Hello everyone. Today I have an illustration I started last Sunday in church. We find ourselves in the second chapter of John this time. In this sermon Jesus is in the temple for the Passover. You can view the full sermon here.
The people come to make sacrifices to pay for their sins. In order to do this because they had to travel on foot (mostly) to get to the temple it was more convenient to purchase your sacrifice once you get there. Because they were traveling for some distance some needed to exchange their currency. The trouble is they had the money changers, animals, birds inside the courts. Animals (doing animal things like pooping and peeing where ever they please) people yelling and haggling. They were also charging exorbitant prices becuase they knew the people had to have these things in order to observe the Passover. All of these things defiled the house of the Lord because it was taking place inside the temple courtyards.
Jesus makes a whip out of cords which took time. He thought about what he was doing, it wasn't a split second reaction like you and I make when someone cuts us off in traffic. He was not out of control. Jesus thought this out. It was a reaction based on how they were treating His father's. They were desecrating the temple. A holy place.
Using the whip Jesus runs the animals and people out, flips over the tables, breaks up the cages, saying to them (in verse 16) "Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade." His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me."(verse 17) One of the lessons to take away from this message is not to make worship convenient to you, lift God up, worship Him, remember it's all about Him.
Another lesson to take away is that Jesus is telling them (verses 18-25) that He is replacing the old system of blood sacrifice to pay for the sins of the people. He will pay our debt. His blood pays for all our sins, making THE way for us to get to His father.
I hope that you have enjoyed my synopsis of the sermon, and my illustration. Please go and listen to the sermon by Pastor Ryan. I hope that you are challenged or encouraged by my post, and that you will open your Bible and learn more about God and how much He loves you. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me, if I don't have the answer I'll ask my pastor and get back to you. May God richly bless you my friends, until next time.--Ryan
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