that are going on that should not be there. Jesus Christ is not only the cleanser of the temple; He’s also the builder of the temple. They said to Him, “Who gave you the authority to do this?” He said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Now He wasn’t talking about Herod’s temple. He was talking about His own body, and He knew that they would try to destroy Him. They would take His body, nail His body to a cross. Ah, but He would be raised from the dead on the third day.
And today He is building a temple, His Church, and you and I as believers are living stones in the temple of God. Jesus Christ is the cleanser of the temple. Jesus Christ is the builder of the temple. Jesus Christ is building. Satan is destroying. Jesus Christ is building temples. The devil is making trash heaps. I wonder which of these we are following today. Let’s let Jesus Christ cleanse our lives; build our lives to the glory of God.