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Matthew 21:12-17 (Jesus cleanses the temple)

INTRODUCTION: This is the second message in our new series called Jesus in Jerusalem. As we learned last week, this section focuses on the last week in Jesus’ life and the growing conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders.

If you’ve ever wondered, how do you get from Palm Sunday when everyone was cheering Jesus to Good Friday when Jesus hung on the cross, the answer is Jesus in Jerusalem – what happened between Sunday and Friday during this final week of Jesus’ life. And if you think the religious leaders were upset by Jesus’ triumphal entry last week, just wait until you see what happens this week. Because you don’t get people much more upset than Jesus cleansing the temple!

This is actually the second time Jesus cleanses the temple. He did it once at the beginning of his ministry (John 2:13-22), and now he does it again here at the end of his ministry. (Read Matthew 21:12-13 and pray.)

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We all have to clean house from time to time. Some of us like to do a little each day. Some of us do a weekly cleaning. Some of us wait for spring cleaning and do a whole lot at once. Well, in our passage today Jesus does some spring cleaning. It’s spring; it’s Passover; Jesus arrives at the temple in Jerusalem, and he proceeds to clean house.

People often wonder about this story. Did Jesus really get angry? Absolutely. Isn’t that wrong? Not at all. It is not wrong to be angry at the right things.

The Old Testament prophesied that when the Messiah came, he would come to the temple, and he would clean house. We read in Malachi 3: “Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple…. But who can endure the day of his coming? … For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.” (Malachi 3:1-2)

Jesus comes to the temple in fulfillment of prophecy, and he comes to clean house. And in doing so he teaches us three important truths about God’s house. 1) God’s house is a place of prayer, not profit. 2) God’s house is a place of healing, not hate. And 3) God’s house is a place of praise, not protest.

These truths were important for the people to learn back then, and they are important for us to know today. Because here’s what it all comes down to. If we don’t clean house, God will. And so, it’s vitally important that we learn these important truths about God’s house.

I. A place of prayer, not profit (12-13)

First of all, God’s house is a place of prayer, not profit. Look at verses 12-13 with me:

Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’” (Matthew 21:12-13)

People sometimes misunderstand what Jesus is doing in these verses. It’s not that Jesus was against the temple or its sacrifices. Rather, he was against the abuses that were taking place at the temple.

The money changers actually provided a necessary service. People were arriving for Passover from all over, and they needed their money converted from Greek and Roman currency into the temple currency. It’s similar to when you travel to other countries today; you go to the currency exchange and get your dollars converted into the currency of that particular country.

The dove sellers also provided an important service. The people arriving for Passover needed animals for sacrifice, but it was not always convenient to carry animals with you long distance. So, you would arrive in Jerusalem and purchase what you needed for your sacrifices.

So, if these were all necessary and important services, what is the problem here? Well, there are a couple of problems here. One is the location. They’re doing all this in the temple! That’s not what the temple is for. And the other problem is they are taking advantage of the people. There is extortion and price gouging going on.

The money changers added transaction fees as high as 6% for their services. The dove sellers were jacking up the prices on the doves because they knew the travelers didn’t have a lot of options. It’s similar to the high prices for food at ball games or amusements parks today. You don’t have many options, so they can charge pretty much what they want.

God’s house is a place of prayer, not profit. And so, Jesus enters the temple and drives out all those who are buying and selling there. He tells them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’” Jesus is quoting here from two prophets in the Old Testament: Isaiah and Jeremiah (Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11).

   A. We must not tolerate sin or abuse in the church
      – Jeremiah 7:9-11; 1 Timothy 3:15

There are a couple of things we learn from this section of our passage. First of all, we must not tolerate sin or abuse in the church. Jesus didn’t tolerate it in the temple, and we must not tolerate it in the church.

We read in Jeremiah 7, one of the passages that Jesus quoted: “‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury … 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name…? 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching!’ declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 7:9-11) The people in Jeremiah’s day felt as long as they had the temple, they were safe. They could live as they pleased and still come to the temple to worship and pray.

People sometimes feel the same way today. They go to church on Sundays, and they do what they want the rest of the week. But that is not what church is all about. Just as the temple was God’s house in the Old Testament, the church is God’s house in the New Testament.

In the book of 1 Timothy Paul gives Timothy all sorts of instructions about the church. And then he tells him in 1 Timothy 3 that he is writing these things so: “… you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15) The church is not just the building. It’s the people. We are God’s house, and we must conduct ourselves accordingly.

Here’s the bottom line. You cannot live in sin all week long, and then come to church on Sundays as though none of that matters. It’s like what God said to the people through Jeremiah: “Will you steal and murder and commit adultery and live as you please all week long, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching!” declares the Lord.

Now, the message here is not: “Don’t come to church.” We want you to come to church. God wants you to come to church. The solution is not, “Don’t come to church.” The solution is to forsake sin and seek God.

   B. We come to pray and seek the Lord
      – Psalm 122:1,4; Isaiah 2:3; 1 Timothy 2:8

Because that’s what Jesus said, right? Jesus said, “My house is a house of prayer.” So, we come to pray and seek the Lord.

We read in Psalm 122: “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’ … 4 That is where the tribes go up … to praise the name of the Lord.” (Psalm 122:1,4) We read in Isaiah 2:3: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” (Isaiah 2:3) 1 Timothy 2:8 encourages us “to lift up holy hands in prayer.” (1 Timothy 2:8)

God’s house is a house of prayer. That doesn’t mean the only thing we do is pray. Rather it means everything we do is bathed in prayer and done in an attitude of prayer. We worship and pray together; we offer up praises and songs to our Lord; we give our attention to God and his word. That’s the first thing we learn from our passage today. God’s house is a place of prayer, not profit – a place of holiness, not a place for sin, selfish gain or abuse.

II. A place of healing, not hate (14)

And then, secondly, God’s house is a place of healing, not hate. Look at verse 14 with me next:

The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. (Matthew 21:14)

   A. All are welcome in God’s house
      – Isaiah 56:6-7

This is significant for a number of reasons. First of all, Jesus’ healing miracles were a sign that he was the Messiah. The Old Testament said that when Messiah came, the lame would walk, the blind would see and the deaf would hear.

But the fact that Jesus heals them in the temple is even more significant, because the blind and the lame or the otherwise physically handicapped were not allowed to offer sacrifices at the temple. They were excluded from temple worship, they were restricted as to where they could go, but by healing them in the temple, Jesus makes it clear that all are welcome in God’s house.

The book of Isaiah talks about these various people who were excluded from temple worship, but then we read this wonderful prophecy in Isaiah 56:6-7: “And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to serve him, to love the name of the Lord, and to worship him … 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (Isaiah 56:6-7)

In other words, all are welcome in God’s house. The church is a place where people of all races, backgrounds, and social status join together to worship and serve the one, true and living God. The church is not a social club. It is the family of God, and all who come truly seeking God are welcome.

So please know this. Whatever your background, whatever your past, whatever sins you are currently struggling with, please know that you are welcome here. You are welcome to come and share and learn about God and his wonderful love for you and his free gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ his Son.

   B. We come as we are, but we do not stay as we are
      – Romans 12:1-2

Here’s the good news about church and the gospel. We come as we are, but we don’t stay as we are. The blind and the lame came to the temple as they were, but they did not stay as they were. Jesus healed them.

One of the wonderful things about church is you don’t have to fix up your life before you come. We sometimes think we have to get our lives all in order and get rid of all our sin before we can come to church. But that’s not what Jesus says. Jesus says, “Come as you are.” Church is not a place for holy people who have it all together. It is a place for sinners like you and me who need Jesus to help us get it together.

And Jesus will help you. When you put your faith in him, he will not only forgive you of all your sins, but he will also help you grow in holiness. But you need to come seeking him and sincerely asking for his help. We read in Romans 12: “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:1-2)

God’s house is a place of healing, not hate. We come to church as broken, hurting, sinful people. We put our trust in Jesus who died on the cross for our sins. We offer our bodies to him as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. We submit ourselves to the teaching of God’s word, and we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. We come as we are, but praise God, we do not stay as we are.

III. A place of praise, not protest (15-17)

So, we’ve seen that 1) God’s house is a place of prayer, not profit. 2) God’s house is a place of healing, not hate. And then finally, 3) God’s house is a place of praise, not protest. Look at verses 15-17 with me now:

But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. 16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, ‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?” 17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night. (Matthew 21:15-17)

The chief priests and teachers of the law were not happy about all this. The temple was their area, and Jesus was invading their territory. And so, when they see Jesus healing the sick and all the children shouting Jesus’ praises – in their temple! – instead of joining in with the praises, they begin to protest instead.

Of course, that was their first mistake. It’s not their temple! It’s God’s temple. We often make the same mistake with the church today, don’t we? We don’t like what’s going on in our church, and so we protest instead of praise. But it’s not our church – it’s God’s church!

And unlike the chief priests and teachers of the law, we should be glad when Jesus invades our territory. They didn’t want Jesus in the temple, but we desperately want Jesus in our church.

   A. Worship and praise are central
      – Psalm 95:6, 100:4

There are a couple of things we learn about God’s house from this section. First of all, worship and praise are central. We read in the psalms: “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker…. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” (Psalm 95:6, 100:4) There are a lot of things we do in church, but primarily we come to worship and praise God. Worship and praise are central.

   B. We must be careful not to forsake our first love or get distracted
      – Revelation 2:4-5

And then, secondly, we must be careful not to forsake our first love or get distracted. As we already learned, this wasn’t the first time Jesus cleared the temple, and it wouldn’t be the last. The temple would be permanently destroyed in the year 70 A.D. And Jesus continues to clean house in his church today when we forget what church is all about.

Jesus warned the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2: “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love…. 5 Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” (Revelation 2:4-5) The church of Ephesus started strong. But somewhere along the way, the lost their first love and got distracted. They forgot to make the main thing the main thing.

We do the same thing today when we bring politics into the church or focus on peripheral issues or do anything that waters down the gospel or takes away from the praise of Jesus in the church. The church is a place of praise, not protest. We must be careful not to forsake our first love or get distracted. Or Jesus says he will come and clean house.

   C. Jesus is the rightful recipient of our praise
      – Psalm 8:1-2; Philippians 2:10-11

And then finally, we learn from this section that Jesus is the rightful recipient of our praise. The children were praising Jesus, and the religious leaders got upset. In fact, they were more upset by the children singing praises than by the robbers in the temple!

They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” Jesus said yes, and then he asked them: “Have you never read, ‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?” He was quoting from Psalm 8 which begins: “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.” (Psalm 8:1-2)

They asked Jesus, “Don’t you hear?” Jesus asked them, “Haven’t you read?” In other words, they should have known! It’s all in the Bible! They should have rejoiced to hear these children singing Jesus’ praises in the temple.

Jesus is the rightful recipient of our praise. We read in Philippians 2: “… that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11)

Finally in verse 17 we read how Jesus withdrew to Bethany where he spent the night. He probably stayed with his friends Mary and Martha and Lazarus whom he raised from the dead. It’s just a small detail, but it takes on an ominous tone in the context of the passage. Jesus withdraws from the city, even as Jesus will withdraw from all those who abuse the place of worship. God’s house is a place of praise, not protest.

CONCLUSION: It is easy for us to lose our focus and get off course. It is easy for us to forget who we are called to be and what we are called to do as a church.

And that’s why God calls us to evaluate. Do we need to clean house as a church? Do you need to clean house in your personal life? Have you forsaken your first love? Have you become distracted from what church is all about? How is God calling you to change this morning?

Every church needs to make the effort to clean house, because if we don’t, God will! So, let us work hard to keep the main thing the main thing here at Plantation Community Church. God’s house is a place of prayer, not profit. It is a place of healing, not hate. It is a place of praise, not protest.

© Ray Fowler

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