The Story of Jesus He Cleansed the Temple (Lesson 50)
Introduction:
1. God's people are taught in 2 Peter 3:18 to grow in the knowledge of His Son. 2. To grow in the knowledge of God's Son we must go to the right source for information. 3. In John 5:39 Jesus said, "Search the Scriptures . . . they are they which testify of me." 4. The Scriptures teach that Jesus cleansed the temple twice during His ministry. 5. In this lesson we are examining these 2 occasions when Jesus reacted to sinful activities that took place in the temple. 6. Before we do so, let us consider several . . . Discussion: I. PRELIMINARY MATTERS
A. The time for both occasions was Passover. 1. Passover was one of the 3 feasts that male Israelites were to observe at the house of the Lord (Exodus 23:14-19). 2. During Passover offerings were to be presented to the Lord (Leviticus 23:4-8). 3. We learn from Acts 2:5-11 that Jews traveled to Jerusalem from many areas to observe these feasts. B. The Law of Moses contained a provision for those who traveled long distances to Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 14:23-27). C. God had always intended for the temple to be a "house of prayer" (Isaiah 56:6-7). D. Unfortunately, the Israelites had developed a problem of turning God's house into a "den of robbers" by doing things they should not have done (Jeremiah 7:8-11). E. During the Lord's ministry, some men in the temple were involved in buying and selling supplies for offerings at a profit as well as exchanging currency at a profit. II. JESUS REACTED TO THIS SITUATION TWICE
A. He reacted to it near the beginning of His ministry (John 2:13-17). B. He reacted to it at the end of His ministry (Matthew 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48). III. APPLICATION
A. Today, God's house is the church (1 Timothy 3:15). B. The Lord knows the works that take place in each congregation (Revelation 2-3). C. The men Jesus drove out of the temple illustrate how a sinful activity can become a recurring problem; however, the Lord wants His church to be spotless, holy, and unblemished (Ephesians 5:25-27). D. To receive continual cleansing we must follow the instructions given in 1 John 1:5-10.
