Jesus Cleanses the Temple: Holiness and Authority in John 2

In this week's Defender Bible Study, Chris Johnson, Senior Director of Church Partnerships and External Advocacy, continues our journey through the Gospel of John, focusing on John 2:13-25. Chris unpacks Jesus' cleansing of the temple during Passover, highlighting His concern for holiness and His claim of divine authority as the Son of God. Through righteous indignation, Jesus exposes the corruption within the temple, revealing His role as the perfect Lamb of God. Join us as we explore how this pivotal moment points to Christ's ultimate sacrifice and resurrection.


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Creators & Guests

Guest

Pastor Chris Johnson

Chris joined Lifeline in March, 2020, and serves as the Sr. Director of Church Partnerships & External Advocacy. He previously served as a pastor for 24 years and as the Executive Director of the Kentucky Governor’s Office of Faith and Community Based Initiatives. Chris has also served as a consultant and has been a frequent speaker at local, state, and national conferences, churches, and community gatherings, sharing his family’s story and challenging others to answer the gospel call to care for vulnerable children and families. He was born and raised in metro Atlanta, GA, and currently lives in Birmingham. Chris studied Church Ministries (B.A.) at Trinity Baptist College and Educational Leadership (M.Ed.) at Regent University. He and his amazing wife, Alicia, have 10 children (7 adopted from foster care) and 3 grandchildren (2 adopted from foster care). They have also served as foster parents to more than 40 children.

What is The Defender Bible Study?

The Defender Bible Study is a weekly study of God’s Word as we seek to equip the Body of Christ to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children's Services.

Herbie Newell: 00:02

Welcome to the defender bible study. A weekly encouragement to equip the body of Christ through the study of scripture and prayer to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children around the world. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children Services where we believe that defending the fatherless begins by being rooted in God's word.

Chris Johnson: 00:26

Welcome to the defender bible study podcast. Today is Monday, September 30, 2024. My name is Chris Johnson. I serve as the senior director of church partnerships and external advocacy for Lifeline Children Services. This week, we're continuing our study through the book of John.

Chris Johnson: 00:43

And today, we're gonna be looking at John chapter number 2. John chapter number 2, we are looking at at the, second half of John chapter 2 this week. Of course, last week, we looked at the first miracle of Jesus of turning the water to wine there at the marriage ceremony in Cana. And, we're gonna continue looking at this chapter and kind of the next steps in Jesus' ministry in these early days of Jesus' ministry. Of course, we know that that John's whole purpose in writing this gospel, the theme of this gospel is that he wanted to present Jesus as the son of god.

Chris Johnson: 01:16

And, and so the importance of recognizing that that Jesus was god's son, that Jesus, was who he claimed to be, that Jesus had deity, he had authority, all of that because of his relationship with the father, because of him ultimately himself being god as well. He's not separate from the father. He is a part of the godhead together, with the father and the spirit. And so we see all of this coming together, here in the book of John and the importance of that that John wants to stress. So Jesus has has been a part of this marriage celebration there at Cana.

Chris Johnson: 01:49

We don't really know how long of a distance there was between this marriage and then the time that Jesus is now going to go to Jerusalem, but we see that Jesus is going to Jerusalem for the time of Passover. And the time of Passover is something that's very important to the Jewish people, because it was a remembrance of what God did when he brought them out of Egypt. Of course, we know the story of the Passover, how that, the final plague, the last part of finally, convincing pharaoh's heart to allow the children of Israel to leave was, the death of the firstborn. But all of those who would go through this process of having a pure lamb, without blemish and and, killing that lamb and then taking the blood of that lamb and putting it on the doorpost and the, the little of the door, then the the death angel when they came would would he would pass over those homes. And, of course, we know that all of that was pointing to the fact that the perfect lamb of god would be slain for our sins and that his, he would he would shed his blood on the cross and that his blood would be the remission of our sin, and it was through, the death of the perfect lamb of god and and then ultimately his resurrection that we have salvation.

Chris Johnson: 03:00

And so this was a picture of that from the very from this from the early times, and this was something that we celebrated year after year after year. Many Jewish people still celebrate the Passover even to this day. And so I find it kind of ironic that you have, Jesus who just a few verses earlier in chapter 1, John the Baptist proclaimed him, behold the the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And here the the lamb of God, the one that for 1000 of years, this process of this Passover celebration had been pointing to this one lamb of God. He now is on the scene.

Chris Johnson: 03:37

He now has begun his ministry, and he now is going to Jerusalem to celebrate this Passover that is ultimately pointing to his death and to, to his shedding of his own blood. So let's let's pick it up there and let's begin reading, and we're gonna see some pretty disturbing things that are happening as this celebration of the Passover has been distorted by the Jewish religious leaders. Since in verse number 13, the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple, he found those who were selling oxen, sheep, and pigeons, and the money changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and oxen, and he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.

Chris Johnson: 04:22

And he told those who sold the pigeons, take away these things. 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. So the Jews said to him, what sign do you show for the for doing these things? Jesus answered them, destroy this temple, and in 3 days, I will raise it up.

Chris Johnson: 04:41

The Jews then said, it has taken 46 years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in 3 days? But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When, therefore, he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name that when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus, on his part, did not entrust himself to them because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Chris Johnson: 05:16

So, again, Passover is the time where, the the people were to come together as to to celebrate and commemorate what god had done in providing for their salvation out of Egypt and bringing them out of Egypt and ultimately leading them into the promised land. But then, of course, it was also a sign pointing to the coming messiah who would who would not only lead freedom provide freedom and salvation from Egypt, not provide freedom and salvation from the Roman people, but would provide freedom and salvation, from from our sin and from our enemy. And so, there was a a just a a regular rhythm. But as often is the case, when men get involved, men mess things up. And so there were those in the temple, and historians would tell us that even there was, it was probably the the religious leaders themselves, many of them.

Chris Johnson: 06:02

There was kind of a line of some priesthood that did some very shady things, and that was probably part of this group that that had and really would begin to take advantage of the people. They tell us that there could have been as many as 2,000,000 or more people that were coming into Jerusalem for this time of Passover, for this time of of of of ceremony, for this time of of sacrifice, and they, of course, were traveling from different places. Some people could not bring that spotless lamb with them. And so at a convenience, it was easier to to purchase a lamb or purchase a sacrifice when they got into the town. So these leaders and these people were taking advantage of those people.

Chris Johnson: 06:39

Historians also tell us that they were probably the practice was probably going on of whenever people would bring their land, some of the priests that were there would would just tell the tell them that their land was not good enough, that their land was not pure enough. And it was kind of a scam to get them to purchase the lambs that were being provided for them. So it's kinda like, hey. Yours isn't good enough, but I just happen to have one here that is good enough. There was also this this practice of only being able to use the Jewish coins, in the the ceremonies and in the time within the the the walls of of the tibol.

Chris Johnson: 07:11

And so they were exchanging money, and, of course, they were they were charging these exuberant commissions, and even kind of cheating the scales. We we see Jesus confronting that multiple times, throughout his ministry as well. And so there were just these these horrific practices of taking advantage of God's people for personal gain. And and, of course, Jesus was was disturbed by this. He unleashes this this righteous indignation, really to to kind of, show that that that it was they had been diluting what God was wanting to do, diluting what the Passover was all about.

Chris Johnson: 07:46

And and Jesus just says, hey. I'm just gonna turn this thing upside down. And, of course, there were some that point to this is going you know, he's he Jesus was was was angry. Jesus lost his temper. Jesus lost his school.

Chris Johnson: 07:57

But because of who Jesus was and because of the authority that he possessed, he had every right to do this. This was his his temple, and we're gonna we're gonna see that he claims that this is his father's house. And so this is that that be angry and sin not, that righteous, anger that that Jesus has here. He sees what is going on, and he sees how that how that sin has polluted the practice. Sin has polluted the the the religious, the the the religious expressions of of true faith and genuine faith pointing to the messiah.

Chris Johnson: 08:29

So a few things to to recognize kind of as we see this passage. The the first thing that I see that kinda sticks out to me is that Jesus is concerned about holiness. Jesus is concerned about holiness. Holiness, of course, means to to be set apart, to be consecrated, to be void void of defilement. And these leaders had defiled the dwelling place of god, and Jesus was not gonna let this continue.

Chris Johnson: 08:54

Jesus was was concerned with purity. Jesus was concerned with with holiness. He knew that this was, again, from the from the very beginning when when Jesus came and met with his people and, in the as as the cloud and the fire that led them in the wilderness as the he met with them in the tabernacle. It was his dwelling place, his temporary dwelling place. Then he met with them in the temple.

Chris Johnson: 09:15

And so the temple was considered to be the the dwelling place of God where his, again, his shekinah glory would come down there in the holiest of holies and, when he would receive these these sacrifices. And so god and so the people, in their sin had now brought defilement to to what was pure and what should have been recognized as pure and as holy. And so Jesus then, of course, when he does this, he's questioned by these religious leaders, and, he quickly turns the conversation. Of course, they're talking about, the what he has done there physically in the physical temple, and he turns the conversation and begins to even discuss his how his his body is the temple. He's referring to himself, to his body as the temple.

Chris Johnson: 09:57

And, of course, this shows us just kinda points to the fact that once Jesus completes his work on earth and his death was, he he he he gave his life on the cross and then was raised from the grave. All those now, since that time who received Christ, we are the temple of God. We our bodies are now the temple. Paul tells us that that our body is the the temple of God. God now resides within us.

Chris Johnson: 10:21

And so I think for us, it's a good admonition just to recognize that just as Jesus was concerned about the holiness of of god's dwelling place there in the temple, he's also concerned about the holiness of god's dwelling place now. That dwelling place to what is within us, those of us who claim Christ as our savior, those of us who have a personal relationship with God. And so just as Jesus is concerned with the holiness of the temple, he's also concerned with our holiness. And it it it should be a challenge to us to remove any defilement in our lives, make sure that we are living clean and holy, before our god, that we are, that we are living in a way that is set apart, for him, and that we're keeping keeping our motives in check, keeping our hearts in check, and that we're staying clean before god, our our lord. So we see that Jesus is concerned about holiness, but we also see here that Jesus claimed authority as the son of god.

Chris Johnson: 11:13

Jesus claimed authority as the son of god. He immediately says that that this is his father's house. He he he makes that claim. And and, again, those religious leaders, they even even with the defam, but they still viewed the temple as the dwelling place of God. So if he's saying that his father, dwells there, that this is his father's dwelling place, then he is claiming to be the son of god.

Chris Johnson: 11:38

He is claiming to be the messiah. And then and then, of course, he he ultimately points to again when they when they question him on this, he says, destroy this temple, and in 3 days, I will raise it up. They immediately, of course, went to the physical temple and said, hey. We it took 46 years to build this temple. You can't rebuild this temple in 3 days.

Chris Johnson: 11:57

But we know that he was referring to much more than that. He was referring to his ability to lay down his own life and to pick his life up again, which again was the very thing that that that that proved his authority as the son of god, that proved that he was who he said he was. He he did miracles. He did things while he was on here on earth, but, ultimately, it would be his death and his resurrection that would show that he was exactly who he said he was. All of the claims that he had made to be the son of God, to the claims that he had to to do these things with authority because of being God's son, those things would all be proven true by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Chris Johnson: 12:38

When he would lay down his life and then take it back up again. And so and so Jesus is showing here that that he is the son of God, and that he has the authority to do the things that he was doing. He has the authority. He was here. He's here.

Chris Johnson: 12:50

He was here on this earth on on the doing the work of the father, doing the will of the father. And so Jesus is very clearly claiming here his authority as the son of God. Now we see here that even the disciples are like, what's he talking about? What's going on here? But they would remember this saying, that they would remember this thing that he said later on after the resurrection when they would see all of these things come to pass.

Chris Johnson: 13:13

Jesus or John says here that they that they remembered what had been told them. So Jesus is concerned about holiness. Jesus claimed authority as the son of God. And then finally, Jesus is deity. Jesus is God, and he is able to discern the hearts of men.

Chris Johnson: 13:30

Jesus is deity, and he is able to discern the hearts of men. You know, when we talk about Jesus on earth, it's a very complex thing for us to to be able to understand how that Jesus could could be fully man, but he had still be fully god. He he left heaven and he came to this earth, but he still he and he and he subjected himself to the limitations of a physical body, the limitations of being on earth, but he still maintained his deity. He was still the son of god, and that's what allowed him to live a perfect life. That's what allowed him to be the the son of god, the lamb of god without blemish, without spot because he maintained his deity.

Chris Johnson: 14:07

And there were some that were that were coming to him and starting to follow him because of the miracles that they were seeing done. And, man, they were intrigued by those miracles and thought it was a cool thing to be a part of seeing those miracles. And so let's let's follow him and let's see what all he does, and let's see what all happens. But we know clearly that there were some that were that were following him, but yet they had not truly given their hearts to him. They truly did not believe in him as the messiah, as the son of god.

Chris Johnson: 14:33

They saw him do miraculous things, but they did not commit themselves to him and surrender to them themselves to him as their savior, as their god. And Jesus, because he is deity, was able to see through the the the following. He was able to see through their motivations. He was able to see through and see through their heart. And so it's John is not saying here that these were people that wanted to be saved and called out to god for salvation, but Jesus said, no.

Chris Johnson: 14:57

I reject you. You can't be saved. But what he is saying is Jesus knew their hearts. He knew that their faith was not, fully convinced. They were not fully convinced that he was the savior.

Chris Johnson: 15:07

They were not willing to surrender themselves to him as their lord and savior. And we know that, that god continues to see our hearts today. Jesus continues to to know what is the motivation in our hearts, and this is a good challenge for us to make sure that we're not just following god because of the things we've seen. We're not just following Christ because we hear these cool stories or we're trying to get something neat to happen in our own lives, but that we truly have come to a time where we have surrendered and we have called out to him as our lord and savior. And and recognizing that that god doesn't he doesn't commit himself to those that just give lip service.

Chris Johnson: 15:42

He doesn't commit himself to those that are just intrigued by the neat things that he has done, but he but he commits himself to those that surrender to him and commit himself to him. Now once we surrender ourselves and once we call out to him as savior, we truly surrender ourselves to him as lord and savior. We have the confidence that when we commit ourselves to him, he commits himself to us as well. And and those that will, will proclaim and and announce our salvation before the lord and and proclaim and and give witness to that before man, then we know that he gives witness before the father. And so when we do give our hearts and lives to Christ, when we do surrender to him, we know that he that he commits himself to us.

Chris Johnson: 16:21

And we, of course, now have the the earnest, the down payment of the holy spirit who resides within us, who will see our salvation completely through. He will soon see our salvation through to completion. He who starts this work in us will finish that work. And I'm thankful today that when we commit ourselves to him and surrender our hearts and lives to him, that he commits himself to us as well, and that we can rest in our salvation through this work of Jesus Christ. So as we finish this passage today and as we just think on these things over over this day and this week, let let's be mindful of these things.

Chris Johnson: 16:55

Let's be mindful. May we too be concerned about holiness. May we too be concerned about keeping our lives pure and set apart for for God, for Christ. May we yield to the authority of Jesus. May we trust him for our eternity by by surrendering to to his authority every day in our lives, surrendering to his authority that just as he brought himself out of the grave and brought himself back to life, now has the authority and the power to to bring us to eternal life, to to give us victory over death, victory over the grave as we as we yield to the authority of Jesus.

Chris Johnson: 17:28

And then may we be sure that we are truly following Christ, not just because of the wonderful things that we've seen or heard of him, but because we see him as our savior, and may we be a witness to others of that same thing. May we proclaim that Jesus Christ is the perfect son of God, the perfect lamb of God without spot and blemish who was able to give himself as a sacrifice for all those who would call him call on him in faith and believe in him. What a joy. What a great honor and privilege to know these truths today. Well, let's go to the lord in prayer and, ask his blessings on this week.

Chris Johnson: 18:03

And, we today at Lifeline, this week at Lifeline, we are praying for, our ministry in Kyrgyzstan, as we are continuing to serve our own children there and look for adoptive families that are willing to adopt, from that country. So let's focus on that today as our prayer. Dear heavenly father god, we love you. We thank you so much for these truths that we've seen from your word so clearly that just, lord, just give us a vivid picture of who you are, of your authority, of your deity as as Jesus, of your desire to see us walk in holiness and without defilement. God, I pray that these things would be true in our life and that we would live out this this faith that we have in your son, Jesus.

Chris Johnson: 18:46

And then it would be a faith that that transforms the way that we live, and that it would be genuine and true. God, we do lift up the ministry of Lifeline. Again, lord, thank you so much for what you are doing and how you are providing, your people to manifest the gospel to vulnerable children around the world. Lord, we lift up specifically the country of Kyrgyzstan, lord, and specifically those children, the orphan children that are there that that need a family. And so, god, we pray that you would continue to raise up people, that you continue to raise up Christ followers who would have a heart for this country and the children of this country who'd be willing to, answer your call to adopt them and bring them into their forever family.

Chris Johnson: 19:26

God, we pray for our Lifeline team that works, with this country and works with these children, and we pray that you would just continue to give them grace, give them wisdom, give them the ability to serve families well, and, just do do just work mightily, god, through them. Lord, we pray for, the communication process. Lord, sometimes it's hard to communicate well with with the country so far away, and, lord, we pray that that we would just have good communication with those on the ground, with those that are caring for the children, with those families that are, seeking to serve them and seeking to bring them into their home. And then, lord, we pray also just that you would give us good relationships with the government there and that we would be able to, again, shine brightly for for Christ, but you would give us those, opportunities to to be able to continue to serve well and do so by building strong relationships with those in in in control and in power there in in the country of Kyrgyzstan. Lord, we pray the same thing for the other countries where we serve as well.

Chris Johnson: 20:27

And so we ask god that you just would continue to work, continue to give us the opportunity to be able to, lord, come alongside your people, to care well, and to share the gospel with vulnerable children. God, we continue to pray for our waiting families and the children in China. Lord, we pray that you would move mountains and that you would work a miracle to allow these children to come home to their families, god, and you would do what only you can do. Lord, in all these things, we'll be careful to give you thanks. We'll be careful to give you praise.

Chris Johnson: 20:53

For it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Herbie Newell: 20:58

Thanks again for joining us for the defender bible study. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the defender bible study to make it easier for more people to find. For more resources and information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, please visit us at lifelinechild.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly at info at lifelinechild.org.

Herbie Newell: 21:27

We look forward to seeing you again next week for the defender bible study.