The New Temple

John 2:13-22

In the Armenian message, we discussed anger and its consequences. Unfortunately, many use this event for their interest, without understanding what happened in those days and why.

1. This event has been recorded in all four gospels. However, it is only John who writes it in the beginning of his gospel (chapter 2).

It does not contradict the synoptic gospels; it is complementary.

In the last three years of his life, Jesus did celebrate the Passover three times. Therefore, he did go to Jerusalem more than once. The synoptic gospels concentrated on the Galilean years of ministry. John has a different view. John is a theological gospel. He is more interested to present a theological Jesus.

John wants to introduce the Messiah, the Promised One, from perspective of Jerusalem and the Calvary.

John is presenting what Malachi wrote 400 years before this event.

“See, I will send messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant… He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord…” (Malachi 3:1-4)

John brings this event in the beginning to tell us how important this is for Jesus and for his listeners. Something new is coming and John likes to tell it at the earliest possible. Why?

We need to understand that for the Israelites the Temple of God is the center. Mecca for Muslims. Echmiadzin for some Armenians.

Jesus does have a problem in seeing that the temple of the Lord (which is the PLACE of WORSHIP) is not being used for WORSHIP.

2. Let us try to draw a picture those days trying to understand what happened.

It was Passover time. It was time to celebrate God’s rescue of the Israelites from Egypt. Therefore, every male Jew age 19 and above, came to make a sacrifice in the Temple. Beside animal sacrifice, they paid half a Shekel (8 cents) Temple Tax. In those days, half a shekel represented two days’ wage.

They came from Rome, Egypt, Asia Minor, Syria, and Mesopotamia…all over. Being under Roman rule, they all used Roman silver coins for commerce.

They could not use that currency in the Temple. It was not acceptable. Everyone had to exchange money in the Temple. Unfortunately, the money changers used this opportunity to rob the crowd and taking advantage of the situation.

The second issue was that of providing animals for sacrifice. They could not bring animals from all over; they needed to buy them at the Temple. Although it was legal to bring animals from the outside, yet, these animals needed be blameless and faultless. There was an inspector at the gates of the Temple, who charged for his services, too. He would make an agreement with the market to reject the animals which came from the outside! Therefore, people needed to buy them from the Temple. Here was another chance of exploiting people. For example, a 9-cent dove cost 85 cents in the Temple. Manipulation, manipulation, robbers, misusing people, taking advantage….

Now can you imagine what was going on? Most likely, some were arguing about all these. Some were buying animals and were not very happy and screaming to each other. Talk, dust, noise... Try to visualize the picture of that market in the Temple.

Jesus becomes angry and says:

“Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”(2:16)

This kind of anger is constructive. When there is evil, the place needs to be cleaned. When your body has an infection, you can not just watch. The knife goes in, hurts, and cleanses it.

It is like temptation. You do play with fire. If you know that it will burn you, you do not say, “Let me try it.” The book of Proverbs says, “you do not put fire on your lap.” Jesus was firm in temptation: “Go away Satan.” He was firm with Peter when Peter did not understand him, “Go behind me, you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men” (Mark 8: 33).

It was an anger which caught the people’s attention. It is an anger which catches our attention too saying: “Wait a minute. This is too much. No, it is not. God is interested to clean things.”

3. And since our bodies are His temples, cleansing will start with our bodies.

It is the Lent season. It is time for purification. It starts with each of us, from our daily life, from our entertainment, to our dining room, to our bedroom, to our offices and businesses. Jesus is entering with a vacuum cleaner removing every filth and dirt. Christ is the purifier.

4. Let’s move to a very important place, the worship center, the Temple.

The Temple always represented the MOST important place for the Israelites; it was the place to communicate with God. That is the reason why the Temple was rebuilt again and again, after being destroyed so many times. People were lost without it.

Solomon built it and finished it in 950 BC. It was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BC. It was rebuilt under Zerubbabel in 516 BC. It was stripped and desecrated by Epiphanies in 168 BC. Judas Maccabaeus restored it in 165 B.C. Herod the Great began to remodel and make it a new glorious temple in 20 BC. It was not completed until 68 AD; then it was destroyed in 70 A.D.

Jesus is communicating a very important message. He is the New Temple. He is going to be THE ONLY SACRIFICE. No more all that blood in the house of the Lord.

Jesus is introducing a New Temple, he HIMSELF is The Temple. Jesus is challenging the old system of worshipping God.

It is so strange for some of us that even today we do some acts that show that we do not accept HIS Sacrifice.

Once I was in Khor Virab in Armenia. What a wonderful place to remember how God worked that place to spread to the Christian message to Armenians. I sat and meditated. Then I saw newly married couple coming along with a lamb. They were walking around the church three times before sacrificing the animal. I had a talk with them telling them that Jesus already did that for us. “Just accept it and live a different kind of life,” I said. They were looking at my face and wondering what I meant.

When I was a school principal in Ainjar, many came to me and said: “God rescued us from an accident; we like to sacrifice a lamb to please God. Blood must be shed. We like to donate the meat to the boarding school.” I told them the same thing. Jesus was the sacrifice for us on the cross. Donate your gift to the needy, but that will not save you. You need to worship God differently. Jesus is introducing a new Temple, a new way of worship. Worship him with SPIRIT and TRUTH.

Let me quote what he said to the Samaritan woman at the well:

“Believe me woman a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem... yet time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth…” (John 4:21-24)

What Jesus really meant was that his coming had put an end to all this man-made, man- arranged way of worshiping God and put in its place a spiritual worship.

Jesus is saying I am not interested in your style of worship, I am not interested what denomination you come from, I am not interested what kind of music you love for worship, I am interested in your heart. Are you worshiping me with the Spirit? And believe me we can not worship God in Sprit and Truth if we do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord, if we do not ABIDE in HIM Daily, IF we DO not OBEY HIM Daily. There is no meaning in just coming to church or Bible study, or bazaar, or Choir practice, or being on the Council, or serving as treasurer or deacon or moderator, or doing services to the Church. ALL of those are means and can not replace a personal relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord.

Therefore we as CACC should ask. Are we worshiping God with Spirit and Truth?

I can not answer for you. We, as church, need to ask ourselves, each person on his/her own. Then we should ask the question collectively.

Now I would like to finish the sermon with a very important note.

When we read this passage, we usually remember the anger of Jesus. OK, you’ve got the attention of Jesus.

Yet, the point of this passage is not the anger. The same Jesus, who was so angry, tells us that he would go to Calvary and die on the cross, and in three days, the NEW TEMPLE would rise again.

He is saying to that crowd and to all of us: “I am going to die on the cross for you.” His anger is not the focus; many of us stay and meditate there. You see the anger is not the problem; the problem is what you do after you are angry.

The message is clear: Jesus went to the cross.

Therefore, how can I not worship such a God? How can I resist His entrance in my life? How can I not allow HIM to come and clean my dirty temple?

Come on let us worship God in SPIRIT and in Truth because we know His real presence is in us, the resurrected Christ in us, the real and NEW Temple is in us.

Amen.