THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
JESUS CLEANSES THE TEMPLE
DR. JIM DIXON
MAY 31, 1987
JOHN 2:12-25
The Colossus of Rhodes, built on the Mediterranean island of Rhodes; the Lighthouse of Alexandria, built on the island of Pharos off the coast of Egypt; the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, built by King Nebuchadnezzar in the royal city of Babylon; the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, built by King Mausolus in honor of the sun god Helios; the great Pyramids at Giza, built as eternal burial chambers for the Egyptian Pharaohs; the statue of Zeus built at Olympia in the nation of Greece; those were six of the seven wonders of the ancient world. If I were to ask you this morning to the seventh wonder of the ancient world very few of you could do that, and perhaps fewer still could care.
But in its time, the seventh wonder of the ancient world was indeed the marvel of the Earth. The seventh wonder of the ancient world was the Temple of Diana. That’s what the Romans called it. The Greeks called it the Temple of Artemis, named after the Greek and Roman goddess. This temple was majestic. It was built in the ancient and biblical city of Ephesus on the southern coast of what today is known as Turkey. This temple, the Temple of Diana, was massive. People just looked at it and they marveled. It was larger than a football field. Its foundations were 377 feet by 180 feet, and the structure was made almost entirely of marble. It had 106 pillars, each pillar more than 40 feet tall. Each pillar was donated by a different king and queen from somewhere around the world. From all over the world people came just to see the Temple of Diana, and people came from all over the world to worship in the Temple of Diana.
Even today, many historians claim that the Temple of Diana was the greatest temple of all time. They’re wrong. The Temple of Diana was not or is not the greatest temple of all time. The Temple of Diana was very temporary. Barb and I stood on the ruins of its foundations a few years ago in the city of Ephesus. The temple only lasted for about 200 years and it was destroyed by an earthquake. Indeed, in the sight of God, the Temple of Diana was not really a temple at all. The Bible tells us that in the sight of God there has only been two temples in this world. There has only been two temples, there can only be two temples, and there will only be two temples. These two temples comprise our two teachings this morning.
First of all, there was the temple at Jerusalem. The temple at Jerusalem was the temple our Lord Jesus Christ entered, as recorded in John chapter two, our scripture for this morning. This temple was called the temple of God. It was built on Mount Moriah in the city of Zion and it was set apart—sacred and holy in the sight of God. It was holy. This temple was first built in the year 950 BC by Solomon, the son of David. The temple was destroyed in the year 587 BC by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. The temple was rebuilt by Zerubbabel in the year 517 BC. The temple fell into desecration by Antiochus IV, king of the Seleucid Empire, and then by Pompeii, the Roman general, and then by Crassus the Roman leader who slaughtered Spartacus and his forces. And so the temple had to be restored, and it was restored and rebuilt by Herod the Great in the year 20 BC.
This temple, built by Solomon, rebuilt by Zerubbabel, and restored by Herod, is, in God’s sight, one temple. And it was holy and it was sacred and it was set apart. It was great. And we might ask ourselves, “Well, what made this temple so great?” Mankind judges buildings as greater or lesser depending on their majesty, beauty, and architectural splendor. God judges buildings as greater or lesser depending on their contents—what happens inside and what the building contains. There have been, of course, many so-called temples. If you were to ask most people in the world today what the greatest temple in the world or on the Earth today is, most people would say the Great Mosque at Mecca. There might be a few people who would mentioned Salt Lake, but most people would say the Great Mosque at Mecca.
Now, the Great Mosque was located 45 miles from the Red Sea in Western Saudi Arabia. It is located in a dry, desolate valley. It is surrounded by barren mountains. This great mosque is the highest temple of the Islamic religion. It is because of the Great Mosque that every year more than 2 million Muslims pilgrimage to Mecca. They do not cut their hair, they do not cut their nails, and they do not have sex with their wives. They do not raise their voices. They are on a sacred pilgrimage. It is because of the Great Mosque that no non-Muslims are even allowed to enter the city of Mecca to approach the holy temple. It is because of the Great Mosque that every day more than 100 million Muslims fall down on their knees and face Mecca and pray to Allah. And why is this mosque so great to the Muslims? Because, they say, of what it contains. The Great Mosque contains the Kaaba, the sacred shrine allegedly built by Abraham and Ishmael thousands of years ago. And then, within the Kaaba, according to the Muslims, the Great Mosque contains the most sacred of all earthly things (because it’s not really an earthly thing, it’s a heavenly thing, they say). The Great Mosque, within the Kaaba, contains the Black Stone. The Black Stone was allegedly given by God to this world, from heaven to Earth. It is allegedly a that stone came from heaven, a stone given by the angel Gabriel to Abraham thousands of years ago.
In the sight of God, it is safe to say the Great Mosque is not a temple at all. It is not a temple at all because, you see, what the Great Mosque contains is not great enough to make it a temple. The Kaaba is not great enough to make that building a temple. The Black Stone, even if it came from heaven (and most assuredly it did not) would not be great enough to make that building a temple. You see, there has only been one building on this Earth the contents of which have been so great as to make it a temple in the sight of God. That was the temple at Jerusalem.
Now, as you enter the temple of Jerusalem, you first come to the outer court, the court of the Gentiles. That’s where Jesus saw the moneychangers at their tables, those who were selling doves and oxen and sheep. There were other inner courts. There was the court only for Jewish women. There was another court only for Jewish men. There was the court of the priests, and then there was the Holy Place, and then at the very heart of the Jerusalem temple there was the Holy of Holies itself. Now, in the time of Solomon, within the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem temple there was the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant contained the stone tablets that Moses had brought down from Mount Sinai, inscribed by the very hand of God with the commandments of God upon them. The Ark of the Covenant contained some of the manna from the wilderness wanderings of the Jews, a Torah scroll, and Aaron’s rod. And then atop the Ark of the Covenant was the Mercy Seat made of pure gold, and on top of the Mercy Seat was the winged Cherubim.
But, you see, the Ark of the Covenant, great though it was, was not great enough to make that building a temple. The truth is that the Ark of the Covenant was only in the Holy of Holies during the period of the Solomon Temple. During the period of the temple of Zerubbabel and Herod, the Ark of the Covenant was no longer in the Holy of Holies, but the Holy of Holies still contained that which made that building unique. The Holy of Holies still contained that which made that building a temple in the sight of God. That’s because the Holy of Holies contained the very presence of God. God dwelt in that building. God dwelt in the temple. Now you might say, “Well, God’s everywhere. God’s omnipresent.” And you are right, for so He is. But you see, God can manifest Himself in a special way, in a special place, at special times, and He chose to manifest Himself and His glory in a special way within the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem temple, and only within the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem temple. That is why into the Holy of Holies no one could go except for the High Priest, and he but once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when he would go into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle blood upon the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant, hoping to atone for the sins of the people. And he had to do his thing and get out, because he was in the presence of God.
Now, when Jesus came to the house of God as recorded in John chapter two, He grieved. As He walked into the court of the Gentiles and saw the house of God, the one temple on the Earth, He grieved. He grieved because of what He saw. He saw moneychangers at their tables charging exorbitant rates of exchange. He saw Jewish men selling oxen, sheep, pigeons, and doves, charging exorbitant prices. He saw priests and Levites getting rich off of the sacrificial system instituted by God. Most of all, He saw the entire sacrificial system corrupted. He saw people who lived lives of irresponsibility, Jewish men and women who didn’t even care how they lived, who lived lives of immorality and promiscuity. He saw those who lived lives of sin and then went into the temple, exchanged their money, bought sacrificial animals, and made sacrifices upon the altars of the temple, thinking that somehow that made everything alright. He saw the hypocrisy of it all, and He was enraged.
So He cleansed the temple and drove out the moneychangers and overturned their tables and drove out those who sold oxen and sheep and doves. He said, “Get these things away. You shall not make My Father’s house a house of trade. It was meant to be a house of prayer for all the nations.” And it was a short time later that our Lord Jesus Christ condemned the temple and said that temple would be destroyed. Not one stone would be left lying upon another. Our Lord Jesus Christ died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven about the year 30 AD. One generation later, His prophecy was fulfilled. The temple of Jerusalem was destroyed. Titus and his Roman legions swept over the city of Jerusalem. They set the city on fire and the temple was destroyed. Many historians claim that in the fire the gold on top of the temple melted and, as it poured down between the stones, the Roman soldiers in their great quest for gold knocked all the stones from atop of the stones beneath them and not one stone was left lying upon another. The prophecy of the Son of God was fulfilled.
There is no temple in Jerusalem today. Atop the temple mountain there is a desecration called the Qubbat as-Sakhra, the Dome of the Rock. There is no temple in Jerusalem today—no structure that we would call a temple. One day, the Bible says in biblical prophecy, at the consummation of the age, the temple of God at Jerusalem will be restored. It will be rebuilt. As we enter the millennial kingdom, the temple there will be rebuilt. But you see, even today, the Bible wants us to understand there is a temple, a second temple on this Earth greater than the temple of Jerusalem. This comprises our second and final teaching this morning.
The second temple of God is the temple of Christ’s body. The temple of Christ’s body is eternal and indestructible, the greatest temple of all. Now, when we think of the temple of Christ’s body (which truly may be said to have replaced the temple of Jerusalem) we think of three things, biblically. First of all, we think of the literal body of our Lord Jesus Christ. His body was the temple of God in flesh and blood. It was the temple of God. Jesus Christ said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” They said, “It’s taken 46 years to build this temple. You’ll raise it up in three days?” But John says He was speaking of the temple of His body. You see, His body, His flesh and bone, was uniquely the temple of God because Jesus Christ is God. The Bible says, “In Him, all the fullness of deity was pleased to dwell bodily.” The Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwell among us.” The Bible says that Jesus Christ is Emmanuel, God with us. The Bible says He is the Wonderful Counselor, El Gibbor, the Mighty God, the Father of Eternity, the Prince of Peace. And Thomas fell on his face before the Son of God, risen and resurrected, and said, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus Christ is the temple of God,.
But secondly, when we think of the temple of Christ’s body, we think of the church. When we think of the temple of Christ’s body, we think of Christians all over the world, people who believe in Christ. We think of the body of Christ corporately. Everybody who believes in Christ is indwelt by Christ. God inhabits His church. In Ephesians chapter two, the apostle Paul writes to Christians and says, “You are no longer strangers and sojourners but fellow citizens with the saints, members of the household of God built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief cornerstone, through whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. And you also were built into it as a dwelling place of God and the Spirit.” The church is the temple of God.
Now, it was a horrible thing when the Jerusalem temple was desecrated. It is a more horrible thing when the temple of Christ’s body, the church, is desecrated. It’s a scary thing to desecrate the church of Jesus Christ, the body in which He dwells. The Bible says in1 Corinthians chapter three, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God? Whoever destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him.” For God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are. In the Greek, the word “you” is in the plural and refers to all Christians collectively—it refers to the church. Do you not know that the church is the temple of God? Whoever destroys the church, God will destroy him. For God’s church is holy, and that church you are. There have been very few men and women throughout history who have actually sought to destroy the church. Robert Ingersoll sought to destroy the church. He was an atheist political leader. He said that he would destroy the church within 20 years and that it would no longer flourish on the Earth. Robert Ingersoll died in misery, and he said he wished he’d never been born.
Voltaire sought to destroy the church. You have heard how he said that he would destroy the church in 50 years. Christianity would cease to exist on the Earth. He said the Bible would only be found in the darkest recesses of ancient libraries. 50 years later, Voltaire was dead and his home was owned by the Geneva Bible Society. One of the Beatles was once quoted as saying that they were more popular than Jesus Christ. Perhaps they did have more popularity in their time. John Lennon is dead. Two of the Beatles are struggling today just to make a living. Paul McCartney is very, very rich. But you see, one day they’ll all be dead and gone from the Earth. The kingdom of Christ grows. Jesus Christ said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” But you see, the tragic truth is that the greatest threat to the temple of Christ’s body, the greatest threat to the church, doesn’t come from without. The greatest threat comes from within. Just like the Jerusalem temple was desecrated from within by its own leaders—by the priests and the Levites—so it is that the church may be desecrated from within.
That’s why it is so tragic that, centuries ago, the Roman popes brought concubines into the Vatican and participated in sexual immorality, desecrating the temple of Christ’s body. You see, that’s why it was so tragic that the Roman popes, cardinals, and bishops lived in opulent wealth and splendor by taking guilt money from the masses through the selling of indulgences. That’s why it’s so tragic today when we read about the PTL and Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker in the newspaper every day. You see, the temple is desecrated. Jesus Christ wants to clean the temple. “My church is holy.” That church you are.
But there is a third and final meaning of the temple of Christ’s body, and that meaning is the temple of Christ’s body is individual. This is a reference to you. You see, if you’re a Christian, if you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of life, then Christ has come into you by the Holy Spirit and you have become a part of the temple of Christ’s body and you have become an expression of the temple of God. God dwells in you since the moment you said, “Lord Jesus, come into my heart. I want to live for you. Forgive me of my sins. Be my Lord, be my Savior.” The moment you did that, you became an expression of the temple of God and God dwells by His Holy Spirit within you.
Now, that’s a very serious thing. You don’t want to desecrate the temple you are. I think many Christians have misunderstood what it means to desecrate the temple. I think most Christians when they think of desecrating their bodies—not honoring their bodies as temples of God—think of diet and exercise. I read recently the story of a man named Ron High. Ron High has been written about many times this past year. I’ve read three or four articles about him. Ron had a little problem—or maybe I should say he had a big problem. Ron weighed 853 pounds. Apparently, Ron was not only high, he was also wide, and Ron didn’t get that way through prayer and fasting. Ron ate a lot. Every morning Ron would get up and he’d start off with a dozen eggs just to make sure he got his cholesterol, you know? Then he’d have a plate of sausage. Then he would have a bowl of grits to get his roughage, I guess, and then he would have a plate of 12 pancakes. Ron’s own testimony, given time and again, is that he would have 12 pancakes loaded with butter and syrup, but it just wouldn’t be enough to tide him over until noon.
So when lunch came, he’d make himself a hero sandwich. He figured he couldn’t be a hero but maybe he could eat one, and he would take everything in the refrigerator and put it inside that sandwich. It was indescribable, but it still wouldn’t be enough to tide him over until dinner. So about three o’clock every afternoon, Ron would order a pizza. Now, Ron couldn’t get up to get the pizza. Ron hadn’t left the house in three years. At 853 pounds, it’s a little hard to move. He’d put everything on that pizza and then every night he’d have his main meal. Ron would have a half dozen pork chops. He said that’s what he would have, typically. Then he’d have mashed potatoes and a salad bowl—not a little individual salad bowl, but the kind you’d have for the whole table. He’d have mashed potatoes, and then Ron would have his salad.
Now, in a couple of the articles I read, it was claimed that Ron actually had his salad served to him in a wheelbarrow. That seems hard to believe. But that wasn’t enough for Ron because every day he would also—just to tide him over throughout the day—have two dozen donuts. And in between meals, he’d have a dozen cans of pop. Well, things have kind of turned around for Ron. In the last 16 months, Ron has lost 513 pounds. He still weighs 340, but he is less than half the man he used to be. 513 pounds he’s lost. We might say, well, why did he do that? Why did he suddenly lose 513 pounds? Did he discover that his body was a temple of God? Actually, the reason Ron changed, losing 513 pounds, is that his doctor told him that either he lost weight radically or he would have a cardiac arrest within 12 months.
Now, Ron lost 513 pounds for medical reasons, and the truth is most of us are somewhat like Ron. I’m sure there’s nobody here who weighs 853 pounds or is even close to that, but most of us, whatever diet we participate in, whatever exercise we participate in, we rarely do it because we’re temples of God. Not many of us are motivated to diet and exercise because we want to honor our bodies as temples of God. Most of us do it because we want to be socially more acceptable. We do it for vanity’s sake or perhaps we do it for health’s sake or for longevity. It would be nice if we were motivated purely because we wanted to honor the temple of Christ’s body, but God wants us to understand that the most important thing in honoring the temple of Christ’s body is not diet and exercise.
Important though that may be, there is something far more important to God. If you would truly honor your body as the temple of God, far more important than diet, far more important than exercise, is that you would use your body for righteousness; that you would not partake in unethical or immoral behavior; that you would not become promiscuous; that you would not partake in evil; that you would not desecrate the temple of God. See, the Bible says, “Train yourself in godliness. Bodily exercise is of some value, but training in godliness holds value in every respect,” Paul says, “as it holds promise, not only for this life, but also for the life to come. This saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. For this end we toil and strive, for our hope is set on the living God.”
You are the body of Christ. Your body is the temple of Christ. Honor Christ in your body. In 1 Corinthians chapter six the apostle Paul says, “The body was not meant for immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. As God raised up the Lord so He shall raise up your body by His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall we take His members and join them to a prostitute? Never! Did you not know that he who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one flesh with her? For it is written, ‘The two shall become one flesh,.’ Shun sexual immorality. Every other sin which a man commits is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Did you not know you are temples of the Holy Spirit within you, come from God? You are not your own. You’ve been bought with a price, so honor God in your body.”
The word moicheia is the Greek word for adultery. The Bible calls it sin. The word porneía is the Greek word for fornication, sex before marriage. The Bible calls it sin. The word epithumia is the Greek word for lust, and the Bible calls it sin. Jesus Christ wants to cleanse the temple. We live in a world that is promiscuous and fallen. In the most recent issue of Time Magazine, the cover story is called “What Ever Happened to Ethics?” Time Magazine claims that America has been assaulted by sleaze, by scandals, and by hypocrisy in recent times. From Washington to Wall Street, from the televangelist to the United States Marines, America, Time Magazine says, is searching for its moral bearings. The magazine cites what it calls mindless materialism in America and rampant promiscuity, corruption from business to politics. We live in a fallen world. The article in Time Magazine concludes by saying that unethical behavior always ultimately produces self-destruction. That’s a profound thought, but we live in a world that is self-destructive. We live in a world that is unethical. We live in a world that is fallen.
Each and every one of you who call yourself by the name of Christ are called to seek to make this world a better place. You’re called to be light in the darkness, but you’re also called to not be touched by the darkness. The Lord Jesus Christ has instructed us to live in the world and not be of the world. Shun immorality. We are the temple of God. The Bible says we are strangers and sojourners, aliens and exiles on this Earth. See, this world is not our home. Our true home is in heaven. This world, the Bible says, is just a classroom for us, and we have all the years of eternity to come. This is a time of preparation, and God has called us to faithfulness. In 2 Corinthians chapter six (with this we’ll close) the apostle Paul says, “Do not be mated with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness and iniquity? What fellowship has light and darkness? What accord has Christ and Satan?” What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? And we are the temple of the living God. You are the temple of the living God, says Paul. For God says, “Behold, I shall dwell within you and I shall move among you, and I shall be your God. So come out from among them and be separate from them,” says the Lord, “and I will be a Father to you. You will be My sons and My daughters,” says the Lord God Almighty. Let’s close in prayer.
Lord Jesus, if there’s anybody here in this room that has never become a temple, Lord, anyone in this sanctuary that has never become part of the temple of Your body, never invited You to come within and be their Lord and Savior and to dwell within them by Your Holy Spirit… Lord, in this moment, I would ask that they would pray this prayer: “Come into my heart. Lord Jesus, fill me with Your spirit. Live within me. Make me a temple. Forgive me of my sin. Be my Lord and Savior.” Lord Jesus, we acknowledge that You are holy. You have said to Your people, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Lord, we confess that we are sinful. Every day, Lord, we grieve You in our thoughts and in our actions. Lord, come and clean this temple. Come and clean our lives. You’ve said that if we confess our sin You are faithful and You are just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We lay our sins at Your cross. We commit our lives anew to you that we might walk in holiness and purity that we might be light in the darkness. In Your name we pray, Lord Jesus. Amen.