Introduction:
- “She was not amused.”
- This is the Queen’s reported reaction to Megxit
- Harry and Meghan’s decision to go their own way
- To quit royal life
- Clearly, the two parties don’t see eye to eye
- But there’s something else that makes this conflict so raw
- It’s the relational element
- This isn’t boss vs employee
- It’s Grandmother against Grandson
- From the Queen’s perspective, the betrayal by family really stings.
- Today’s passage we see a similar dynamic
- We see God the Creator and King of the World
- Stung by the betrayal of his people
- Yet God is a God of love
- A God who is willing to suffer death
- Even death on a cross
- To win back his people
- So the big idea for today is
- Know the God who restores eternal relationship
Point 1 Understand broken community
- Our relationship with God is broken
- This is the point of the first half of the passage
- Know our relationship with God is broken
- Have a look at verse 13
- Our narrative starts in the context of the Jewish Passover
- The Passover festival celebrates God wanting a relationship with his people
- Pharoah, king of Egypt had enslaved the Israelites
- His heart is against God
- We call this hard-hearted
- So God pours out his judgement on Pharoah in ten plagues
- The tenth plague is the worst
- The firstborn son of every household in Egypt was to die
- But God offered an escape for the Israelites
- They could sacrifice a sheep or goat and paint the blood of this animal on their doorposts
- The animals acted as substitutes
- The angel of death would see the blood and pass over the house
- The death of the animal had satisfied God’s judgement
- God takes the Israelites as his own people and he becomes their God
- God rescues his people to have a relationship with them
- God wanted to celebrate this festival each year with his people.
- So God commands his people to only celebrate the Passover in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name.
- This is later revealed to be the Temple in Jerusalem.
- Into this context strides Jesus
- Here is Jesus
- Fully God and fully man
- He’s going to the festival to celebrate with his people
- It was going to be a joyous occasion.
- So you’d expect people to be excitedly planning for the festival
- But what does Jesus find when he arrives?
- These merchants probably thought they were being helpful.
- God’s law commanded each household to sacrifice an animal from their flock to celebrate the Passover.
- As a reminder of how God rescued the Israelites
- But Jerusalem is a long walk for most Israelites
- It was a dangerous walk
- Full of natural hazards and robbers
- It was quicker and safer to buy an animal at the Temple for sacrifice
- This practice was permitted per God’s law
- So Jesus’ next action is surprising
- Have a look at verse 15
- Meek, mild Jesus
- You can imagine the scene
- Coins scattered all over the floor
- Animals spilling out into the streets
- The authorities shocked!
- But this wasn’t an explosion of anger
- It would take a while to make a whip out of cords
- This was a deliberate act
- But why did Jesus’ do this?
- Have a look at verse 16
- The Temple should be a place to meet with God
- The place people could come to ask God for forgiveness for all the wrong they had done
- It was God’s dwelling place among his people
- Where eternity met with our world
- It was a sign
- A sign of God’s desire to live with his people and rule the Earth through them
- Instead, it had become a place to make money
- But how is this the case?
- Weren’t the moneychangers just complying with God’s law?
- Weren’t they providing a good service to their fellow Israelites?
- Well Jesus can see their hearts
- Their motivation isn’t to enable the worship of God
- It’s to make money
- Their actions were right by the law
- But Jesus also cares about the motivation
Illustration
- Imagine watching an archer on TV
- You watch them carefully ready the arrow
- They carefully aim
- Whack a perfect bullseye
- You think what a good shot!
- But then the camera pans back
- They’ve got a bullseye
- But it’s on the wrong target.
- The shot looked amazing.
- Yet because it hit the wrong target, it doesn’t count.
- This is true of the moneychangers
- Their actions look good on the outside.
- But they are aiming at the wrong target.
- Their actions do not honour The True Creator God
- They are not worshipping him
- Their hearts reveal what they truly worship, money
- Instead of celebrating the relationship with their God
- They try to make money out of it
- The Temple had ceased to be the symbol of God’s rule
- It now symbolized the rule of money over Israel
- Like Pharaoh the moneychangers hearts are hardened against God
- This is humanity’s first problem
- But there’s a second problem
- God’s wrath
- God was angry at Pharaoh’s hard heart
- Jesus was angry at the money changers hard hearts
- God is angry at our hard hearts
Doctrine of God’s Wrath
- How do you feel about God’s wrath
- My experience is most people today are not comfortable with God’s wrath
- We like merciful, loving Jesus
- But we shy away from the Wrath of God
- Yet the Wrath of God is mentioned 375 times in the OT
- The first half of the Bible
- And prominent characters like Jesus, John the Baptist and Paul all talk about God’s wrath in the NT,
- The second half of the Bible
- God’s wrath is described as terrible
- Inspiring dread
- Bringing punishment
- And destruction
- I don’t think we like the Wrath of God because it seems unloving
- But hear this quote from Joseph Scheumann
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- God is just
- He must punish evil and bring justice
- Bringing justice is loving
- We get this instinctively don’t we
- We get really upset by injustice
- We protest when someone is shot
- Or when lewd acts are performed in Canberra
- We want to see evil stopped
- We want to see a restoration of what is lost
- We want to see justice
- Well if we’re honest, we want to see justice done to others
- But we don’t like it when people shine a light on us
- When our bad deeds or sins are exposed
Application
- This passage has shown us two reasons why our relationship with God is broken
- 1) Our hearts are hardened against God (problem of sin)
- 2) Because we have sinned, God is rightfully angry (problem of God’s wrath)
- This passage cuts against our world’s beliefs doesn’t it?
- The belief that everyone apart from bigots, murderers, Hitler and Stalin are good people
- Here is Jesus angry at a deed that looks good
- God cares about our hearts as well as our actions
- It doesn’t matter how many good deeds we do
- It doesn’t matter our political opinion
- It doesn’t matter whether the world thinks we are a good person
- What matters is whether we treat God as King all the time
- By this standard, we have all betrayed our King!
- Our relationship is broken
- God’s angry with us
- To God we are all Harry and Meghan <pause>
- As Christians this motivates us to warn others about God’s wrath
Illustration
- The Bible teacher Richard Coekin asks us to imagine if our neighbours house was on fire
- You see that they are still inside asleep
- Wouldn’t you do everything to wake them up
- Bang on the door
- Scream loudly
- Yell get up get up
- Wouldn’t you keep going until they were safe?
- Wouldn’t that be the loving thing to do?
- Isn’t it equally loving to warn others of God’s wrath?
Application
- So if you’ve been invited by a Christian today
- It’s not out of hate
- It’s out of love for you
- It’s a warning about a very present danger
- The wrath of God
- To the Christians here
- Keep going
- Keep telling others what Jesus has done for you
- Keep sharing your testimonies with others
- They’re very powerful
- We have all been so encouraged by you this week
- And we praise Jesus for the work he is doing here among you
Point 2 – Know it’s God who restores eternal relationship
- So we have seen our relationship with God is broken
- We have betrayed God as king
- We have two big problems
- 1) Our sinful hearts aren’t aligned with God’s
- 2) God’s wrath is on us
- So how do we escape God’s wrath?
- How can our sin problem be dealt with?
- How can our relationship with God be restored?
- Have a look at verse 17
- The disciples are remembering Psalm 69:9
- Jesus’ is laser focused on restoring man’s relationship with God
- God restores eternal relationship
- This is our second point
- Know its’ God who restores relationship
- But did you notice what that focus would result in? <Pause>
- It would consume him.
- Jesus’ zeal for God’s house, God’s temple, would eat him up.
- It would result in his death.
- To have eternal relationship with God, Jesus would have to die.
- The remaining verses attest to this.
- Have a look at verse 18
- The Jews respond to the disturbance
- They ask for a sign that Jesus has the right to do this
- The Temple bore God’s name
- Any changes to the temple required divine authority
- Jesus tells them the sign of his authority in verse 19
- Now the Jews have heard the word Temple
- They immediately think about the building.
- Have a look at verse 20
- But Jesus isn’t talking about the building
- Have a look at verse 21
- Jesus is effectively saying destroy this body, and I will raise it again in three days
- This tells us two things
- Firstly it shows Jesus is God
- Only God can give life
- So Jesus raising his body to life shows he is God.
- Secondly, Jesus is the place where humanity could come to meet with God
- Jesus claims to be the new temple
- The place where people could come for forgiveness of sins
- But how could people come to Jesus if their hearts were hardened against God?
- These hard or sinful hearts would not accept Jesus as king
- And there was a second problem
- God’s wrath against sin had to be satisfied
- These two problems still separated man and God.
- The solution can be found in the Passover
- Substitution
- Jesus would become our Passover lamb, our substitute
- He would take our sin and God’s wrath on himself
- He died in our place
- Because he paid the price for our sin we can find forgiveness in him
- Instead he gives us his perfection
- God looks on us and sees Jesus’ perfection
- He does this so we can enjoy eternal relationship with God
- Jesus restores eternal relationship with God
- But how do we know it was effective?
- Have a look at verse 22
- This verse provides the evidence.
- Jesus was raised from the dead
- This showed he is God.
- Secondly, look how the disciples reacted to the resurrection
- They believed God’s word and the scripture
- They trusted it.
- That trust shows their hearts had aligned with God.
- They were saved.
- A second Passover had occurred
- God’s anger had fallen on Jesus and not the disciples
- This is God’s saving gospel
- Jesus is God
- Jesus saves
- People respond by trusting him
- God restores eternal relationship
Application
- Jesus is the new Temple
- He has restored eternal relationship between humanity and God
- There may be some people here today who feel God is distant
- Let this passage assure you
- Jesus has provided access to your Heavenly Father
- He is close
- There may be some of you feeling weighed down by sin this morning
- Let this passage assure you that Jesus loves you
- He died for you
- He paid the price for your sin
- If you trust in Jesus your sin is gone
- It’s forgiven
- “As far as the East is from the West, so far has he removed our transgression from us.”
- Let that comfort you this week.
- There may be some people today who want to explore Christianity further
- This passage shows us that being a Christian is principally about relationship.
- A relationship with Jesus
- You may be wondering how can I know more about Jesus?
- Where can I go to hear Jesus speak to me?
- Primarily through his Word, the Bible.
- It is here where you will meet Jesus
- It is here where you will hear Jesus say “I love you.”
- If you want to explore Christianity, is there anyone you can read the Bible with?
- If no one comes to mind speak to Matt afterwards and he will find someone for you
- For the Christians here, who can you invite to read the Bible with you?
- There may be some people who are ready to respond to Jesus today
- To come to him and say I’m sorry
- I’m sorry for not always treating you as King
- To say I’m ready to call you my King
- And I trust that you have saved me
- If that is something you feel led to do we’d love to pray with you afterwards.
- To celebrate this new life you are starting
Conclusion
Let me finish by telling you Shane’s story
– Shane got into a gang when he was young
– He got into a number of gang confrontations
– Result he ended up stabbing two people
– Arrested for attempted murder
– Sent to prison
– In prison he attempted to stab a guard
– He was sent to a maximum-security prison
– Shane was angry and hated the world
- In prison he enrolled in a Christianity course
- He heard about grace
- That his sins could be forgiven
- He head how Jesus loves him
- He heard how Jesus had died
- He heard how Jesus had taken the punishment he deserved
- He heard he could have a new life.
- Not just in this life
- But in eternity
- This grace, broke this man to tears
- He was amazed by what Jesus had done for him
- Shane responded
- He gave his life to Jesus
- Now Shane is a prison chaplain
- He wants to show fellow prisoners the grace he found
- He wants them to be as amazed by Jesus as he is
- Today we have seen our relationship with God is broken
- In God’s eyes we are all like Shane
- Our hearts are hardened against him
- God’s anger is on us
- Yet God has shown his love for us in this
- While we were still sinners, Christ died for us
- He took the punishment we deserve
- Those who trust in him, will not perish but will have eternal life
- Will you be one of those people?
- Will you trust in him?
- Do you know the God who restores eternal relationship?