A Den of Robbers
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Introduction
Introduction
On Wednesday, 19 year old Nikolas Cruz walked into his former high school in Parkland, FL, and pulled the fire alarm. As students and teachers exited in mass because of the fire alarm, he opened fire on them with an AR-15 rifle, shooting them like they were meaningless pawns on a video game. That day, 17 families sent their children, husbands, and parents to school and did not receive them home. The days are evil, brothers and sisters. We live in a society that wants to see itself as evolved and enlightened, but the truth is that when our children are not safe in our schools, let alone in the womb, we are not evolving, but devolving. The days are evil.
Brothers and sisters, the church must stand up, and we must get Jesus right. Now is not the time for a modernized, reimagined Jesus that will be more fitting for the 21st century palate. Now is not the time to soften Jesus or to redefine his gospel. For if we change him or if we soften him or if we redefine him, we lose him, and He has no power. This broken world struggling in the midst of these evil days needs the true Jesus and the true gospel given to them from a loving and courageous church. This morning, in our text, we’re going to see a picture of Jesus that may very well call man of our thoughts of him into question. We’re going to see Jesus act in a way that doesn’t fully reconcile with the way many modern people seek to portray him, but as we’re going to see, there’s far more glory and goodness in this true picture of Christ.
God’s Word
God’s Word
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Read
A Den of Robbers
A Den of Robbers
“a den of robbers” It’s really a stunning picture, isn’t it? Place yourself at the scene that day. Jesus has just made an entrance that has caused a stir around the whole city. He has entered in a way that is exactly as the Messiah was predicted to come and the Galileans had even hailed him him as their king. And so, town is already buzzing about him. It’s the time of the Passover, and so on this holy Monday, the population of Judah is some 5 or 6 times larger than what is typical; it’s millions larger. And, the main attraction for everyone, the center point for every pilgrim’s journey is the temple. Now, understand that when I say temple, I really mean temple complex. It was a complex of about 33 acres. It had been rebuilt under the reign of Herod the Great, and the pinnacle of the new Temple towered 400 feet over the valley below. The Temple complex had a series of gardens with each becoming more solemn and exclusive than the next. You have the Court of the Gentiles and then the Court of Israel and then the Court of Prayer and then the Court of Priests. Our scene all takes place in the Court of the Gentiles, which was the least exclusive and was the only place that a Gentile come to worship the God of Israel.
Around this time, a new practice had begun. The priests had actually begun to rent out space in the Gentle Court where merchants could set up shop to sell the things necessary for the Passover offerings. They could have their money changed in order to pay the half shekel temple tax, and they could buy their bull, or if they were on the poorer side their pigeon, for their sacrificial offering. So, the scene is very much like what we would expect to see at a trade day or flea market. These things had always been sold around the temple, but now they were being sold in the Temple complex itself. But, I don’t think that’s even primarily even the issue. The priesthood was using this as an opportunity to line their own pockets, and they were extorting people by jacking the prices through the roof. If you bought your animal somewhere else, you were likely to have your animal denied as being faulty or not being appropriate for sacrifice. If you were the type of person that they didn’t approve of, they would set you a ‘special’ price so that they could, in essence, block you from worship. They had turned the Temple of God into a center of extortion and strong-armed control. It was very truly a ‘den of robbers.’
Jesus Isn’t Tolerant of Everybody
Jesus Isn’t Tolerant of Everybody
“Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought” And, Jesus wasn’t having it. So, these guys are there in the midst of a thronging crowd, and Jesus, the one who is meek and lowly in spirit, drives them out. He flips money tables with coins scattering on the ground everywhere. He turns chairs upside down, and pigeons are flying around. He’s opening the doors to cages, and livestock is running loose. Jesus, the very one who holds the universe in order, brings total chaos to the scene as he flips over every table he sees.
Now, think about this picture of Jesus. It’s different than the picture of him that we’re used to seeing, isn’t it? This is not the picture of the effeminate, politically correct Jesus of the 21st century. This is not a long-haired Jesus holding a lamb and talking like a hippy. Jesus just caused a nightmare for a whole host of men in the midst of an enormous crowd, and guess what, none of them exactly stopped him, did they? Does this fit with your picture of Jesus? Because if your Jesus is incapable of flipping tables then He isn’t the Jesus of the New Testament.
APPLICATION: Jesus is willing to forgive anyone, but He isn’t tolerant of everyone. That’s a big difference. At a minimum, this story teaches us that there’s a type of person that Jesus accepts and there’s a type of person that Jesus rejects. There’s a type of person that Jesus embraces and there’s a type of person that Jesus drives away. It’s the culture that says that you’re going to skate into heaven because of divine tolerance, not Jesus. Jesus is actually quite intolerant of people who believe they should get while the gettin’ is good, like these merchants and priests, and then believe that they’ll skate one day. No, you’re only hope is to confess your need for Jesus right now! It’s to come to Jesus in need now, and He will receive you!
Obstacles to God
Obstacles to God
“My house shall be called a house of prayer” Now, I want us to turn our attention to the specific rebuke that Jesus issues to these men, because Jesus is saying something very specific to them. This rebuke is actually the combination of two different OT prophecies. ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’ comes from , which promises that if any Gentile will commit himself to the ways of the LORD that the LORD will accept him. Now, remember where this is taking place. This is taking place in the Gentile Court. It was a place that was intended to be used for the fulfillment of . It was a place that was to be for the solemn worship of many nations for the sovereign God of Judah, and yet here it was as a loud, underhanded marketplace. Not only that, but it was functioning in such a way that it was actually preventing the Gentiles from being able to worship. So, the people of God in the Temple of God were actually PREVENTING the fulfilment of the word of God!
“but you make it a den of robbers.” And, that’s what leads to the second half of this rebuke, which is quoted from . warns Judah against 'oppressing the sojourner.' It is a reminder that this is God's (Jesus' Father's) Temple, not theirs. They remain in this land only by his permission and kindness, and it is a privilege that can be revoked at any time. Now, isn’t it interesting that Jesus finds a warning from hundreds of years earlier that’s aimed specifically at Judah when He’s seeking to warn Judah! Remember the tension last week between all of the out of town, working class Galileans who have come into town with Jesus shouting Hosanna! And, the local, educated, religious elite Judeans who were stirred up about Jesus’ coming. Jesus is making it clear: They had created obstacles that kept men from God, and those obstacles would serve to destroy them.
What Tables Would Jesus Flip Here?
What Tables Would Jesus Flip Here?
APPLICATION: I wonder what tables Jesus would flip here. You know, it’s so easy for us to get wrapped up with the church down the street that we fail to take a good honest look at ourselves. Do you know what we see here? The people of God are intended to increase the worship of God but are capable of being obstacles to God instead. What a tragedy that is! And, I wonder if there are some ways in our church that we’ve become obstacles to God rather than working to increase his worship. How easily can someone get inside your circle of friends? I don’t think anyone here is opposed to our church growing. We’d love more people to come and more people give, but not everybody is as open to being the one to befriend them. Maybe your seating arrangement is a table that Jesus would flip. People don’t want a friendly church; they want friends. Right now, our children’s ministry is our fastest growing ministry, and we don’t have enough men to serve. It’s not that we don’t have enough men. It’s that we don’t have enough men to serve. And, it’s an obstacle to the worship of our children. I wonder if Jesus might find the bench that our men are sitting on and kick the legs out from under it and tell you that it’s time to get into the game. Brothers and sisters, we are the people of God, and it is our mission to increase the worship of God. And, I pray that we’d blow up every obstacle to that mission with Gospel’s dynamite.
Jesus Welcomes the Cast Out
Jesus Welcomes the Cast Out
“And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.” Now, in verse 14, we get a completely different side of Jesus, don’t we? It’s amazing to think that this is at the same scene. At once, Jesus is in such a rage that no man dare come against him, even as He destroys what would have their very profitable business. But, having been angry and indignant toward the crooked merchants, Jesus sees another group of people and his eyes immediately soften with compassion. As much as the merchants knew not to mess with him, the ‘blind and lame’ knew they were welcomed to him. You see, the ‘blind and lame’ were not typically welcomed at the Temple. They were considered unclean and unfit for worship due to their physical disabilities. They would often gather outside the Temple, particularly during a time like Passover, to beg. But, Jesus, the very one who had driven away the merchants and money-changers looked to these who blind, lame, and destitute, and He said to them, “Come to me.” Those that the priests had welcomed, Jesus had dismissed. Those whom the priests had dismissed, Jesus had welcomed.
Jesus Removed Their Obstacle
Jesus Removed Their Obstacle
And, do you see what Jesus did when He healed them? Do you realize the significance of what it meant that Jesus brought them into the Temple were they were un-welcomed and made them well there? Their ailment, their handicap had made them unclean. It was an obstacle to their worship. They could not help it. They could not fix it. They could make it better. So, Jesus did. Jesus removed their ailment and made them well. He made them fit for worship. They didn’t need a sacrifice, for Jesus would be there sacrifice.
They didn’t need a sacrifice, for Jesus would be there sacrifice.
APPLICATION: Brothers and sisters, aren’t you glad that Jesus welcomes the outcast? Aren’t you glad that He took us who were incapable of pleasing God and incapable of truly worshipping God, and He made us well and he made us right with God? Jesus removed obstacles that we couldn’t change and we couldn’t help and we couldn’t overcome. And, it ought to be the passion of our life to help other people make that same discovery.
Have You Never Read?
Have You Never Read?
“when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did....they were indignant” The chief priests have been taking all of this in. They’ve seen the tables flipped, and they knew that Jesus was right to do it. But, they’re mad about it, even though they know they can’t say a word about it. You can imagine that as the lame and the blind began to be welcomed by Jesus into the Temple complex how the priests were there telling them they must turn back until miraculously the men who once couldn’t see can now see! There’s no reason for them to be turned back now, and they look foolish for trying. And, they’re mad about it. But then, the thing that sends them over the edge, the thing that leaves them seething, the straw that breaks the came’l’s back is that the children, no doubt having heard all of the Galileans, perhaps even their own parent’s shouting the day before, cry out to Jesus in the Temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna to the Son of David!” These were praises owed to the Son of God alone, and Jesus received them and He refused to stop receiving them. In the eyes of these men, Jesus had committed blasphemy, and now He must die.
“Have you never read?” Jesus asks them, “Have you never read?” And, He asks them that because He knew that they had read, but they didn’t understand. You see, knowledge about God either draws you closer to him or it hardens your heart to him, and their hearts were as hard as granite. But for us, the picture is unmistakable. Jesus isn’t backing down. He has come to Jerusalem, and He has come for the purpose of dying. They will not take his life from him; He will give it. It is not a surprise to him that flipped tables and recieved praise will anger the influencers; He knows. And, it is by this means that the Son of God will land on a cross so that the sons of men can end up in glory.
Come as a Child
Come as a Child
The irony is that the children really had not read, and yet they, the ones with no status and no influence are the only ones who get it. They are the ones offered to us as an example here. So, brothers and sisters, come to Christ, the one whose life was not taken but given for you and cry out with the faith of faceless, nameless child, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Save me Son of God!”