The King Declares War
Matthew 21:12-17
May 20, 2012
Last week we saw the beginning of
What is commonly called “The Passion Week”.
It is the final week of Jesus’ life and it is without a doubt
A week in which Jesus reveals the things that matter to Him.
Last week we saw the week begin with the Triumphal Entry.
• Jesus entered Jerusalem seated on the colt of a donkey and the crowed accompanying Him threw their coats on the road and shouted “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”
We talked about that being both PROPHETIC and also PATHETIC.
• It was prophetic in the sense that Jesus fulfilled the exact prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 which said that the Messiah would come seated on the back of a beast of burden.
• It was pathetic because we know the end of the story, that those who yelled “Hosanna” on Monday will yell “Crucify” on Friday.
It was a hypocritical display of worship.
But I would go a little farther and say this about their response,
While it did prove to be phony, it wasn’t necessarily intentional.
The hype about Jesus stemmed from
A complete and total misunderstanding on the part of the Jews.
Their expectation was that when they found the Messiah
He would come and declare war on the enemies of Israel.
And this is true:
Isaiah 59:15-20 “Now the LORD saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense. So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the LORD drives. “A Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD.”
The Jews expected the Messiah to come
And “make recompense” to their enemies.
And they were accurate in this assessment.
Where they were mistaken is in identifying the enemy.
The Jews thought that the enemy was Rome, and so they expected
The Messiah to come and lead a full-scale attack against the Roman army.
What actually happened shocked them to the core.
The Messiah appeared on the colt of a donkey
And He did in fact declare war, but not with Rome.
When the Messiah entered Jerusalem He declared war on the temple.
Not because the temple was at fault, or because He was opposed to God.
The Messiah declared war on the temple because
It had become a place of corruption, and the most vile picture
Of the real enemy the Messiah wanted to remove.
That enemy was sin, and its nucleus was found in the temple,
And so that is where He started.
This shouldn’t have surprised the Jews.
Earlier when God was angry at Israel and He sent executioners
To destroy the city, this is precisely where He started.
Ezekiel 9:5-6 “But to the others He said in my hearing, “Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. “Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary.” So they started with the elders who were before the temple.”
And this is why Peter also said later in his epistle:
1 Peter 4:17 “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
The wrath of the Messiah was not focused on Rome,
It was focused on sin, and the false religious system in Israeal.
So when He entered Jerusalem He went to the heart of the battle
And that was the temple.
And that is what we see here.
Although this is not one of the more popular stories about Jesus,
It is a vitally important one to our faith.
It reminds us that Jesus is no pushover…
It reminds us that Jesus is not tolerant of sin…
He was indeed a friend of sinners, a Savior to the outcast,
But He was never One to tolerate sin in any form.
• Even the woman at the well He confronted her adulterous past…
• He told the woman caught in adultery, “Go and sin no more”
• He told the cripple healed at the Bethesda pool, “do not sin anymore so that nothing worse happens to you.”
Jesus was compassionate but He was not tolerant.
He didn’t tolerate sin and He didn’t tolerate
A false display of religion that glorified man and not God.
And if necessary He could prove His passion with what is often seen
As an “Un-Christ-like display”
He was the King who came to declare war on the true enemy of Israel
And that was sin and those who spread it.
And to further help our understanding, let me give you a timeline
Of the events taking place here of this passion week.
On Monday
• Jesus entered Jerusalem at the Triumphal Entry
• When He entered Jerusalem Luke tells us He wept over the city
• He then entered the temple, looked around and went back to Bethany.
On Tuesday
• He comes toward Jerusalem and curses a fig tree on the way
• He then clears the temple
• He heals the sick in the temple
• And then He went back to Bethany
On Wednesday
• He comes to Jerusalem again, on the way the disciples recognize the cursed and withered fig tree
• He comes back to the temple and argues with the Pharisees about His authority
• He ends by heavily rebuking the Pharisees as hypocrites
• When He leaves the temple Wednesday the disciples comment on the buildings and it prompts the Olivet Discourse in which Jesus explains the end times.
• He then goes back home to Bethany.
• While he is there a woman with an alabaster vile of perfume anoints His feet which irritates Judas and prompts him to betray Jesus.
Thursday
• He returns again to Jerusalem where He has the disciples prepare the Passover for Him.
• He spends Thursday night in the garden and then Friday is arrested.
And that is the Passion week.
It is an obvious all out attack against sin.
• Clearing the temple…
• Confronting the Pharisees…
• And then defeating sin through His death on the cross…
And the attack begins today.
So this morning let’s look at the King’s Declaration of War
There are three things we see here this morning
#1 A PREMEDITATED CLEANSING
Matthew 21:12-13
I just love to read that verse, because if it wasn’t in the Bible
No one would believe that Jesus actually did it.
“And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.”
John’s gospel goes a little further to say:
John 2:15-17 “And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.”
And when you put the two together it makes for quite the scene.
• Jesus throwing over tables…
• Jesus making a whip and swinging it at people…
• Jesus flinging money all over the floor…
This was a violent scene and it is impossible to miss His point.
He was angry
He hated what was going on in the temple
He came to put a stop to it
This is righteous indignation at its finest.
Now some over the years have point to this event
As a flaw in the character of Jesus.
It appears a little hot-headed…
It appears a little violent…
It looks like one of those fits of rage
That Paul talks about as being a deed of the flesh.
But that wasn’t it at all.
Mark’s gospel helps us get a much better grasp on things.
Mark 11:11 “Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple; and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.”
It was on the next day that He came back and cleared the temple.
This was not irrational…
This was premeditated…
Jesus saw what was happening, went home,
And determined what had to be done.
And He went back and declared war on the temple.
• The Son of God knew a courteous correction was not needed…
• The Son of God knew the situation demanded an attention getter…
• He did not want this left up to misinterpretation…
And we even see here why the temple needed cleansing.
Three Reasons:
1) THE MARKET (12a)
“Jesus…drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple…”
During the Passover every Jewish male was required to come
And Jerusalem would swell to 4 of 5 times her population for the week.
And everyone knows that when you have a guaranteed big crowd
One thing you need is a good flea market.
That is exactly what they had.
Annas had started it by selling booths for commission for merchants
Who would sell salt or oil or other wanted commodities.
It was actually called “The Bizarre of Annas”
They were using the temple grounds as a means of making money.
That wasn’t the only problem.
2) THE MONOPOLY (12b)
“Jesus…overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.”
Yes this was a market, but it was also a monopoly.
When you came to Jerusalem from a distant land people commonly came with their sacrifice, but there was a racket going in Jerusalem.
The high priest would declare your sacrificial animal blemished
And therefore unfit for the sacrifice, but fortunately would
Sell you a “temple certified” sacrifice at an extorted price.
This meant that you were forced to buy from these approved vendors.
Secondly there were “money changers”,
Because they had determined that all offerings to the temple must be in a certain type of currency and if you brought different currency you needed to have your money changed at a 25% inflation rate.
It was a monopoly, not only seeking to make money
But literally seeking to steal from people in the name of religious duty.
3) THE MOCKERY (13)
God’s temple was being totally and completely misused.
Jesus reveals what the true purpose of the temple was:
“It is written ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer.’”
Obviously the temple was not built to be a money making craft show
Or a twisted cattle auction.
The temple was for the purpose of drawing near to and seeking God.
Psalms 27:4 “One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.”
Psalms 84:1-4 “How lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts! My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. The bird also has found a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts, My King and my God. How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You.”
Psalms 84:10 “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
God’s house was a place of prayer and praise and meditation.
It was a place to seek God and cry out to Him and focus on Him.
It most certainly was not a place to become more worldly,
And yet that is precisely what has occurred.
Jesus said, “you are making it a robbers’ den.”
That was a direct reference to what Jeremiah preached.
Jeremiah 7:1-11 “The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house and proclaim there this word and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the LORD!'” Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. “Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘ This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. “Behold, you are trusting in deceptive words to no avail. “Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known, then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’ — that you may do all these abominations? “Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” declares the LORD.”
In Jeremiah’s day they actually thought the temple
Was some sort of a shield from the wrath of God.
As long as we go to the temple we can’t be judged!
And Jesus reveals that same thinking is continuing here.
This temple has become a den of iniquity.
It has completely missed it’s purpose
And has instead begun to promote evil and harbor wickedness.
This was the enemy that the Messiah came to deal with.
And so Jesus comes and drives out the merchants and turns over the tables of the money changers and starts driving people out of the temple.
It was violent
It was passionate
But everyone gets the point
God was far more angry at the corruption in His temple
Than He was at the Romans who surrounded it.
We most definitely should keep that in mind church.
Judgment begins at the house of God.
Hypocrisy is not welcome to Him and Jesus made that very clear here.
When He looked around in that temple
He saw what had to be done and He did it.
They didn’t need a soft correction…
They didn’t need an alternative place to get sacrificial animals…
He was angry and they needed a whipping!
The Premeditated Cleansing
#2 THE PROPHETIC DEMONSTRATION
Matthew 21:14
And this is certainly a picture of beauty.
While the priests and the merchants and the money changers
Were most certainly unwelcome in the temple,
Somehow these blind and lame beggars knew that they were.
And they come to Jesus while others are running from Him,
And He does exactly what we have come to expect.
“He healed them”
But you and I must understand that this is far more than just a coincidental healing, this healing came with a purpose.
Isaiah 34-35 are a unique two chapters in the book of Isaiah,
They speak of the punishment of Israel’s enemies
And the deliverance of Israel’s faithful.
Listen to a portion of it:
Isaiah 35:3-8 “Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.” Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah. The scorched land will become a pool And the thirsty ground springs of water; In the haunt of jackals, its resting place, Grass becomes reeds and rushes. A highway will be there, a roadway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, But it will be for him who walks that way, And fools will not wander on it.”
Isaiah prophesied that the coming recompense of God’s enemies
Would also be accompanied with the restoring of sight to the blind
And the lame leaping like a deer.
It would be a time when holiness was promoted
And the wicked unclean would not be welcome.
And that is exactly the scene taking place in the temple.
The recompense of the Lord has come and He has run His enemies out of the temple, but He has delivered those who were faithful to Him.
This was a picture of fulfilled prophecy.
And that leads to the third thing we see.
The Premeditated Cleansing, The Prophetic Demonstration
#3 THE PROPER RESPONSE
Matthew 21:15-17
On one hand this is the proper response,
On the other hand there is also a regrettable one.
But when Jesus started healing the blind and the lame
It is obvious what occurred.
“the children…were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”
And of course we say, “Leave it to the children to understand what is going on far better than the religious adults.”
Jesus had already said:
Matthew 18:3 “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
That should be obvious here.
• The children understood what was going on.
• They figured it out.
• They didn’t need logic or reason to clog their thinking.
This guy clearing the temple of corruption and healing the blind and lame of their diseases was obviously the Messiah and so they are praising Him!
And this is the proper response.
BUT – “when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things He had done, and the children who were shouting…they became indignant and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?”
The idea is that they were appalled that Jesus wouldn’t correct them.
These children were praising Him as the Messiah and yet He allowed it.
They saw this as blasphemy and wanted Him to put a stop to it.
But you have to love Jesus’ response.
“have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have prepared praise for Yourself.”
In short Jesus answered, “Of course I hear them, praise ought to be the language of the temple.”
Isn’t it interesting that these scribes
Had no problem with extortion and corruption in the temple,
But they had a problem with healing and the praise of the children.
They didn’t get it at all.
And again hypocrisy rears her ugly head.
• They could act so pious as they examined the sacrificial animals and demanded offerings in the proper currency…
• They could act so pious as they walked in their long robes dropped their money in the trumpet shaped offering plates…
• They could be so dignified as they held to every man-made tradition and expected ritual…
But they were angered when cripples were healed
And they were shocked when children praised.
It was hypocrisy yet again and Jesus attacked it.
And friends let me remind you that Jesus has not changed His stance.
TURN TO: REVELATION 1
There we see Jesus glorified.
We see Jesus as He is now.
And notice how John describes Him.
VERSES 12-16
There are many things we learn about Him,
But notice the sword that comes from His mouth.
WHY THE SWORD?
Well we know at the 2nd coming when He returns
He will use that very sword to strike down His enemies.
Revelation 19:15 “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.”
But it may surprise you to know that
That is not the first time He will use the sword.
In Revelation 2 the church at Pergamum has some there who
Hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans and to the teaching of Balaam.
They were worldly, not Godly, and a hypocritical threat to His church.
READ REVELATION 2:14-16
Judgment begins with the house of God.
I tell you this because it is important for us to understand
That when the Lord comes He will strike down the nations,
But that is not where the battle starts,
He will first destroy the pretenders in His church.
It is imperative that you and I be real,
And not just going through some sort of religious motions.
Jesus is not ok with hypocrisy, He proved that on the day He made a whip, turned over tables, and ran people out of the temple.
That was merely a foreshadow of the judgment that has yet to occur.
Be real and true and pure before God.
Isaiah 59:15-20 “Now the LORD saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice. And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, so He will repay, Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; To the coastlands He will make recompense. So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun, For He will come like a rushing stream Which the wind of the LORD drives. “A Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD.”
