Scripture: John 2:13-25

I. Since Jesus is the temple, He will make us clean to meet God.

A. In John 2:13 we see that Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. But Jesus discovered that the people were distracted from their worship of God by the business going on at the temple (vs. 14-16). The temple had become a place of doing the religious rituals, of going through the motions of obeying God with the right sacrifices and paying the right temple tax. But the people had lost the heart of worship. They had lost God.

B. God saw this problem with His people in Hosea 6:6: “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” God wanted true worship with clean hearts. Worship is defined in Romans 12:1: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” We worship Jesus with our bodies in all places at all times.

II. Since Jesus is the temple, Jesus must be destroyed and raised again.

A. The temple authorities were not happy with Jesus’ bulldozing work at the temple. So, they say to Jesus in vs. 18, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus gives the temple authorities a shocking answer in vs. 19: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Jesus is not talking about the temple building. He is talking about his body as the temple where you meet God. Jesus is saying, “I have replaced the temple as the meeting place with God.”

B. But the temple of his body was a different kind of temple than the temple building. You meet with God in the temple of Jesus’ body on account of its destruction and resurrection. The temple building was the place of sacrifice of the Passover lambs. But Jesus is explaining now that it is His body that is the temple, and that it is his body that will be sacrificed on the cross for our sins. Once again Jesus is saying that the whole Old Testament points to Him.

III. Since Jesus is the temple, Jesus is misunderstood.

A. Everyone misunderstands Jesus in John 2. The temple authorities think Jesus is ridiculous to claim that he could rebuild the temple in three days. When did the disciples get that Jesus was talking about his body according to vs. 22? After Jesus’ resurrection. Others didn’t understand what Jesus understood by the word Messiah. So, Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them (vs. 24). Their belief was not true faith. It was superficial faith in miracles and power politics. The faith in Jesus we need is faith in his death and resurrection as our suffering servant.

Application:
We need Jesus to be our Passover Lamb if we want to meet with God.
Sources:
The Bible
Commentaries by D.A. Carson, Edward Klink, and Herman Ridderbos.

Sermon Discussion Questions

1) Why was Jesus so angry about what happened in the temple? How does Jesus make us clean so that we can enter the presence of God?
2) How does the fact that Jesus is the temple (John 2:21) reinforce what John teaches in John 1:14? Why did the temple of Jesus’ body need to be destroyed so that we could enter the presence of God?
3) How is Jesus misunderstood in John 2? How do our own idols and our own agendas cause us to misunderstand Jesus?