March 11, 2012 · John 2:18–20

Temple Cleansing

Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?"

“For even in the temple, the worship could obviously be defiled. It just happened. Even in the temple, the worship could be defiled. True worship was one in which there was a denial of idols — including money, including greed, including power. That's really interesting. Because although Jesus defends his Father's house — he defends the temple as a house of prayer — in Scripture, we don't read or hear of him in prayer there. Very interesting. Where's Jesus praying? We find Jesus praying in a boat, on a lake. We find Jesus praying on a top of a mountain. We find Jesus praying in the countryside. We find Jesus praying all by himself, for forty days and forty nights, in the desert. Why? Because he was the temple of God. Wherever he was, the Spirit of God was there too. So he speaks of himself as the temple of God. And it makes sense, if you think about it. Because the temple was the place where the sacrifices took place in order to atone for the sins of humanity. Because — what happens — it makes sense, if you really think about — people turn their backs on God. And they knew that they did. They knew — in their hearts — they did. People hated one another. People killed one another. People robbed one another. People even robbed one another in the temple.”