Calvary Road Baptist Church

“THE PLACE WHERE YOU CAN MEET WITH GOD”

John 2.19-21 

We read from John 2.13: 

13 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.

17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?

19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

21 But he spake of the temple of his body.

22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. 

Verse 13:

“And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem” 

You wonder why John would describe it as “the Jews’ passover” instead of “the Lord’s passover.” After all, in Exodus 12.11 and Leviticus 23.5, God refers to the observance as “the LORD’s passover.” In Exodus 12.27, Moses repeats God’s statement, “the LORD’s passover,” to the elders of Israel while giving them instructions about its proper observance.

Could it be that the spiritual level of the people, and the general level of the Passover’s observance, had degenerated to such a state that John’s inspired account could no longer honestly refer to it as “the LORD’s passover,” but used the sadly accurate phrase “the Jew’s passover”? I think that was the case.

Albert Barnes writes, “Every male among the Jews was required to appear at this feast. Jesus, in obedience to the law, went up to observe it. This is the first Passover on which he attended after he entered on the work of the ministry. It is commonly supposed that he observed three others -- one recorded Lu 6:1, another Joh 6:4, and the last one on the night before he was crucified, Joh 11:55. As his baptism when he entered on his ministry had taken place some time before this -- probably not far from six months -- it follows that the period of his ministry was not far from three years and a half ....”[1] 

Verse 14:

“And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting.” 

John Gill: “Not in the holy place itself, nor in the court of the priests, where the sacrifices were offered, nor in the court of the women, nor in the court of the Israelites, where the people worshipped; but in the court of the Gentiles, or the outward court, even all that space of ground which was between the wall which divided the whole from common ground, and the buildings of the temple, and which was open to the air; for the whole sacred enclosure, or all within the wall, went by the name of the temple.”[2]

The Temple had its coinage. But those who came to the Temple to worship came from all over the known world, with gold and silver coins minted in various places. So, to purchase animals for sacrifice and other things, there were set up tables for currency exchange. A religious pilgrim would enter the Temple courtyard, go first to a currency exchange to secure coinage fit for use at the Temple, then go to a booth to purchase an animal for sacrifice, then pay to have the sacrifice examined by a proper authority to make sure it was without blemish and fit for sacrifice.

Understand that these functions had to be performed. Money had to be exchanged to the proper currency. Sacrifices had to be purchased for offering. Animals had to be inspected. But these businesses did not have to be set up in the courtyard of the Temple. Neither did they have to charge exorbitant rates to visitors who could secure their services nowhere else. And since the entire operation was run by the high priest’s family, who had a monopoly stranglehold on these services, the entire affair had degenerated over time into a racket.[3]

The Temple courtyard should not have been turned into a swap meet or a strip mall. The visitors who came to worship God should not have been taken advantage of. The lying and cheating and thievery that resulted in money pouring into the priest’s coffers was also a terrible desecration of what should have been regarded as sacred. 

Verses 15-16:    

15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. 

Observe that nothing the Lord Jesus Christ did deprived anyone of their property. The sheep and oxen were easily rounded up. The money knocked off the tables was easily gathered up again. The Lord Jesus just did not want His Father’s house functioning as a commercial marketplace.

Of course, His actions enraged the priests, who received money from these vendors for allowing them to conduct business in the Temple courtyard. But the priests were custodians of God’s house. They had no right to allow what they had allowed.

Why did they do it? Why did they cheapen their own ministries? Why did they allow God’s house to become a house of merchandise? For the money, of course. In First Timothy 6.10, Paul writes, “... the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith....” 

Verse 17:

“And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” 

The question that comes to my mind is, When did His disciples remember this Old Testament passage that applied to what the Lord Jesus did that day? Did they remember it at the time this happened, or did they remember when reflecting upon it after His death, burial, and resurrection? I confess that I do not know the answer to this question.

The statement, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up,” is a direct quote of Psalm 69.9, which is a psalm that has several verses with obvious Messianic overtones. But what does this statement mean? It is really a statement made by the Lord Jesus Christ to His heavenly Father, and it means that the Lord Jesus Christ was consumed with an ardent desire to see God glorified in His Own house. His zeal to see God glorified in His house would take Him all the way to the cross of Calvary. 

Verse 18:

“Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?” 

John was unlikely to refer to ordinary folks when he wrote, “Then answered the Jews and said unto him.” The old bromide, “Rank hath its privileges,” applies to civilian life and the military. And in civilian culture, there are obvious levels of rank and status, just as in the military. In Jesus’ day, such levels of status and privilege were well marked and easily recognized. So, do not think anyone but priests would have approached the Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple courtyard and demanded of Him as they did.

Notice that they did not suggest that His accusations against them were incorrect. They did not defend themselves against His charges. They, quite reasonably (they thought), asked Him for a sign. But their question to Him revealed something about themselves. Referring to Jesus standing amid a group of men, unrecognized, John the Baptist said these words in John 1.26: “there standeth one among you, whom ye know not.” The same could have been said here. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, the Messiah of Israel, had just put on a demonstration of zeal that should have identified Him to those at the scene. But they remained ignorant, or should I say blind. 

Verse 19:

“Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 

They solicited a sign. They asked Him a question. He responded to their question. But they did not understand what He said or what He meant.

Notice the phrase, “Destroy this temple.” When we read this verse we assume that what Jesus means is that “If you destroy this temple, in three days I will raise it up.” But that is not at all what He means.

This is a prophesy that they will misconstrue three years later. It is a prediction of what they will do. He is saying, “You will destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 

Verse 20:

“Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?” 

They completely misunderstood Him, didn’t they? They asked Him a question, which He truthfully and forthrightly answered. But they did not believe Him.

From the reaction of the Jews, we can see that they think the Lord Jesus Christ was referring to the Temple, known at this time as Herod’s Temple. The original Temple erected by Solomon was destroyed by the Babylonians some six centuries earlier. It was rebuilt when the remnant returned from 70 years of captivity under Zerubbabel.

The Temple that stood in Jesus’ day was the remodeled and greatly enlarged and beautified Temple constructed by the much-hated Herod. That they indicated it was 46 years into the remodeling effort provides a precise date of this time since archaeologists know the precise time Herod’s Temple project began. 

Verse 21:

“But he spake of the temple of his body.” 

There are different kinds of temples found in the Bible:

There are temples made of stone, such as the temple of Diana, in Ephesus.[4] There were, of course, the successive temples of the one true and living God in Jerusalem, Solomon’s Temple, Zerubbabel’s Temple, and Herod’s Temple.

In First Corinthians 3.16, the Apostle Paul identifies the Corinthian congregation as “the temple of God,” showing us that Church congregations are a type of temple. In Second Corinthians 6.16, he again identifies that congregation, and ours also, as “the temple of the living God.”

In First Corinthians 6.19, Paul identifies another type of temple, an individual Christian’s body, which is the temple of the Holy Ghost.

Then, there is the verse before us, in which the Lord Jesus Christ’s Own human body is said by the Apostle John to be the temple He was referring to when He answered the Jews. Of course, He was referring to the fact that He would rise from the dead three days and three nights after His crucifixion and burial. 

Verse 22:

“When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.” 

So you see, even though the Lord Jesus Christ responded truthfully, neither the Jews nor His Own disciples understood at the time what He meant. It was only after He had risen from the dead that they remembered the words He had spoken three years earlier, and, of course, they “believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said.”

Four weeks from now, Christendom will celebrate Easter, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, from the dead. What other religion, what other belief system, what other faith, celebrate their founder’s conquest of death? Buddha died. Period. Confucius died. Period. Mohammed died. Period. Joseph Smith died. Period. Karl Marx died. Period. L. Ron Hubbard died. Period. But when the Lord Jesus Christ died, there was no period, only a comma. For you see, He rose from the dead after three days and three nights. Astounding!

Buddha accomplished nothing by his death. Confucius accomplished nothing by his death. Mohammed accomplished nothing by his death. Joseph Smith accomplished nothing by his death. Karl Marx accomplished nothing by his death. L. Ron Hubbard accomplished nothing by his death.

Can the same be said about the Lord Jesus Christ? Did His death accomplish nothing? It is not really a fair question, is it? Because He did die. But He also rose again on the third day. So, the correct question to ask is, What did He accomplish by His death, burial, and resurrection?

There are many wonderful things the Savior accomplished by His death, burial, and resurrection; things never claimed by such mere men as Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed, Joseph Smith, Karl Marx, and L. Ron Hubbard, or any of their followers.

I would like to focus your attention on only one of those accomplishments. My text is John 2.19-21. When you find that passage, please stand again for the reading of God’s Word: 

19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 

I will describe one of the things the Lord Jesus accomplished by His death, burial, and resurrection. I will arrange the truths I want to present to you under five headings. 

First, THERE IS THE DESIRE OF MAN 

From the earliest artifacts that archaeologists have discovered in burial crypts and tombs, and even in caves, extending to the farthest reaches of the globe, the human race has shown itself to be religious and always have been. Whether they be the Incas of Peru, the Mayans of the Yucatan Peninsula, the Aztecs of central Mexico, the Pueblos of the desert southwest, or the mound builders of the Mississippi Valley in the New World, or the ancient peoples who lived near the Nile River Valley, the Tigris-Euphrates River, the Indus River, and in China, wherever remains have been found there has been evidence of religion.

Some would say that may have been true in the past, but many are atheists today. Not really. At the height of communism under the Soviet regime, the Soviet state was as much a religion as was the Russian Orthodox Church. The long lines in Moscow that formed to pass by the glass casket of V. I. Lenin, the insistence by the soldiers that reverence and a respectful attitude be maintained, were all the trappings of religion. The great tragedy for the loyal communists when the Soviet Union collapsed was that their secular religion had collapsed.

Some worship capitalism. Some worship government. Some worship money. Some worship patriotism. Used to be, there were those who worshiped at the altar of the Elk’s Club, or the Scottish Rite, or the Shriner’s, or the yacht club, or the country club. Some good Baptists worship their church or the Bible. There are even some who actually worship God.

My point is the human race worships. We seek to infuse into that which we are most devoted to some spiritual quality. Why? Because no matter how coarse or crude or debased our race is, humanity tends in some way toward worship. Nimrod took great advantage of our inclination to worship when he constructed the tower of Babel in Genesis chapter 11. But God judged them by confusing their languages, and they scattered.

So, humanity has a recognizable and characteristic urge to worship. We may worship the sun, the moon, the stars, a tree stump, a political or economic system, a country, a woman, a child, a flag, a religious denomination, or even God. But somehow, and in some way, it is everyone’s desire to worship. 

Next, THERE IS THE DESIRE OF GOD 

The desire to worship directly results from God’s desire to be worshiped. Remember, when God formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul, he was made in the image and likeness of God.[5]

What precisely is meant by the idea of man being made in the image and likeness of God? Though this is a very difficult subject to comprehend, we can at least be agreed that man, the creature, is like God, his creator, in having spiritual capacity and moral capacity. Man desires religion, has hunger at some level for that which is spiritual, seeks to worship because God, his Maker, desires to be worshiped and therefore made man be that kind of creature.

If God is the greatest of all beings, the First Cause, and the highest and most noble in character and qualities, then it is most reasonable and proper that He be worshiped, that He be adored, that He be praised, that He be obeyed, and that He be served. Revelation 4.11 speaks to this very thing: 

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” 

Indeed, one of God’s reasons for creating this universe and all that therein is, and a specific reason for creating the human race, was so that we might enjoy God by worshiping and serving Him forever. So when God created Adam and Eve in His image and after His likeness, He created them with the capacity for worship and with the desire to worship.

But God’s interest is not for people to worship generally. God’s interest is for us to worship God and only God specifically. This is reflected in what are commonly referred to as the Ten Commandments. In Exodus 20.3, God declares, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” He elaborates on this theme in the next three verses: 

4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 

Then, it is very clear that God’s desires are also God’s demands. And what He demands, He commands. And when His commands are not obeyed, He punishes, because He is jealous. God desires worship. And because only He is God, and beside Him there is no other, only He actually deserves the worship of His creatures.

So, man desires to worship, and God desires to receive worship, and to be the exclusive Object of man’s worship. Only God is to be worshiped, adored, honored, glorified, and served. Only God. 

Third, THERE IS THE NATURE OF MAN 

When God created Adam, He created him perfect in every way. He was morally clean and sinless. His nature was such that he could, and did, freely commune with God. And so long as Adam continued in his original state of moral purity and perfection he could enjoy God fully and worship Him by means of a direct and unencumbered approach. There was no obstacle, no barrier, no gulf that separated Adam from God.

Then Adam sinned against God and plunged into the deep chasm of sinfulness by his sinful disobedience. Adam’s nature was altered from holiness to sinfulness by a despicable act of rebellion. He died spiritually, and his nature was corrupted so that communion with a holy God was henceforth impossible.

Adam and his posterity, now sinful, still had a desire and an inclination to worship. Tragically, his act of sin’s effects was passed on to his posterity. Romans 5.12 explains, 

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” 

This sinful condition became the most obvious characteristic of our nature, affecting every aspect of humanity’s existence. Every heart was now inclined against God to the point of being God’s enemy, the mind darkened to the point of changing 

“the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.”[6] 

So, though the human race was comprised of individuals still inclined to worship, we began to worship creatures rather than the Creator, actually carving images from stone and wood, gods that could neither speak nor feel. This gave rise to the world’s false religions that are the combined result of our spiritual blindness and susceptibility to demonic influences. This sin-induced blindness and self-deception would give rise to totem poles and idolatrous statuary, while there would spring up a demon named Allah and his wicked servant, Mohammed. Or there would arise the arrogant conceit of a Buddha in the mist of the gross idolatry of a million gods in Hinduism’s India, while over here would erupt like a boil the Satan-inspired spawn of Marx called communism. Then, in another part of the world, there arises a false Christianity that bows before figures and images. At the same time, there is a dry orthodoxy that appears to have a form of godliness in yet another part of the world, while denying the power thereof.[7]

Have you noticed how humanity requires holy geography for their false worship? 

Such is the nature of man. 

What About THE NATURE OF GOD? 

The Samaritan woman said to Jesus, 

“Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”[8] 

What did Jesus say in reply? 

21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. 

Yes, God did give to the Jews the Tabernacle in the wilderness and then the Temple in Jerusalem. But that was preparatory. As Jesus said to the woman, 

“the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” 

Not ritual and formalism. And certainly not in any place constructed by people.

What was it Stephen said to the mob that stoned him to death? 

“the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands,” 

Acts 7.48. And he was quoting Solomon, when he dedicated the original Temple in Jerusalem, who said, 

“behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?” 

First Kings 8.27.

What Solomon told his people, and what Stephen reminded them of 1000 years later, was essentially what Paul told the Athenians, in Acts 17.22-24: 

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

23 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. 

So, God, Who is most gracious and merciful, did accommodate His people for a time. He authorized the Temple and sacrifices to provide types and figures to instruct the people. But as the Lord Jesus Christ said to the Samaritan woman, “No more.” When the Lord Jesus Christ was arrested and crucified, two things occurred which signified that worship in the Temple had come to an end, so far as God was concerned: When “the high priest rent his clothes,” in Matthew 26.65, which violated a prohibition God had instituted in Leviticus 21.10, the ministry of the Aaronic priesthood ended once and for all. Henceforth, there would be no God-ordained ministers for the Temple. And when “Jesus ... yielded up the ghost ... behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom,” Matthew 27.50-51. At the entrance to the holy of holies, that veil, now being torn, indicated that the Temple would no longer be of any use to God.

God’s desire is to be worshiped. Man’s desire is to worship. But God’s nature, by virtue of the fact that He is holy, and by virtue of the fact that He is so immense that He is bigger than the universe, cannot inhabit a mere temple made with hands and be approached by sinful and wicked men. 

Which Brings Me To The Final Heading, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST 

Jesus referred to Himself when He said, in John 2.19, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” That is clear from John 2.21: “But he spake of the temple of his body.”

What do you suppose He meant when He referred to His body as “this temple”? A temple is a place where you can meet with God. So, when Jesus identified Himself and described Himself as “this temple,” He was pointing out that He is the place where you meet with God.

Let me explain how this relates to the desire of man and the desire of God, the nature of man and the nature of God: Isaiah 53.2 says about most men with regard to the Savior, “... there is no beauty that we should desire him.” But when the Spirit of God works, and when the God of the Spirit draws, then the Lord Jesus Christ becomes, as Haggai 2.7 describes Him, “the desire of all nations.”

Under the convincing work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinful men’s souls, becomes the heart’s desire of those truly sorry for their sins, of those who want to be reconciled to God. And that is, after all, the desire of God. Why else would He send His Son to suffer and bleed and die, but to save those for whom His precious blood was shed?

Man’s desire is, by the blood of Christ, cleansed, cured, corrected, making it compatible with God’s desire for him. So, when a sinner is converted to Christ, that man's desire is miraculously changed so that the heart’s affection is now toward Jesus. This makes God in Christ the object of his worship, thereby fulfilling God’s desire to be the Object of his worship. But there is the nature of the person and the nature of God to consider. The nature of the person is sinful. The nature of God is holy. This holiness of God prevents a sinful person from approaching, “For our God is a consuming fire,” Hebrews 10.29.

For someone to be reconciled to God, your sins must be dealt with in a satisfactory way, a mediator must be found, a go-between. That is where the Lord Jesus comes in. First Timothy 2.5 declares, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” What does He accomplish as a mediator between God and a sinful man? Listen to what John said about Jesus in Revelation 1.5: “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” So, the shed blood of Jesus Christ is the remedy for the moral aspect of God’s nature and man’s sinful nature. Our sins are cleansed by the blood of Christ, and are no more the cause of repugnance and rejection by God.

But there is still an aspect of God’s nature and your nature that is oftentimes overlooked; our puniness and God’s immensity. God is so big and we are so very tiny. How can you meet with God when He is so big and you are so small? You meet God in Jesus. Remember, though He is risen from the dead and ascended to His Father’s right hand on high, Jesus is a man. The Son of God, yet still a man. God in flesh, but still a man. Paul told the Colossians, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”[9] And this was what Job anticipated when he excitedly predicted, 

“And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.”[10] 

Our desire and God’s desire are both fulfilled when, through faith in Jesus Christ, a sinner becomes a new creature in Christ. With a new heart and new desires, you fulfill your desire by fulfilling God’s desire for worship. At the very same time, God’s nature and your nature are dealt with when sins are cleansed by the shed blood of Christ and you can approach and have all of God there is in the person of Jesus Christ, His Son. 

I conclude this somewhat overlong sermon with this: A temple is a place where you meet with God.

But God, the one true and living God, is a God of such holiness, and is a God of such immensity, that His nature is an insurmountable obstacle to your worship of Him. He is both holy and far too big for you to meet with Him.

So, He accommodated you in the following way: In the person of His Son, He became a man you can come to. You must come to Him by faith, but you can come to Him. And when you come to His Son, Jesus, your sins will be cleansed in His blood, so that His holy nature will not object to you, because you will be clean.

This is all theological, but the upshot of it is so very simple: Forget the temples. Forget the cathedrals and the shrines. Forget the holy geography. If you want to meet with God, Jesus is the place where that can happen, where that will happen, where that must happen.

God is a God of such mercy and compassion, a God of such wisdom and love, that He has made it possible for any man, for any woman, any child, anywhere, anytime, to meet with Him. Just come to His Son. So, come now.

__________

[1] Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ NT Commentary, (Bronson, MI: Online Publishing, Inc., 2002), bible@mail.com

[2] John Gill, An Exposition of the Gospel According to John, (Springfield, MO: Particular Baptist Press), page 63.

[3] Read Edersheim’s comments in Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah: New Updated Version, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1993), pages 254-260.

[4] Acts 19.27

[5] Genesis 2.7; 1.26-27

[6] Romans 1.23

[7] 2 Timothy 3.5

[8] John 4.20

[9] Colossians 2.9

[10] Job 19.26

Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.

Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church