The Seven Signs (Pt. 2)

 

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” (John 2:13-17 ESV).

 

Can you imagine what the disciples felt while this was going on? How embarrassed they must have been by the actions of Jesus! They had not been with him very long; they did not know him very well. They had been attracted by the amazing things he said and the things he did. They believed with all their hearts he was the expected Messiah. They had not worked out all the theological puzzles that that must have been raised in their minds, but they were committed to following him. Yet the first thing he does is to “embarrass” them with this temper tantrum at the Temple. Or, at least that’s what it must have looked like at the moment. The truth is it was not a temper tantrum, but a righteous act by their Sovereign God.

 

Perhaps they should have remembered the psalmist: “The zeal for thy house has consumed me” (Psalm 69:9a). Had that happened they may have come to the quiet realization of the divine refusal to put up with inward impurities. We do see the truth that God simply does not compromise with evil and wickedness. This touches one of the great paradoxes of our Christian faith. Throughout John's Gospel we will see plainly how anyone can come to Christ, no matter what his background, no matter how far he has gone wrong, no matter how evil he has been — murderers, prostitutes, swindlers, liars, perverts, drunkards, self-righteous hard-hearted cynics, religious hypocrites, proud self-sufficient snobs — anyone who realizes there is something wrong in his life, anyone who wants to be free can come to Jesus. But now the disciples understand, perhaps for the first time, that if you come, be assured that Jesus is not going to leave you the way you are. He is not going to settle for clutter, compromise, extortion and racket, whatever may be defiling and corrupting the temple courts.

 

Many young Christians have misunderstood that. Because he brings us in love and he deals with us in patience, we think that he is going to let us get by with some of the comfortable but wrongful habits we have built into our lives. But he will not. If we mistake that delay for acceptance, we are in for a surprise. What we see in this second sign is Jesus doing what He would do. Our lives will be sanctified. The more we cooperate with that process, the easier our lives become. Our constant stubborn refusal will only result in a more difficult journey. Allow the work of the Holy Spirit to change you.