John 2:12-25 Jesus Cleanses The Temple

                                 John 2:12-25  Jesus Cleanses The Temple

Jesus Cleanses The Temple

Sunday Bible Study Pastor Pautz

John 2:12-25      Title: Whipping Fair Trade & Broken Buildings - Your Holy Temple

 Invocation & Opening Prayer

Study Notes

2:12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.  A little bit of Christ’s biography.  Matthew tells us He lived in Nazareth from the time He returned from Egypt until entering office.  Joseph probably passed during His time in Nazareth (Matthew 2:21-23).  After entering His office, He moved to Capernaum (Matthew 4:13).  Lots of speculation (Ruth 3:10f), however, I consider Jesus’ brothers to be His cousins but correct or not it does not add or subtract from the faith.  Capernaum was Jesus’ home to which He returned after travelling throughout Galilee.  He labored as a pastor with God’s Word.  The summary of His work is given in Acts 10:37-38.

2:13 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: So after His first miracle to reveal His divinity at the Wedding in Cana and moving from Nazareth to Capernaum where Jesus used as a home parish from which He preached and taught for three years until He entered Jerusalem Palm Sunday for His Passion.  And we know what caused Jesus’ reaction to what He saw in the temple.  In the Old Testament, God gave guidelines for the care of the temple priests and beyond that the people gave many voluntary gifts to the priests.  However, by this time, all that generosity was not enough.  They started selling sacrificial animals for profit and then make the sacrifice on the people’s behalf for a price.  This is similar to Roman indulgences.  This is similar for unbecoming synod salaries and expensive programs while not supporting seminarians and teachers and missionaries.  Then what about our congregation?  The greatest expense is support for me and my family for which I am thankful.  I have been presenting to you several articles from Rev. Heath Curtis.  I agree with his presentation of Biblical stewardship and encourage you to read them and pray concerning them.  First, it is geared toward families starting with the Law and then the Gospel to become more generous.  Second, it offers a Gospel approach to establishing a congregational budget.  To summarize, the people would be asked to pledge an estimated offering for the budget year.  The pledges would be given to the Board of Finance (who already discretely count and record all offerings).  This would establish the total budget number for the new year.  This number would then be based on the generosity of the people. The Board of Stewardship would submit a line line item budget in consultation with the various church boards.  The Church Council would edit and recommend it to the voters for approval.  There would be no follow up with pledges.  No one can know what will happen in the new year.  Some will keep their pledge and other won’t.  Some will give more than their pledge and other would give less.  That is ok.  So, the Board of Finance would ask for a pledge but they would not keep track of whether the pledges were kept or not.

15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables Why does the Lord use force in this situation when beforehand He has only used on word of mouth?  Jesus connects all that is in the Old Testament to all that is in the New Testament.  In the Old Testament, acting as a prophet, Jesus should have used more than drive them out with His fists and a whip, He should have stoned the money changers (Leviticus 20:2).  Jesus is the Lord of the Sabaoth.  Sometimes He follows the Law of Moses very closely but never as one oppressed by it.  Jesus did not have to go to the Jerusalem Temple the three specified times per year, but when He did, He went willingly and gladly.  So, here, Jesus is acting as a disciple of Moses but this is not an action to be copied.  The violence and force that is to be exercised in the church today is the sword of Jesus’ mouth (it is a sword that never entered His mouth but comes out of His mouth which is His Word) Revelation 1:16; 11:4; 19:20-21.  However, the fisted sword should remain with the state and the worded sword should remain with the state.  Today, as in times past, the church wants to use both swords.  The church properly uses the worded-sword when it speaks God’s Word to give and strengthen faith in Jesus.  However, it wants to use the fisted-sword by compelling people to give more money for purposes other the Word and Sacrament.  Also, the state wants to use both swords.  The state properly uses the fisted-sword when it stops evil in accordance with natural law.  However, it wants to also use the worded-sword by compelling the church what to believe and how to practice that belief in the public square.  Both church and state need our prayers.

17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”  This is evidence that the people knew the Holy Scripture well.  There were many synagogues where especially the Psalms were being taught, sung and heard.  Luther, “We know, of course, what type of people Christ’s disciples were—not learned men, not high priests, Pharisees, and scribes, but poor beggars and fishermen, lowly folk, Peter, Andrew, and Bartholomew. But still they were able to learn the Psalter; they heard it read, sung, and preached. Simply by listening to Holy Scripture they familiarized themselves with it; and they learned it so well that they remembered the words and pondered them.”  We do too.  Let us continue.

18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? If someone came to Our Savior and insisted he was the new pastor and also dismissed the Church Council because he was going to take care of things, especially the redesign of the sanctuary, it would be ok to ask the same thing the Jews asked Jesus.

19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.  Jesus will die for this comment.  Luther “In Matt. 21:23–27 we find a more detailed account of this happening. When the Lord, on the eve of His suffering and after His entry into Jerusalem, created such a sensation that the chief priests and elders came to Him with the query: “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” Jesus answered them: “I also will ask you a question; and if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. The Baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or from men?” And now as they also request a sign from Him, He asks them again, thereby perplexing and confusing them so that they are at a loss for a reply. For “they argued with one another: If we say: From heaven, He will say to us: Why, then, did you not believe him? But if we say: From men, we are afraid of the multitude; for all hold that John was a prophet. So they answered Jesus: We do not know. And He said to them: Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. If you had listened to the word and preaching of John, you would know by what authority and power I do this.”  Jesus cornered in the Matthew account.

20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body.  21 But he spake of the temple of his body. These men are under Isaiah’s 6:9-10 curse.  Seeing they do not see, hearing they do not hear.

22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.  What did they believe?  The scripture.  The writings.  They believed the Word of Jesus which the Holy Spirit recorded for them.  Ie. The Holy Bible.

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.   Summary: Jesus is God.

Closing Prayer - The Lord’s Prayer.

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

                                               The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Wednesday Bible Study

Isaiah 40:3ff

3The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

 The voice of one crying: In the wilderness preach, etc. This is how we punctuate the text. Luke (3:4) joins in the wilderness with the preacher, John, working in the wilderness. The Jews to the Gentiles.  The voice doesn’t come by sitting quietly and waiting for it.  First, you can’t empty yourself of speculations.  Second, because your flesh has not yet been killed.  When you hear the Word the Lord will empty your soul and kill your flesh.  It happens no other way.  This is the power of the Word.  And again note, the Word and the Holy Spirit work together and never separately.  The beginning of spiritual knowledge begins with the voice of one crying/preaching as St. Paul says in Romans 10:14, “How are they to believe….without a preacher?”

 4Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; 5The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” 6The voice said, “Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?”  “All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.  7The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely the people are grass.  8The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”

 Flesh is the whole man.  It includes reason at the top.  In the military and politics and training children, reason can be helpful among us.  But God doesn’t see it that way.  Reason wars against God.  

 The Word of our God stands forever!

“The ungodly may say of their own word, which they regard as the word of God, that it will abide forever. But they think that the genuine Word of God, which they do not know, will not last one hour. Nevertheless, it stands against all their triumphs while its adversaries perish. Therefore this statement might well be formed in large words and engraved on the sleeves” (Martin Luther).

VDMA, standing for the Latin motto Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum. This symbol was inscribed on swords, cannons and armor used by the Smalcaldic League which was formed to be a mutual defense organization, against the Catholic princes trying to overthrow the Reformation in the various territories of Germany that had embraced it. This is the motto of the Lutheran Reformation.  The motto is based on Isaiah 40:6-8 quoted by 1 Peter 1:24-25. It first appeared in the court of Frederick the Wise in 1522. He had it sewn onto the right sleeve of the court’s official clothing, which was worn by prince and servant alike. It was used by Frederick’s successors, his brother John the Steadfast, and his nephew John Frederick the Magnanimous. It became the official motto of the Smalcaldic League and was used on flags, banners, swords, and uniforms as a symbol of the unity of the Lutheran laity who struggled to defend their beliefs, communities, families and lives against those who were intent on destroying them.  The Smalcaldic War lasted from July 10, 1546 to May 23, 1547 (Martin Luther died February 15, 1546).  

Although the Imperial (Roman Catholic) forces were victorious over the Protestant forces of the Smalcald League, crushing the heretics for the Pope in Rome, the ideas of Martin Luther had spread over the Empire such that they could not be suppressed with physical force. However, on 15 May 1548 Charles V, feeling at the height of his power, dictated the Augsburg Interim to prepare the reintegration of the Protestants into the Catholic Church. The edict provoked another revolt by the Protestant princes in 1552, this time led by Elector Maurice of Saxony and backed by King Henry II of France. Charles V had to flee from the superior Lutheran forces and to cancel the Interim with the Peace of Passau (1552 & Augsburg Interim ended), whereby John Frederick I of Saxony and Philip I of Hesse were released. An official settlement acknowledging the Protestant religion arrived three years later in the form of the Peace of Augsburg. The next year Charles V voluntarily abdicated in favor of his brother Ferdinand I.

The Peace of Augsburg in 1555 settled the conflict by allowing the 224 German rulers to declare their territories either Roman or Lutheran.  The people in the territorial minority were able to retain their land and practice their faith at certain times in public and always in their home.  Calvinists were not included until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 after the Thirty Years War.

Two Gifts for One Sin - Isaiah 40:2

                                                            Two Gifts for One Sin  Isaiah 40:2

Bible Study Notes

CHAPTER 40:1-2    A Gospel Twofer: Two  Gifts for One Sin

 1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

Comfort or speak the sweet, joyful Gospel of the coming Messiah.  Speak it to my people.  The emphasis is on My/God’s people.  It implies a people that God will not forsake.  It also implies that there is a people that God does not claim as His own.  He claim those who are of a crushed and humble conscience and who with a troubled heart call upon God in their day of trouble.  There is another people that rely on themselves or their own resources to get them through their troubles.  That people is not the people of God.  That people needs no comfort for they are not troubled or emptied and are too full to receive any comfort.  Comfort implies an affliction.  God’s people are those who have been wounded and terrified by God’s good Law and are empty vessels capable of receiving comfort, God’s good Gospel.  Comfort means nothing if there isn’t an affliction.  Your God emphasizes your because a troubled conscience does not think it has God but considers God a devil, an enemy, the source of all trouble.  Your implies the saying “Do not be afraid” in this affliction.  

 2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished (ended), that her iniquity (immoral behavior) is pardoned (forgiven): for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.

Speak means a bold public statement, not a quiet encouragement.  To quote Martin Luther: To speak tenderly, or “to the heart,” is a Hebraism which means to flatter (make someone feel honored and pleased), to cajole (to persuade someone), as in Gen. 34:3: “He spoke tenderly to her.” So here, the heart, groaning and sighing, is comforted by the Spirit, for the Spirit speaks to the heart as He wills. Do you want a gracious God? He answers: “You have a gracious God.” Do you want to be comforted? He answers: “You are comforted.” Here, then, you observe God’s people, afflicted and sad. To them the Gospel is spoken, to their heart and feeling. For Gospel preachers are commanded to say joyful things, more than the heart can grasp, as Paul says (Rom. 8:26), “with sighs too deep for words.” So these groans are comforted with consolations too deep for words. Let the preacher say, then: “I not only preach Christ to you as the One who forgives, but I also give you His righteousness, so that, clothed with Him, you may have all that is His. The comfort is therefore far more excellent than all groanings. Do you want to be holy? I will make you holy, yes, most holy through Christ.”

Warfare is ended

Again Luther, “Here the prophet explains what the words of comfort are and what his treasure is: “Our warfare is ended, and double gifts are given in its stead.” Let these words avail against the advocates of free will. Warfare. In the Sacred Scriptures every striving, attempt, and religious exercise represents this warfare of the Law. May the Spirit change it into the warfare of Christ! For to conduct warfare under the Law is2 to strive and to toil under the Law. Certainly those who are zealous in offering works of the Law have this warfare, like the self-righteous, just as the Jews conducted warfare under the Law with an evil zeal (Rom. 10:2). Warfare is the anxious and agitated concern to render satisfaction to God. For under the Law we are as it were under a custodian (Gal. 3:24). To love and to strive is to conduct warfare, and they are zealous in these works of loving and striving. When these works are finished, it is said that “your warfare is ended.” Thus those who are zealous of works here conduct warfare under the Law. For them another warfare is set forth by the Spirit and the Word, namely, Christ as the Mediator and the One who renders satisfaction, as the apostles teach. Every man must necessarily first be disturbed by the scepter of the Law, of death, and of hell and must experience a confounding of his conscience. Such people truly conduct warfare under the Law. To them properly belongs the comfort of the Gospel which says, “Do not fight any longer. Your warfare is finished and ended through Christ, the Redeemer.”

 Your iniquity forgiven  

Again Luther, “First, then, the warfare of the Law is abolished, that is, whatever there is of strivings, of works, and of toil outside of grace.  (All tyrants, such as the pope and the Turk, are unwilling to see their warfare ended but want it to be perfected. As for you, ...put aside this warfare. The second thing, your iniquity is forgiven, that is, forgiven by grace and mercy. You are set free from sins, not by working and struggling but by forgiveness.

 double for all her sins  

Again Luther, “For in place of because of is a Hebraism.  Grace is wonderful. Not only is a single gift given for sins, but doubled and outstanding gifts are given. Summary: By the pure mercy of God doubled gifts are given for all sins. We have learned this by experience. By our endless works and labors and in endless ways we have resisted this grace and achieved nothing but anguish of conscience. Here, however, you see it said by the wisdom of the Spirit that we attain to all these things by the grace of God alone, not as a result of our merits, but for our sins.  

Jesus Cleanses the Temple - John 2:12-25

                                         Jesus Cleanses the Temple - John 2

Bible Study - John 2:12-25

Pastor Pautz    Title: Whipping Fair Trade & Broken Buildings - Your Holy Temple

 Invocation & Opening Prayer

Study Notes

2:12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.  

A little bit of Christ’s biography.  Matthew tells us He lived in Nazareth from the time He returned from Egypt until entering office.  Joseph probably passed during His time in Nazareth (Matthew 2:21-23).  After entering His office, He moved to Capernaum (Matthew 4:13).  Lots of speculation (Ruth 3:10f), however, I consider Jesus’ brothers to be His cousins but correct or not it does not add or subtract from the faith.  Capernaum was Jesus’ home to which He returned after travelling throughout Galilee.  He labored as a pastor with God’s Word.  The summary of His work is given in Acts 10:37-38.

 2:13 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

So after His first miracle to reveal His divinity at the Wedding in Cana and moving from Nazareth to Capernaum where Jesus used as a home parish from which He preached and taught for three years until He entered Jerusalem Palm Sunday for His Passion.  And we know what caused Jesus’ reaction to what He saw in the temple.  In the Old Testament, God gave guidelines for the care of the temple priests and beyond that the people gave many voluntary gifts to the priests.  However, by this time, all that generosity was not enough.  They started selling sacrificial animals for profit and then make the sacrifice on the people’s behalf for a price.  This is similar to Roman indulgences.  This is similar for unbecoming synod salaries and expensive programs while not supporting seminarians and teachers and missionaries.  Then what about our congregation?  The greatest expense is support for me and my family for which I am thankful.  I have been presenting to you several articles from Rev. Heath Curtis.  I agree with his presentation of Biblical stewardship and encourage you to read them and pray concerning them.  First, it is geared toward families starting with the Law and then the Gospel to become more generous.  Second, it offers a Gospel approach to establishing a congregational budget.  To summarize, the people would be asked to pledge an estimated offering for the budget year.  The pledges would be given to the Board of Finance (who already discretely count and record all offerings).  This would establish the total budget number for the new year.  This number would then be based on the generosity of the people. The Board of Stewardship would submit a line line item budget in consultation with the various church boards.  The Church Council would edit and recommend it to the voters for approval.  There would be no follow up with pledges.  No one can know what will happen in the new year.  Some will keep their pledge and other won’t.  Some will give more than their pledge and other would give less.  That is ok.  So, the Board of Finance would ask for a pledge but they would not keep track of whether the pledges were kept or not.

 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables

Why does the Lord use force in this situation when beforehand He has only used on word of mouth?  Jesus connects all that is in the Old Testament to all that is in the New Testament.  In the Old Testament, acting as a prophet, Jesus should have used more than drive them out with His fists and a whip, He should have stoned the money changers (Leviticus 20:2).  Jesus is the Lord of the Sabaoth.  Sometimes He follows the Law of Moses very closely but never as one oppressed by it.  Jesus did not have to go to the Jerusalem Temple the three specified times per year, but when He did, He went willingly and gladly.  So, here, Jesus is acting as a disciple of Moses but this is not an action to be copied.  The violence and force that is to be exercised in the church today is the sword of Jesus’ mouth (it is a sword that never entered His mouth but comes out of His mouth which is His Word) Revelation 1:16; 11:4; 19:20-21.  However, the fisted sword should remain with the state and the worded sword should remain with the state.  Today, as in times past, the church wants to use both swords.  The church properly uses the worded-sword when it speaks God’s Word to give and strengthen faith in Jesus.  However, it wants to use the fisted-sword by compelling people to give more money for purposes other the Word and Sacrament.  Also, the state wants to use both swords.  The state properly uses the fisted-sword when it stops evil in accordance with natural law.  However, it wants to also use the worded-sword by compelling the church what to believe and how to practice that belief in the public square.  Both church and state need our prayers.

 17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”  

This is evidence that the people knew the Holy Scripture well.  There were many synagogues where especially the Psalms were being taught, sung and heard.  Luther, “We know, of course, what type of people Christ’s disciples were—not learned men, not high priests, Pharisees, and scribes, but poor beggars and fishermen, lowly folk, Peter, Andrew, and Bartholomew. But still they were able to learn the Psalter; they heard it read, sung, and preached. Simply by listening to Holy Scripture they familiarized themselves with it; and they learned it so well that they remembered the words and pondered them.”  We do too.  Let us continue.

18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?

If someone came to Our Savior and insisted he was the new pastor and also dismissed the Church Council because he was going to take care of things, especially the redesign of the sanctuary, it would be ok to ask the same thing the Jews asked Jesus.

 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.  

Jesus will die for this comment.  Luther “In Matt. 21:23–27 we find a more detailed account of this happening. When the Lord, on the eve of His suffering and after His entry into Jerusalem, created such a sensation that the chief priests and elders came to Him with the query: “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” Jesus answered them: “I also will ask you a question; and if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. The Baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or from men?” And now as they also request a sign from Him, He asks them again, thereby perplexing and confusing them so that they are at a loss for a reply. For “they argued with one another: If we say: From heaven, He will say to us: Why, then, did you not believe him? But if we say: From men, we are afraid of the multitude; for all hold that John was a prophet. So they answered Jesus: We do not know. And He said to them: Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. If you had listened to the word and preaching of John, you would know by what authority and power I do this.”  Jesus cornered in the Matthew account.

 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body.  21 But he spake of the temple of his body.

These men are under Isaiah’s 6:9-10 curse.  Seeing they do not see, hearing they do not hear.

22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.  

What did they believe?  The scripture.  The writings.  They believed the Word of Jesus which the Holy Spirit recorded for them.  Ie. The Holy Bible.

 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.  

Summary: Jesus is God.

 Closing Prayer - The Lord’s Prayer.