Study in John’s Gospel

Study in John’s Gospel Presentation 06

Was Jesus A Revolutionary? Chap 2:12-25 Presentation 06

Introduction There have been more revolutions in our age than in any other in history. Some have been violent others have been peaceful. Some have employed armed forces, others people power. Often those who come to power through revolution prove to be just as self-serving as those they replaced. Ten years after the revolution in Iran the poor were still being denied the benefits of the country’s vast oil revenues, while a select few benefited from its wealth. Those advocating change today, have no qualms about supporting the indiscriminate use of violence in the streets of Iraq, Pakistan, and elsewhere. Presentation 06

Introduction And one of the worrying things about the advocates of violent revolution in its many forms is that they often cite Jesus as a model revolutionary. “We’re just following his example and teaching”, they say and they cite this temple incident as an example of Jesus’ revolutionary spirit. Was Jesus a revolutionary in the way that most people today understand the term? No! On the other hand, he was not a defender of the establishment either. Indeed, he called men and women to a peaceful revolution that was far more radical and long-term than many might dream possible. Presentation 06

The Exploitation of the Good In our passage Jesus was angry first, because God's house had been turned into a place of commercial exploitation. You weren't permitted to bring your own animal sacrifice to the temple. Instead, you had to buy one in the Jerusalem temple courtyards at extremely inflated prices. In addition you couldn’t use normal currency, you needed temple currency, which again had to be purchased at a grossly extravagant exchange rate. Simply put, worshippers were being exploited! Presentation 06

The Exploitation of the Good Now today when, the established church begins to exploit the very people it is meant to serve, squeezing as much as it can from them in order to ensure its own comfort and enrichment, how does Jesus respond? When those in positions of leadership in the church neglect the spiritual needs of the worshipper, then Jesus is equally angry. Presentation 06

The Exploitation of the Good Does commercial exploitation take place today? Is the church constantly concerned to feather its own nest? Does she cultivate wealthy individuals hoping that during their lifetime they will dig deep into their pockets and after death leave the church a sizeable endowment? Is the church obsessed with the material? Is money constantly on her mind? If we view ‘mission’ as filling the pews in order to increase our income, rather than reaching out to men and women in spiritual need then something is drastically wrong. Presentation 06

The Exploitation of the Good God’s anger at the exploitation of the poor and needy is something that is flagged up again and again in the OT. Read the minor prophets especially Amos and you will see this is so. When the poor in the nation are encouraged to take out credit, which they cannot service, then God is angry and his people need to speak out against exploitation. The ‘make poverty history movement’ has echoed something of that anger as it has gathered at a number of G8 summits. In the past some of the conditions, that western governments have demanded before aid has been given, have been iniquitous. Presentation 06

Theological Truth Distorted Secondly, Jesus was angered by the theological distortion he encountered. God’s house should have been a place of prayer, where sin was confessed and forgiveness sought. The animal sacrifices which were made there were intended to point forward to one great sacrifice for sin whom God himself would provide. This provision should have caused God’s people to stand in awe of his grace, as they grasped that the punishment of their sin would be transferred to another – Jesus. However, the attention of many of the worshippers was taken up with the inflated prices they had to pay for their sacrifice. Presentation 06

Theological Truth Distorted God had made gracious provision for a spiritually bankrupt, morally flawed and helplessly alienated people. But these temple businessmen with their iniquitous practices were distracting people from that gracious provision. Given all of this, the religious establishment were more likely to create resentment in the hearts of the worshippers than promote praise. They had disgracefully distorted the grace of God and begun to alienate needy men and women. That will always make Jesus angry. Presentation 06

Theological Truth Distorted Does such theological distortion exist today? Anything that debases God's character and discredits his provision is a theological distortion. It happens, when the uniqueness of Christ as the only Saviour of men is denied or, when the substitutionary atonement of Christ upon the cross is ridiculed. Some teachers claim that it is barbaric to suggest that Jesus died in our stead and bore the punishment that we deserve. They want a ‘blood free’ religion. The most they can say about the cross is that it provides us with an example of sacrificial love. But no more than that! Whatever else this anaemic religion may be it is not a biblical Christianity. Presentation 06

Theological Truth Distorted Others teach that the love of God suppresses his holiness equipping him to indulge every sinful whim of man? Sin is increasingly diluted and in some cases rehabilitated. And as a result, there are some who teach that God can bless the ordination of practicing lesbians and homosexuals within the church. The clear teaching of scripture is by-passed in favour of a very twisted exegesis. That kind of theological distortion in the church makes Jesus angry! Read what God says through Isaiah, ‘Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.’ Isa 5.20 Presentation 06

The Worshippers Devalued The temple abuses did more than promote commercial exploitation and theological distortion, they revealed an evangelistic indifference. The Jewish tradesmen conducted their business in an area known as the ‘court of the Gentiles’. This was the place where ‘God-fearers’ - non Jews, who had not yet professed faith but who wanted to learn about God, came. It was the area set aside for their enquirer’s classes or the Jewish equivalent of an ‘Alpha course’. But the space that God had reserved for them was taken up by tradesmen. The attitude of the religious authorities towards those who were seeking after the one true God was clearly was one of complete indifference . Presentation 06

The Worshippers Devalued Evangelism was unimportant to the religious leaders. Their attitude was ‘Let the enquirers fight for room among the animal stockades and the money exchanges, what do they matter!’ What a frightening indifference, on the part of the religious establishment, towards those whom they should have been encouraging. They might as well have put a lock and chain on the gates to the temple and a sign that read “Keep Out”! God intends his people to be a missionary movement reaching out to others. But instead we often construct unnecessary barriers that discourage those who are searching after God. Do we, by our behaviour or disinterest in mission show ourselves to be indifferent towards those in spiritual need? If so, then Jesus is surely justifiably angry. Presentation 06

Jesus As Priest And Judge Jesus’ response was not an ill considered act of the moment but one formed after sober reflection. He’d viewed all that was going on the previous evening and returned ‘the next day’ to drive the corrupting influences out of the temple. All that he did he was motivated by a jealous concern for his Father's glory. A well known modern commentator claims Jesus would never have behaved like this. Sadly he reveals little understanding either, of Jesus’ passion for God’s glory or, for his concern for the lost. The Jesus he is describing is one he has manufactured by his own prejudice Presentation 06

Jesus As Priest And Judge As we read the N.T. we discover that the risen Jesus continues to act as faithful priest addressing abuses in his church. In the opening chapters of the book of Revelation we find Jesus robed in priestly garments, scrutinising a number of churches and urging repentance upon them before it is too late. It becomes clear that God reserves his severest judgement for those churches, whose worship is hollow, where corruption is rife, and where the witness of the church to the unbelieving community has the effect of alienating and repelling them rather than drawing and winning them. Presentation 06

Jesus As Priest And Judge It is easy to criticise the church but our personal lives also come under the scrutiny of Jesus. The NT. describes believer’s body as a temple of Holy Spirit. When Jesus walks around in the courtyard of our lives, what does he find? Are we pursuing personal holiness and leaving the sweet savour of Christ in our communities or do our lives smell more like freshly manured fields that repel others from the faith we profess? Do we share Jesus’ jealousy for God's glory and his concern for the lost? These are daunting questions. But a very great deal is at stake - the advance of Christ's kingdom! Has Jesus begun to overturn a few tables in the courtyard of our lives in order to gain our attention? Presentation 06

Conclusion The response of the religious leaders, who could not bear criticism, was not repentance but a determination to silence Jesus! By taking this course they would remove themselves from the One, who was the source of both potential reformation and blessing! Jesus could have revolutionised their lives! The wiser response to such awful exposure, is to acknowledge failure and to seek God’s forgiveness and grace. There is such a thing as a revolution of grace! This is what Jesus specialises in! The Bible encourages us to believe that, towards the genuinely sorrowful and broken-hearted, God will show himself infinitely merciful and gracious. Presentation 06

Study in John’s Gospel