The Great Warning - Finding Jesus Part 4

Introduction

Have you ever lost your temper? Said something you did not mean to say, or even done something you did not mean to do? Have you ever felt justified in your anger? Maybe you were angry about an injustice that took place. There are definitely some things that happen in this world that can fill us with this feeling of righteous anger. Something that often ignites my anger is cruelty toward children.

What about you, what really makes you angry?

Well, this week we will be diving into a very interesting portion of scripture where we are going to witness Jesus getting angry and even taking physical action towards other individuals.

It will raise many questions. Like, when do we take action? Is it okay to be angry? Is anger justified sometimes?

Well, let’s get into it and start in John chapter 2

John 2:13-22 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

If you remember, the Passover was the time when Moses was attempting to free his people and Pharaoh would not let them go. So the last plague that God sent was one that sent death to kill every firstborn child. However, for anyone that put blood of a sacrificial lamb above their door would be spared. So to this day, the Jewish people continue to celebrate the time when God set them free from Egypt.

Let’s keep reading.

14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting there.

I want to make a quick note of what this temple would have looked like in Jesus' day.

So this is a simplified version of the temple that Jesus would have been at. The outer court is where this story takes place. A place where all people were welcome including Gentiles. This was the first point of contact that people of the world saw of God's people.

Which brings us to our first main point.

Bold Point: The church should create a place where people from all walks of life have a safe place to explore the claims of Christ.

The outer court of the Jerusalem temple was about 35 acres. From everything I can find, this is where Jesus’ story takes place. Maybe that’s why it says he found those, because he had to go and search because of the enormous size of the outer court. 35 acres is a lot of land. I tend to believe that the tables were set up somewhere on the main path to the entrance.

Here is another example of what the temple would have looked like.

Let’s keep reading.

15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Talk about a hot temper. Jesus made a whip, which was most likely used to drive the sheep and oxen out. Once your merchandise goes running away because someone goes whipping them, you are sort of obligated to follow after them.

Oftentimes this opens up the question of should churches have a Starbucks in the front section of their church?

Credit given to biblestudy.org

At first glance, the answer seems like an obvious yes it is wrong. However, look who Jesus drove out of the temple.

Credit given to The Temple Institute.

·      Those selling oxen, sheep, and pigeons.

·      Money changers

Now why would the temple have people selling those things? Why not the tent makers, sandal makers, where are the food trucks? If they were there Jesus does not make a big fuss of them, why? Because those selling the animals were selling sacrificial animals so that people could worship. Those exchanging money were doing so, so others could purchase sacrificial animals. They were turning worship into a profit. It would be like us charging all of you to take communion every week or to sing.

Now, does this mean that Starbucks in big churches gets a free hall pass? I’m going to honestly tell you, I don’t know.

I do not see a problem with a church selling things for fundraisers or even selling some coffee to help raise money to send kids to camp.

However, Jesus makes it clear. Anything that takes away from the worship of his Father in his house is not prohibited.

So no matter what you do, you have to answer the question, does this take away from the worship of the Father? I think this is a question that any church that has bookstores, Starbucks, or anything must ask. I can tell you as the lead pastor of Church At The Well, I would never have a Starbucks in our church. We might offer free coffee or sell better coffee and use the money to send kids to camp. However, I feel very uncomfortable with helping Starbucks build their empire inside the walls of God's kingdom.

I think that last verse is key, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

I want to read a few Bible verses that really put some of this into context.

·      Matthew 6:24: "You cannot serve both God and money"

·      Luke 12:15: "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not

consist in an abundance of possessions"

·      Hebrews 13:5: "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have"

·      Ecclesiastes 5:10: "Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless"

·      Proverbs 15:27: "A greedy man brings trouble to his family"

·      Colossians 3:5: "Put to death greed"

·      1 Peter 5:2: "Don't be greedy for money"

Regardless of your perspective on this portion of scripture, I believe the evidence is clear.

There is a great warning to every believer to never allow money to control your life.

This also brings up the conversation of righteous anger. Should we also, like Jesus, go into temples that we find distasteful and start flipping tables?

Imagine one Sunday you walk into one of these very large churches in the area. Walk into their foyer and start flipping tables and yelling, simply because you did not agree with them.

Probably not the best idea to be honest with you.

How could Jesus allow anger to consume him? Does he not know

Psalm 37:8 "Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil."

Ecclesiastes 7:9 "Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools."

Yes, Jesus clearly understood all of these verses. There are several things to understand about what many refer to as righteous anger. There is such a thing as righteous anger. Anger is an emotion just like fear. We cannot always control the first feeling of a certain emotion, but we can control how we respond to that emotion.

God made emotions a natural part of our humanity, but expects us to develop the maturity to respond appropriately to them.

That one life lesson is called self-control.

In this portion of scripture, understand that Jesus, although fully man, is also fully God. Jesus walks into the temple to witness people making money an obstacle to keep people from fully worshiping God. Jesus wants an intimate relationship with us. This relationship he wants with us is good, and anything that gets in the way of that relationship is less than. Jesus’ anger was righteous.

Take note of

Ephesians 4:26 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

There is an immediate realization in the first two words that anger is a normal part of life.

I have often heard it said as a rule with righteous anger.

Bold Point - Righteous anger is God-oriented and unrighteous anger is me-oriented.

In other words, are you angry about a sin or something that happened to you? Any form of anger that we find ourselves experiencing, we should remain very wary of.

So what do you think, is anger ever justified?

Let’s keep reading

18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Already Jesus, early in his ministry, has begun this pattern of speaking in mysteries. However, I love that the disciples remembered some of this and recorded it because they recalled the words of Jesus.

Another pattern we see is Jesus is always referring to the purpose that the Father sent him to earth to fulfill. Even last week, remember what he said to his mother, “Woman, it is not yet my time.” Here, Jesus alludes to his death and resurrection.

Again, everything that we believe as followers of Christ hinges on this one detail in the gospel. The entire canonicity of the Bible as Christians hinges on this one detail. That if Jesus is who he says he is, then we have gained everything. However, “If Jesus is a liar, then we are to be the most pitied.”

This very event set Jesus’ fate in progression. In Mark 11:18, another account of this very event says, “And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.”

Conclusion

Is there any anger you should let go of? Is there anger that is me-oriented? I want to dismiss in with a worship song; this will give a chance to pray, sing, and worship. But it also will give you a chance to ask for forgiveness if you have allowed a me-centered anger.