John, Lesson 5

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John Week 5 - John 2:13-25 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15And 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. 16And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade." 17His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." 18So the Jews said to him, "What sign do you show us for doing these things?" 19Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 20The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?" 21But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22When 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. 23Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. You may recall that last week the story of the wedding at Cana ended with the statement that the disciples believed. “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11). Now lets look at this week’s story. Setting the Stage Verses 13–14 set the stage for Jesus’ action. “The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.” So inside the temple court, a place meant for prayer and other acts of worship, there were pens of oxen and sheep, and cages of pigeons and sellers sitting around them waiting to make a transaction, and others who were prepared to exchange a pilgrim’s money into the right currency so that they could make a purchase. So this made the animals readily available for purchase. You could say it was the loving thing to do. Make the purchase convenient. Jesus’ Response Verses 15–16: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. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”

Jesus obviously did not approve of what he saw. Why not? What was the problem?

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What Made Jesus So Angry? My Father is not being worshipped. Money is being worshipped—in my Father’s house. Jesus came into the world to display the infinite worth of his Father and to vindicate his Father’s honor—and to free us from the killing effects of the love of money. In Response to Jesus’ Fury What is their response to Jesus’ fury? Verse 18: “So the Jews said to him, ‘What sign do you show us for doing these things?’” Why is it evil and adulterous for them to seek for a sign from Jesus? It’s because when they ask for a sign, it’s a dodge. It’s a trick—a ploy. They don’t need more signs to prove what’s true. They need hearts that love what they know is true. They’re trying to turn a problem of greed into a problem of knowledge. If we can deflect the issue onto his authority, then the light won’t shine so brightly on our covetousness. So what did Jesus mean when he said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”? “In Three Days I Will Raise It Up” And what does Jesus mean when he says, “And in three days I will raise it up”? Same two levels.I will raise up my body in the resurrection after three days. Remember what he says in John 10:17–18? “I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.” He lays it down for our sin. He takes it up again. When they destroy it, he builds it again in three days. But there is another level of meaning. The material temple that would be destroyed, Jesus builds again in three days in the sense that he now replaces this temple and becomes the new “place” where everyone may meet God and fellowship with God. Remember what he said in Matthew 12:6, “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.” And he meant himself.

Jesus: The New Temple “I am the new temple. When I raise my body from the dead, everywhere in all the world, people may come to God through me. There will be no pilgrimage to Jerusalem. There will be no hajj to Mecca. There will only the movement of the heart from money to Christ. By John Piper. Desiring God Website: www.DesiringGod.org

Opening Questions 1. What challenged you from this weekends message? What actions will you take as a result of it?

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2. How do your family and friends occur when news breaks of financial mismanagement in the church? How do you respond?

3. Last weeks study had a prayer challenge: Pray this prayer for the next 7 days: “Show me your glory. Grant me your grace. Show me more of the greatness of Christ and grant me more likeness to Christ.” What did you learn about His glory, grace, and how were you challenged to conform into his likeness?

Read John 2:13-24 4. Why was Jesus upset at the moneychangers in John 2:12-16?

5. Read the following passages and write down what is taught about heart attitude and intentions? I Timothy 6:5 Luke 16:13-14, Matthew 23:25, Mark 7:9-12, Matthew 15:8-9 6. Why do the Jews ask for a ‘sign’ in verse 18?

7. What is significant about Jesus’ response in verse 19? Do you think the original audience understood what he meant? Why or why not?

8. How impacting is the narration in verse 22 to the original audience? Have you ever been told something, but not realize its full effect until later?

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9. Read verse 23-25 several times. Read it in a different translation. How would you briefly explain those verses to grade school children?

10. Look up a dictionary definition of omniscience and write it down.

11. Reflect on the glory of Jesus omniscience. How does His omniscience cause you to admire him more than anyone, love him more than anything, and follow him obediently? Which of these is toughest for you – admiration, love, or obedience? Why?

12. Thinking about an area of your life that you keep in the dark, thinking “no one knows this about me”. This passage teaches that Jesus clearly knows. Spend time in personal pray and reflection. How can you bring this to light and let the gospel change you? How can your small group encourage and help you with this?

13. As a small group, close with this confessional prayer. Pray this silently, or as a group, take turns praying sections out loud: O Changeless God, under the conviction of the Spirit I learn that the more I do, the worse I am, the more I know, the less I know, the more holiness I have, the more sinful I am, the more I love, the more there is to love. O wretched man that I am! O Lord, I have a wild heart and cannot stand before you; I am like a bird before a man. How little I love your truth and ways! I neglect prayer, by thinking I have prayed enough and earnestly, by knowing you have saved my soul. Of all hypocrites, grant that I may not be an evangelical hypocrite, who sins more safely because grace abounds, who tells his lusts that Christ’s blood cleanses them, who reasons that God cannot cast him into hell, for his is saved, who loves evangelical preaching, churches, Christians, but lives unholily. My mind is a bucket without a bottom, with no spiritual understanding, no desire for the Lord’s Day, © 2010 Park Community Church. All rights reserved. Download more small group studies online at parkcommunitychurch.org/smallgroupstudies

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ever learning but never reaching the truth, always at the gospel-well but never holding water. My conscience is without conviction or contrition, with nothing to repent of. My will is without power of decision or resolution. My heart is without affection, and full of leaks. My memory has no retention, So I forget so easily the lessons learned, and thy truths seep away Give me a broken heart that yet carries home the water of grace.

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