Christ the True Temple
Notes
Transcript
I. Introduction
I. Introduction
We find many prophecies that speak of the coming Messiah which find their fulfilment in none other than Jesus, the Christ, as recorded by the New Testament authors. As we look at the Old Testament though, there are events, places, people, and institutions that prefigure or anticipate the person or work of Christ that may not be as apparent or as clear as the many prophecies of the Old Testament make clear. For instance, the New Testament reveals Christ in the Old Testament as typified in many ways such as Christ being: the New Moses, God’s Word, God’s faithful firstborn, the True Vine, the Last Adam, the Prophet, the Lion of Judah, the True Savior, the Son of David, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Today we want to look at Jesus’ own words in John 2:13-22 referring to Himself as the embodiment of a prominent Old Testament institution–the temple of God.
We find many prophecies that speak of the coming Messiah which find their fulfilment in none other than Jesus, the Christ, as recorded by the New Testament authors. As we look at the Old Testament though, there are events, places, people, and institutions that prefigure or anticipate the person or work of Christ that may not be as apparent or as clear as the many prophecies of the Old Testament make clear. For instance, the New Testament reveals Christ in the Old Testament as typified in many ways such as Christ being: the New Moses, God’s Word, God’s faithful firstborn, the True Vine, the Last Adam, the Prophet, the Lion of Judah, the True Savior, the Son of David, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Today we want to look at Jesus’ own words in John 2:13-22 referring to Himself as the embodiment of a prominent Old Testament institution–the temple of God.
II. Jesus cleansed the temple (vs. 13-16)
II. Jesus cleansed the temple (vs. 13-16)
A. It was close to Passover in Jerusalem.
A. It was close to Passover in Jerusalem.
B. Jesus found in the temple:
B. Jesus found in the temple:
1. Those selling oxen, sheep and pigeons
1. Those selling oxen, sheep and pigeons
2. Money changers
2. Money changers
C. Jesus acts to rid the temple of these people
C. Jesus acts to rid the temple of these people
1. Jesus made a whip from cords
1. Jesus made a whip from cords
2. Jesus drove out the people and the animals
2. Jesus drove out the people and the animals
3. Jesus poured out the coins and overturned the tables of the moneychangers.
3. Jesus poured out the coins and overturned the tables of the moneychangers.
D. Jesus commanded them to stop!
D. Jesus commanded them to stop!
1. Jesus told them to take these things away.
1. Jesus told them to take these things away.
2. Jesus told them not to make my Father’s house a house of trade.
2. Jesus told them not to make my Father’s house a house of trade.
III. The disciples remembered the Scripture written that “Zeal for your house will consume me.” (v. 17)
III. The disciples remembered the Scripture written that “Zeal for your house will consume me.” (v. 17)
9 For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
IV. The Jews questioned Jesus’ authority (v. 18)
IV. The Jews questioned Jesus’ authority (v. 18)
18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?”
V. Jesus reveals Himself as temple. (v. 19-22)
V. Jesus reveals Himself as temple. (v. 19-22)
VI. How is Jesus a temple and like the temple?
VI. How is Jesus a temple and like the temple?
A. Let’s look at the Davidic/Solomonic Temple
A. Let’s look at the Davidic/Solomonic Temple
1. Its purpose
1. Its purpose
a. To be the temporal location for God to dwell with people on earth
a. To be the temporal location for God to dwell with people on earth
1 Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,
2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.”
3 And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”
4 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan,
5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in?
6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling.
7 In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” ’
8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel.
9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.
10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly,
11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.
12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
12 “Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David your father.
13 And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.”
1 As soon as Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord and the king’s house and all that Solomon desired to build,
2 the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.
3 And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
b. To reveal God’s glory
b. To reveal God’s glory
1 As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
32 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,”
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
c. To be the center for the worship of God
c. To be the center for the worship of God
3 And the Lord said to him, “I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.
15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,
20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,
21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own,
26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
2. It’s Chosen Location
2. It’s Chosen Location
18 And Gad came that day to David and said to him, “Go up, raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to David his father, at the place that David had appointed, on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Remember that Mount Moriah is the location of where Abraham sacrificed Isaac! (cf. Gen 22:1-18; first message in this series entitled, “God’s Test of Abraham”)
Remember that Mount Moriah is the location of where Abraham sacrificed Isaac! (cf. Gen 22:1-18; first message in this series entitled, “God’s Test of Abraham”)
B. Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of the temple.
B. Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of the temple.
22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.