The PASSION Week - Monday, The Cleansing of the Temple
The PASSION Week - Monday, The Clearing of the Temple • Sermon • Submitted
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IMPERATIVES: #1 Determine Your Goal;#2 Pick A Point (It’s important to have a one point message. That way you only have one thing to remember.);#3 Create A Map (Me-We-God-You-We);#4 Internalize The Message (Tell a story that takes them on a journey) (Whether it’s a journey to your childhood home or a journey to a life-changing truth, it’s a story that will take you there.) (People make it difficult when they try to communicate points instead of telling a story.) (When you stand up and speak without notes and without having to read your sermon, you’re saying, “This is so important that it’s a part of me — and I think you should make it a part of you, too!”);#5 Engage The Audience;#6 Find Your Voice;#7 Find Some TractionPrayer, Checklist Questions: What do they need to know?Why do they need to know it?What do they need to do?Why do they need to do it?MAP:ME - Explain who you are and what you’re all about. Pastor in his church uses as introduction of idea or topic.WE - It takes me from what I’m thinking or feeling to what WE are thinking and feeling. I have to find an emotional common ground with them around the topic or idea of the message. My goal is to raise a felt need with as many people in the audience as I canGOD - where I take this emotional common ground I’ve established and introduce biblical truth into the discussion. Now I’m providing a solution to the need I just raised. Remember, we are not teaching the Bible to people; we’re teaching people the Bible. First, we connect with the people; then we move to the Bible.YOU - Once I’ve introduced God’s view on the subject as the answer to the need, it makes it easy for me to then ask, ‘What are you going to do about it? This becomes the application segment, and if I’ve followed my map well, instead of having to stir up interest in making the application, the application comes as a relief or it’s always the answer to a question they’re already asking. Communicate the challenge at a personal level because life-change is going to come when people apply the truth to their lives. You just go back, and everywhere you raised a need, now you make an application and make sure you don’t raise a felt need that you aren’t going to cover from God’s Word and answer with an application. The worst thing a communicator can do is overpromise and under-deliver. You’re building trust with your listeners. Not just trust in the information, but trust in the relationship.WE - the place to cast a common vision. A vision of what our lives, our church, and even our world would look like if only we would apply the truth of God’s Word. It’s the inspirational part of the message. My goal at this point is to inspire people to make a change. Sometimes being faced with God’s Word can leave the listener feeling defeated, if all they think about is how far they have to go. But, if I can give them a picture of what life will be like once they apply the truth, then they have a little hope.
GOAL: To look at the Clearing of the Temple and understand righteous anger, forgiveness, and judgement better.
GOAL: To look at the Clearing of the Temple and understand righteous anger, forgiveness, and judgement better.
POINT:
POINT:
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Greetings Everyone! I hope this finds you doing well today. I hope that in this week that I can speak into your life about the events of The PASSION Week in a way that deepens your understanding. We will covering the events that took place in this last week of Jesus earthly life in a way that causes us to think about things . . . maybe in new ways. But my goal each day is to be quick and concise, to the point. My goal is to keep each time about 10-15 minutes.
So, today. Clearing the Temple in .
As we look at this text we see it is talking about righteous anger. The trouble with righteous anger is that it is easy to be angry, but it is not easy to be righteous at the same time. But, both are possible!
I want to propose a few questions in this topic:
I want to ask you to think about how you would define righteous anger? And, when have you seen it put to good use?
When has anger gotten the best of you? And, to ask God to show you and give you discernment of what your real cause of anger is?
(ME)
(ME)
(WE)
(WE)
MESSAGE
MESSAGE
Our Text today comes from Mark 11:12-19
The New International Version (1984) Jesus Clears the Temple
Jesus Clears the Temple
12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.
15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written:
“ ‘My house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations’a?
But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’b”
18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.
19 When evening came, theyc went out of the city.
Jesus does a great job of illustrating righteous anger here in this passage. We also see from his example that righteous anger needs to be combined with both prayer and forgiveness.
We can see through his example how our emotions and attitudes can work together to fulfill God’s purpose and will instead of taking the path of the fleshly response.
I want you to think of this also; yesterday, Sunday, we have just witnessed his Triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, a humble beast. So, we come to this text with the picture in our mind of Jesus being a gentle and humble person.
(GOD)
(GOD)
The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.
From this text Jesus uses the fig tree as an illustration. Fig trees and vines are often used as symbols of Israel’s faithfulness to God. God comes to his vineyard looking for grapes and figs, that is, righteousness, justice and mercy.
Therefore, looking for fruit on the fig tree represents what Jesus is looking for in the temple. For example:
In the Revised Standard Version puts it best and says . . .
When I would gather them, says the Lord, there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree; even the leaves are withered, and what I gave them has passed away from them.”
Other scriptural examples are ; ; ; and -6.
yes, this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like poor figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten.
“ ‘I will take away their harvest, declares the Lord. There will be no grapes on the vine. There will be no figs on the tree, and their leaves will wither. What I have given them will be taken from them.’ ”
“When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your fathers, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved. Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird— no birth, no pregnancy, no conception. Even if they rear children, I will bereave them of every one. Woe to them when I turn away from them! I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place. But Ephraim will bring out their children to the slayer.” Give them, O Lord— what will you give them? Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that are dry. “Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal, I hated them there. Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of my house. I will no longer love them; all their leaders are rebellious. Ephraim is blighted, their root is withered, they yield no fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay their cherished offspring.”
It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white.
Joel
What misery is mine! I am like one who gathers summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early figs that I crave. The godly have been swept from the land; not one upright man remains. All men lie in wait to shed blood; each hunts his brother with a net. Both hands are skilled in doing evil; the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire— they all conspire together. The best of them is like a brier, the most upright worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen has come, the day God visits you. Now is the time of their confusion. Do not trust a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend. Even with her who lies in your embrace be careful of your words. For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.
Now, there is a struggle with this text that we have to get past. The struggle is that it was not the season for figs in the first place. Fig trees around Jerusalem usually leaf out in March or April, but they do not produce figs till June, and this tree was no exception. It was in full leaf; but, as Mark tells us here, there were not figs on it “because it was not the season for figs.” So, it is probably most helpful to see this as an acted-out parable of the judgment that the temple faces. If you think about those being judged . . . judgement never comes when it is expected.
For the context of Jesus’ comments from the OT, we can look at and .
Note: The withered fig tree is found in verse 20, but we are continue with .
The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.
Jesus’ hunger provides the occasion for his use of this teaching.
Jesus’ hunger is the illustration for what we are about to learn. The fig tree represents Israel (; ; ). The tree is fully leafed out, and we might expect to find some fruit on it; but this symbolizes the hypocrisy and the fraud/hoax of the nation of Israel . . . which makes Israel ripe for judgement. “A people which honored God with their lips but whose heart was all the time far from him ()
He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
was like a tree with abundance of leaves but no fruit.
Now, we enter the picture of the Temple ()
On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching. When evening came, they went out of the city.
This is found in all of the gospels, but three of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) at the end of Jesus’ ministry.
There is a lot that can be spoken of here, but we are going to cut right to the chase.
I like what one commentary says about the cleansing of the temple and I just want to quote what it says.
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 8: Matthew, Mark, Luke C. The Cleansing of the Temple (11:15–19)
When Jesus entered the temple area (v. 15), the smell of the animals entered his nostrils; and the noise from the moneychangers’ tables beat on his ears. For the convenience of pilgrims, the cattlemen and the moneychangers had set up businesses in the Court of the Gentiles. The animals were sold for sacrifices. It was far easier for a pilgrim in Jerusalem to purchase one that was guaranteed kosher than to have to bring an animal with him and have it inspected for meeting the kosher requirements. The Roman money the pilgrims brought to Jerusalem had to be changed into the Tyrian currency (the closest thing to the old Hebrew shekel), since the annual temple tax had to be paid in that currency. Exorbitant prices were often charged for changing the currency. By overturning the tables of the moneychangers and the benches of those selling doves, Jesus was directly challenging the authority of the high priest, because they were there by his authorization. In John’s account Jesus drove them out with a whip made from pieces of rope. Mark does not mention a whip. Nevertheless the words “driving out” and “overturned the tables” suggest that Jesus used force.
Jumping to verse 17
And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
The first passage quoted by Jesus is , a prediction that non-Jews who worship God will be allowed to worship in the temple. By allowing the Court of the Gentiles, the only place in the temple area where Gentiles were allowed to worship God, to become a noisy, smelly public market, the Jewish religious leaders were preventing Gentiles form exercising the spiritual privilege promised them.
How could a Gentile pray amid all that noise and stench? And God’s house was supposed to be “a house of prayer for all nations.”
The second quotation — “but you have made it a ‘den of robbers’” is from and emphasizes that instead of allowing the temple to be what it was meant to be, a place of prayer, they had allowed it to become a robber’s den. This is to be understood not so much in terms of the Jews’ dishonest dealing with the pilgrims as in terms of their robbing the Gentiles by merchandising activities of their rightful claim to the worship of Israel’s God.
The significance of the cleansing of the temple is that with the coming of the Messiah, “Jesus seeks to make available to the Gentiles the privileges which belonged to the new age and therefore proclaims that the time of universal worship, uninhibited by Jewish restrictions, has come”
So, Jesus’ action had challenged their authority and no doubt cost them a good deal of money. So the Pharisees and Herodians in Galilee had decided that Jesus must be put out of the way. Jesus’ teaching was getting through to the people and they feared what the response of the people might be. If he could persuade the people to follow him, the power and authority of the chief priests and teachers of the law would be broken.
APPLICATION
(YOU)
(YOU)
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
(WE)
(WE)