Allen Jackson - Jesus and the Second Temple - Part 2

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We're living through a season where there's been a massive failure within the church. We've lost more than 60 million children. And there's not an overwhelming outcry from the church. We're almost silent. We say, "We don't wanna be one issue people". Stop it. We've been quiet while there's been a redefinition of marriage. The biblical view of marriage has been set aside. And we're for the most part, quiet because we understand there could be some significant pushback, reprisal even. Maybe forfeiture of opportunity. We would be called names, we would be labeled.

Well, if you wanna bear the label of Jesus, you'll have to be willing to bear the labels that his enemies would affix to you. I don't believe we have choices on those things. The biblical view of male and female is being set aside while our children are being abandoned to mutilation. And in the hospitals and the medical practitioners that see it as a profit center, we say very little too. We'll work alongside of them. We'll work under their umbrellas. We'll just turn a blind eye. The biblical view of boundaries and borders have been set aside. The biblical views of sexual morality have been set aside. We don't even hold those in our own families any longer.

Oh, we'll point accusing fingers at someone in a leadership position or someone, but amongst our own, amongst those that we're doing life with, we don't wanna introduce those hard conversations. We're talking about grace and mercy and we'll show baptism pictures. Well, I'm an advocate for grace and mercy. I'm a poster child for grace and mercy, but it doesn't suspend the holiness, the righteousness and the purity of God. We do not have the freedom and the liberty to practice ungodliness and imagine we can be included amongst the godly. We don't. So, we're going to temple with Jesus. We're gonna listen to what he has to say. I didn't forget where I said we were headed.

In Luke chapter 2, it's very near the beginning of his story, Jesus is just 12. He's been taken to Jerusalem for the holiday the first time. It's a signal of his recognition that he's entered manhood. And Mary and Joseph lost him. Awkward. So, they go back, "When they didn't find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look. And after three days they found him in the temple courts sitting, among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, 'Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.'"

And I think what's not written but probably understood, "And it's better that I found you than your dad did". And Jesus answered, "Why were you searching for me"? You know, we've all been coached almost at nauseam that Jesus is always kind. That everything he had to say was just like about a group hug and a handshake. He handed out candy and everybody was happy. But even at 12 years old, his answer to his mom, they left to go home and he didn't go with them intentionally. He didn't tell them, he didn't send them a text. He apparently didn't even tell any of his friends, he just quietly stayed behind.

So, after several days of anxiety, and disrupted plans, and searching for him, Mary finds Jesus and he said, "Well, didn't, you know I had to be here"? I'm pretty sure when I was 12 if I'd have caused that mass disruption and that had been my answer, it would not have gone well with me. And Luke simply reports in verse 50 that, "They didn't understand what he was saying". So, we meet Jesus at 12, really, the beginning of his public ministry. I mean, it isn't gonna take place for almost another 20 years, but he's in the temple talking to the leaders.

Luke chapter 4, Jesus has been baptized and he's ready now to step into public. He's an adult, 30 years of age and it says in Luke 4 verse 9, "The devil led Jesus to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. And he said, 'If you're the Son of God, throw yourself down for here.'" The devil knew very well who he was. He knew him before the earth was created. He knew him in all of his glory and his majesty. We know that 'cause the demons know who he is. When he steps into the synagogue in Capernaum, the demons cries out, "I know who you are".

So, I promise you the devil knew who he was. He's tempting. The frailty of the human condition makes him vulnerable in a way that Satan has never known him. And he stands him on the pinnacle of the temple, the highest point of the temple, which is quite an elevated place. And said, "If you're the Son of God". I don't think it's accidental or incidental that Satan begins the temptation at the temple. And Jesus quotes scripture to him. In Luke 19, Jesus is approaching Jerusalem. It's the last of his trips there. This trip is going to end with some horrible things. Betrayal, and arrest, and crucifixion.

Yes, we celebrate the resurrection, but the path between his entry into the city and that resurrection is brutal beyond consideration. And as Jesus approaches the city, he's approaching from the east and you come down the mount of Olives and there's the Kidron Valley and then before you, the city of Jerusalem 'cause although it's built on a hill, the mount of Olives is taller. So, as you crush the mount of Olives, the whole city spreads before you and immediately in front of you is the temple, Herod's temple, the second temple. It's this amazing, beautiful structure. One of the wonders of the ancient world.

And as Jesus comes into Jerusalem, Luke writes for us that, "As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept". It's the triumphal entry, the children are saying, "Hosanna to the king"! But Jesus's emotions are very different. He's not basking in the celebratory attitude of his arrival. And then Jesus as prophet said, "If you'd only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it's hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircled you and hem you in on every side". He's describing a war. A siege built against Jerusalem.

If you stand on that same amount of Olives today against the the wall of Herod's Temple Mount, it's still. There's the dirt that was piled up as a part of that Roman siege ramp. What Jesus said in Luke 19, you can see with your eyes on the mount of Olives today. "They'll dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They'll not leave one stone on another, because you didn't recognize the time of God's coming to you". For people that say Jesus wasn't political, that he didn't engage current events, you need to listen to what he's saying. He said, "The Romans are coming for you and there's nothing you can do. You didn't choose the kingdom and now you'll get something else".

See, the choices of our lives have consequences. God's covenant with the Jewish people is not interrupted. It's as much enforced today. He's established the Jewish people in that little strip of land that he promised them much to the consternation of the world. There are missiles launched their way on a daily basis. In tiny Israel about what? Ninety-nine point six percent of the land in the Middle East belongs to the Muslims and that little tiny percentage that is Israel flourishes. God's keeping his covenant. We're making choices and our future is related to our choices. Every generation has to make a choice for themselves. What will be said of us?

I believe those three passages in Luke 2:4 and 19 are really a synopsis. We see Jesus as a boy, he understood his assignment. He's already in the temple beginning. The devil understood who Jesus represented and what he represented. He tempted him to give him the authority to take a shortcut. And in Luke 19, Jesus is weeping because in spite of the message he's delivered, in spite of the miracles he's demonstrated, in spite of all that he's done and said on his search and rescue mission, he's weeping for that generation. The purposes of God will not be set aside. His commitment to his covenant people isn't going to be changed. The door will be open to all beyond the Jewish community. But the suffering of that generation brought great sorrow to Jesus.

The conclusion of Jesus's first century ministry was in Jerusalem. It may have begun in Galilee on the hills around that freshwater lake, but the conclusion of his public ministry is in Jerusalem. I gave you several passages. Can't read 'em all, but we'll touch 'em quickly. Luke 19, "He entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. He said, 'It's written, "My house will be a house of prayer;" but you've made it a den of robbers.'" That is not friendly Jesus. We know from the other gospels that he made a whip and he literally, physically drove them out, physically intimidating them.

If you prefer, bullying them out of the temple. Not because there was a monetary exchange taking place. Our biblical ignorance allows us to be manipulated greatly. I've read articles, I've had to sit in discussions how it's inappropriate to have any financial exchange at church because Jesus drove out the moneylenders. The shepherd's fields in Bethlehem, remember them? Where the angels showed up at Jesus birth story, Luke 2. You can follow the valley from Bethlehem all the way to the Kidron Valley, right into the sheep gate, to the pools of Bethesda. Anyone wanna guess who owned the sheep in the shepherd's fields in Bethlehem?

The same people that controlled the temple in Jerusalem. Every family needed a lamb. It was a part of the required sacrifice. So, if you wanna maximize your opportunity, you wanna own the supply chain. You need a lamb without spot or blemish. So, if you can control the shepherd's fields and you own the sheep and you own the gate that they come into the city and you can have 'em cleaned up with the pool and then sell 'em to the people, there is a profit opportunity. And the leadership of the temple in Jerusalem were ripping off the people. It's very clear you had to buy an animal for sacrifice. That's what made it a sacrifice. It wasn't the exchange of money, it was the extortion of exorbitant profit from a people who had an assignment to participate.

Jesus said, "You've made my Father's house a house of thieves". I'm telling you that's angry Jesus. Can you think of any place else in the New Testament where you find angry Jesus? You read the book of Revelation lately? He is some torqued up. Verse 47, "Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the Chief Priest, and the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him". Those two sentences, those two are just there abutted together. Luke says, "Every day Jesus taught at the temple and every day the power structure wanted to kill him".

There were some people listening, and learning, and growing, and there were some people plotting, and scheming, and hating, and opposing. It's real pressure because we're told in multiple places that his miracles happen and then Jesus is doing what he does. People are afraid to be identified with him in public because there's so much social pressure. Gee, that doesn't sound familiar. Again, it isn't new. "They couldn't find any way to carry out their plans because the people hung on his words". But they didn't hang on his words enough to defend him.

Luke 20, "One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and teaches the law, together with the elders, came up to him. 'Tell us by what authority you're doing these things.'" That's not exactly like a supportive inquiry. "You didn't graduate from our schools. We didn't credential you. We haven't authorized you to deliver the... what gives you this authority"? The next chapter, Luke 21, "As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple. And he saw a poor widow put in two very small coins". He's spending a lot of time on the temple.

Now he's paying attention to their giving, their giving was done in public. And he's teaching the disciples some lessons. Same chapter, verse 5, "Some of the disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God". It was the single greatest point of national pride, was that whole temple structure. And Jesus said, "As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one will be thrown down". Within 40 years of Jesus's death, the temple was leveled.

Luke 21:37, "Every day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on a hill called the Mount of Olives". You've read that story of Gethsemane over and over where the disciples went with Jesus to the mount of Olives and went to sleep and you just thought they were lazy. They've been sleeping on the mount of Olives for days. They understood when they got to the mount of Olives, the day was over, it was time to sleep. Luke tells us that he was teaching in the temple every day.

In Luke 22, they come to arrest him. It's the physical rejection of Jesus and his message. Their schemes have come to fulfillment. "Jesus said to the chief priest, and the officers of the temple guard, and the elders who had come for him, 'Am I leading a rebellion, that you've come for me with swords and clubs?'" They came to Jesus, they came for Jesus with weapons. "Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you didn't lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—darkness reigns".

Folks, in our generation, let's make a determination that if there is anything we can do, any response we can make to God, any choice we could demonstrate that would allow darkness to not reign, that we will make those choices. Jesus is crucified and in Luke 23 it says, "It was the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land, the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two". It wasn't that their decorator had made a mistake. The most sacred place in the temple was the Holy of Holies. Only the high priest could enter and he could only enter once a year and then he could only enter with the blood of the Lamb to be sprinkled on the mercy seat.

And when Jesus died on the cross, the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the next court in the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. It was a visible sign that the way into the presence of God had been opened. That Jesus's death and his resurrection which would follow, would make it possible for people from every nation, race, language and tribe. It's the verse I read to you from Peter, the fisherman that Jesus recruited. He said, "Once we were not a people, but now we're the people of God".

Luke 24, gives us the ascension story. When he left, "Led them out of the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And while he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they, the disciples stayed continually at the temple, praising God". Yes, Luke tells us the redemptive work of Jesus and the miraculous circumstances of his birth. But it also tells us the tragic consequences of rejecting the kingdom of God. It's wrong to point that at the Jewish people and say, "They're the only people who have ever done that".

For two millennia, the doors into the covenant with Abraham have been opened up to everybody. We call that newer example of that Christianity, but it's not separate from what they had done in the Hebrew Bible, it's an extension of that through the redemptive work of Jesus. We've had two millennia and yet darkness triumphs in the earth in unprecedented ways. But we're in a time when the attitudes of God's people will determine our future more than elections, I promise you. I believe elections have consequences. You should all participate, encourage your friends to participate.

I'm not diminishing that, I'm not saying they don't have merit and value, but they are secondary to the choices that the people of God make. And as difficult as that was for the audience in Luke's narrative to believe, I believe it's difficult for the contemporary Christian church in our nation. We think someone else has to be the problem it can't be us. Jesus put communion in place. It really is an extension of the Passover meal. In fact, he had the Passover meal with his disciples and at the end of the meal, he took bread and broke it and said, "This is my body broken for you".

Wasn't like a totally new creation. He's giving a purpose to his crucifixion and resurrection. I'm quite confident at the moment he did that with the disciples, it was for the most part lost on them. But it would become a very real part of their lives because in the next few hours, they would see their best friend tortured to death. And then in relatively short order, they would meet him again.

So, the communion table became a very significant part of the emerging story of Jesus. And we come, not because of church tradition, we come because we need the tangible reminder that through Jesus's redemptive death, he exhausted the curse of sin that we might have the blessing of his obedience. But that doesn't extend a life of liberty to us, it extends to us an awareness of the tremendous price that had to be exacted because of ungodliness. And that God forbid we should harbor purposefully ungodliness. Treating Jesus's sacrifice shabbily. That's not the purpose of grace and mercy.

So, Jesus gave us this tangible expression we might come as disciples to be free. See, it as often as you eat this, do this in remembrance of me. Let's receive together. And then he took a cup and he said, "This cup is a new covenant". It's the strongest commitment in all of the Bible that God makes with humanity, is a covenant. "A new covenant sealed with my own blood. As often as you drink it, you proclaim my death until you see me again". We will see the Lord. What will he say to us? Let's receive together. You stand with me for a prayer.

Father, thank you. Thank you for your great love for us, for your provision on our behalf. That you sent your Son, that he offered himself as a sacrifice that we might be included in the people of God. We praise you for that great honor and privilege. Jesus, thank you for your obedience. Holy Spirit, thank you for your work on our behalf. And we come today, we choose to humble ourselves, to ask for forgiveness, for any attitude, any thought, any behavior that would separate us from your very best. Forgive us when we've made excuses. Forgive us for our indifference. Forgive us when we have willfully ignored or turned away.

Lord, we come today to turn our faces to you. To give an expression of our heart that we wanna walk uprightly before you in holiness, in purity, and righteousness to be pleasing in your sight. We're willing to be identified with you wherever and whenever we're given the opportunity. To bear your name, to stand for your principles, to use our voice and our strength that the name of Jesus might be exalted and your kingdom extended. We praise you for it. Father, we thank you for the many blessings you have given us. We live in abundance. The food and clothing and liberties and opportunities, we thank you for that. That Lord we ask that you would give us the wisdom to make choices that those things might be extended to the generations who follow us. Look upon us with grace and mercy, and once again, pour out your blessings upon us. May you be pleased in Jesus's name, amen.