The Father's House
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
1. The connecting link. The connecting verse between the last study and this one, is John 2:12. In that verse we read that Jesus went to Capernaum, He, and His mother, and His brethren, and His disciples: and "they continued there not many days."
Capernaum stands for illumination, light, blessing. It was there that Christ wrought many of His great miracles. It was there that He dwelt, and taught. We remember how it is said of that city, "And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto Heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained unto this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee."
Light brings responsibility, and responsibility brings accountability. When God has done great things for us, He expects great things of us. If they had not known His will they would not have had sin; but when they knew, they sinned willfully, and their sin was augmented.
Let those of us who have been raised in a land of churches and of the open Bible fear lest we abuse our privileges and sin against our opportunities.
Remember, our Lord will judge everyone according to his responsibility and knowledge.
2. The Jews' passover. John 2:13 tells us, "And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem."
(1) Why the Jewish passover? It almost startles us when we observe the new name given to the passover. It had always been called "the Lord's passover." It was a memorial feast unto Jehovah. Its backward look was to the day of Israel's deliverance from Egypt through the shed blood of the passover lamb. Its forward look was the day of Israel's future and final deliverance, when Christ, the Passover Lamb, was to be slain. Paul, in speaking of the Passover, said, "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us." Accordingly, the lamb slain under God's order through Moses, as the people were about to leave Egypt, anticipated the coming of Christ, the Lamb of God.
We read of the Lamb slain, of the Lamb worshiped, of the wrath of the Lamb, of the marriage of the Lamb, etc.
(2) Why not the Lamb's passover? The reason that the name was changed from the Lord's passover, to the Jews' passover, was because the feast had lost its meaning to Israel. They were following the ritual of the feast, but they knew nothing of the deeper meaning of the feast. They would kill the lamb, but they knew nothing of the significance of the lamb. The Lord plainly said in Isaiah 1:1-31, "I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats."
These sacrifices were definitely commanded, and yet now definitely repudiated. The shedding of the blood of a lamb meant nothing to God, in itself. Its only value lay in its prophetical significance. It anticipated the death of Christ, therefore God was altogether displeased with their sacrifices.
It is even so in the ordinances of the church. Baptism and the Lord's Supper, when they are considered no more than church ordinances, and when their vital significance and message concerning Christ is lost, become no more than a hollow mockery. God does not delight in seeing His people buried beneath the water unless that burial prefigures the death and resurrection of Christ, and our oneness with Him in that death and resurrection. The Lord's Supper means nothing in the church unless we discern the Lord's body and recognize His shed Blood.
I. THE FATHER'S HOUSE A DEN OF THIEVES (John 2:14-15)
In the sermon on the marriage of Cana of Galilee we discovered that Israel's joy was gone. The wine had run out, and the wine stood for joy, the joy which we have in Christ by virtue of His shed Blood.
We have before us, today, the apostasy of Israel in departing from God's method of procedure. This is set forth in this study.
Let us examine for a moment the needs of the passover. They had to have sheep, oxen, and doves for sacrifices. They had to have their money changed, for their offerings. Many of the people had come from afar hoping to secure their sacrifices by purchase. Others had come with Roman money in their hands desiring to exchange that money for Jewish coin, because it was an abomination for the Jews to offer the money of the country under which they were vassals.
The Jewish vendors, and, perhaps Roman vendors arguing that it was far easier, and much more convenient, for the people to have the cattle, and doves and money in the temple enclosure, thereby entered the courts of God with their traffic, using it for unholy and forbidden purposes.
2. When the Lord Jesus came to the passover and found such conditions prevailed, He drove out the cattle and the sheep. He ordered the men to take out the doves, and He overturned the tables of the money-changers. He knew that the feast of the passover should have no sign of leaven anywhere about it. In 1 Corinthians 5:7 are the words, "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
Then the Holy Ghost goes on in John 2:10, and speaks of the covetous and idolaters. In Colossians 3:5 covetousness is called idolatry. When Christ saw the money-changers and the cattle within the temple enclosure, He saw covetousness and its willful disobedience to the sanctity of God's courts, and He drove them out.
II. PRESENT WORLD CONDITIONS (John 2:14-15)
In the twentieth century, the day in which we live, we are facing very much the same conditions that existed in the days of Christ. We wish to show you a very significant thing.
1. The Jews returning homeward. The Jews, in large numbers, are turning their faces Zionward. The fig-tree is a type of Israel, and it is bringing forth its leaves. All of this signifies that Christ's Coming is near at hand.
2. The abomination of desolation will be shortly set up. What is the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet? That abomination, of which Christ also emphatically prophesied, is the antichrist entering into the Jewish temple. The antichrist will permit no man to buy or sell, without the mark of the beast, doubtless, therefore our study conditions will again thrive in his day.
3. The Lord suddenly coming into the temple. This study describes Christ entering into His Father's house, rebuking them for making His temple a den of thieves. Then He drove out the money-changers. Malachi tells us that once more the Lord will suddenly come to His temple. He will come when the antichrist sets up the abomination of desolation. With the brightness of His coming, and with the breath of His lips, He will destroy the antichrist.
As Christ, therefore, purged the temple, at His first coming, He will likewise purge it at His Second Coming. Then, the Branch spoken of in Zechariah will arise and build the temple, in even more than its Solomon glory. "In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; * * and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts."
III. CLOSING THE TEMPLE (John 2:15-16)
We have spoken of Christ purging the temple in the days of His Second Coming. Now let us make a more personal application and describe our lesson, in its relationship to present-day church conditions. Has the Church, also, turned the Father's House into a house of merchandise? Have we made the "temple," a place for the selling of oxen, sheep, and doves, and for the changing of money at our money tables? Let us see.
1. The church is turning from soul-winning to social service. Take the Y.M.C.A. which was founded with the one thought of winning men to Christ. What do we have today? Soul-winning is not even a feature in either the Y.M.C.A. or, in the Y.W.C.A. In our own city, we never hear of such a thing as a soul won to Christ through the ministrations of these organizations. Their whole attention is given to serving the youth of one community socially, ethically, intellectually, and physically.
Take the general run of the churches. They are given over in a very large way to social service. They are becoming a civic center, and some are political centers. They are seeking to foster ethical relationships. They are turning themselves toward solving the social unrest, toward equalizing wealth and wages, and things far distant from the Cross of Christ and the salvation of sinners.
2. The church is turning from prayer to the pantry. The place of prayer and the house of prayer are neglected. The pantry and the church kitchen are popularized. Many churches have become centers in providing entertainment to those who need salvation, purity, and the power of the Holy Ghost.
Our young people have plenty of time to turn from their school studies and their home duties to attend a social, but they are always too busy and too much occupied to attend the prayer meeting.
3. The church is turning from tithing to tables. Are there any money-changers' tables in the house of God? Instead of bringing in our tithes and offerings, how many churches are selling doves, so to speak, and cattle; that is, they are selling them well cooked with fancy gravies, seeking to make money by dealing to the public well prepared victuals. Our Lord is grieved at all of this.
IV. CHRIST'S ZEAL FOR HIS FATHER'S HOUSE (John 2:17)
1. Let us observe Christ's relationship to the Father. He said, "Make not My Father's house an house of merchandise." Let us emphasize the pronoun "MY." No other Prophet or priest who ever lived dared to utter such a statement as this, calling God His Father as Christ called Him.
2. Let us consider Christ's zeal for His Father's House. With a whip in His hand, He drove them out. Once more the Deity of Christ shines forth. Who would have dared, singlehanded and alone, to enter the Temple and do what Christ did? Christ Jesus had all judgment committed unto Him. He was not afraid. He knew that men loved their money. He knew that cattle traders and sheep sellers were a tough lot. He knew that money-changers were covetous, and yet, courageously He entered in and everyone of them stood by in fear. They made no effort to justify their deeds. They stood whipped and condemned and acknowledged their iniquity.
3. Let us observe the other side of Christ's character. We think of Christ, usually, as the meek and lowly Jesus. We think of Him with hands extended, saying, "How often would I * * and ye would not." We think of Him as weeping over Jerusalem, as calling, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Christ is so continually set forth in the beauty of His love and long-suffering, that sometimes we forget that He is just and that judgment is in His hands. However, mark how prudently He acts in His judgments. He drove out the cattle knowing that their owners could recover them. He turned over the tables of the money-changers knowing they could pick up their money. He did not turn loose the doves, because they would have flown away. He did but command their owners to carry them hence. The judgments of Christ are just and right, and according to truth.
V. THE JEWS SEEKING A SIGN (John 2:18)
"Then answered the Jews and said unto Him, What sign shewest Thou unto us, seeing that Thou doest these things?"
1. The request for a sign demonstrated that the Jews knew not the Lord. They asked for a sign because they were blinded, first, to the Prophets, and now to the fulfillment of the words of the Prophets. In the Book of Acts we read of how they that dwelt in Jerusalem and their rulers did not know Him, nor yet the prophecies. Thus it was that He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him when He came.
2. The request for a sign grieved the heart of the Lord. He must have drawn back in sadness. He realized that the Jews had no conception whatsoever of His miracles and His messages. Neither did they know the Word of God which they themselves were at that very moment fulfilling.
In Matthew 16:1-28 we read that they came unto Christ desiring Him to show them a sign from Heaven. He said unto them, "O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" Then He added, "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it."
We must confess that the Jews were altogether blinded. Having eyes, they saw not; having ears, they heard not, neither did they understand how, in them, were fulfilled the words, "Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert and be healed" (Isaiah 6:9-10).
VI. THE SIGN OF THE RESURRECTION (John 2:19-22)
Although Christ was grieved at the people, He gave them the supreme sign of His Deity. It was a sign, however, which would not be realized until after He had been finally rejected, crucified, and slain. This is what He said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
1. The Jews knew not His meaning. John 2:20 tells us how the Jews turned to the Lord and said, "Forty and six years was this Temple in building, and wilt Thou rear it up in three days?"
2. His disciples knew not what He spake. They did not question Him, but it was not until Christ was risen from the dead, that they remembered what He said unto them, and they believed His Word.
3. How wonderful His announcement. John 2:21 says, "But He spake of the temple of His body." In Matthew 12:1-50, the same sign was given unto the scribes and Pharisees. However, in Matthew it was clothed under the story of Jonah and the whale. To them Christ said, "There shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the Prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
Thus it was that upon His resurrection Jesus Christ placed every proof of His authority and power, every proof of His claims that He was God, the Son, and Son of God. When Christ arose from the dead, the Father gave full vindication to the Son. He was not only raised from the dead, but He was exalted and made to sit down at the right hand of the Father. There He was clothed with all authority and with all power.
VII. CHRIST KNEW WHAT WAS IN MEN (John 2:23-25)
It was during this time, while He was in Jerusalem at the passover, that many did believe on His Name when they saw the miracles which He did. We read, however, that Christ "did not commit Himself unto them, because He knew all men, and He needed not that any should testify of man: for He knew what was in man."
1. Christ knew the true from the false. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. When the people rallied to Him, and desired to come and acclaim Him, He knew that their faith was a faith born through admiration of His miracles. They followed Him, not because He was the Son of God, but because they ate of His loaves and fishes, because they saw in Him the mighty Miracle Worker.
2. Christ knew the meaning of the passover. The very feast itself anticipated His being rejected and crucified of men. No one at the feast anticipated so tragic a death for the One who wrought such miracles, who drove out moneychangers, and sellers of cattle. Jesus Christ, with His foreknowledge and omnipotence, saw those very people who now sought to acclaim Him, surging around the Cross and wagging their heads against Him. He could hear them cry, "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him." Therefore, He did not commit Himself unto them. Even Judas who betrayed Him never deceived the Lord. The disciples knew Him not, but Jesus knew them, and knew what was in them.
3. He knows what is in us. There is not a word on our tongue, a thought in our hearts, which He does not see, nor is there anything that we will ever do, or be, that He does not foresee. Known unto Christ are all of His works from the beginning.
AN ILLUSTRATION
Speaking of the Father's House, we are reminded of an old pilot who died in Boston, thinking as he died of going to his Heavenly-Home.
He had held the pilot's commission for nearly seventy-five years, and for almost all that time he was a follower of Jesus Christ, As he was passing away, his face brightened, and he started up with this expression, "I see a light."
His friends thought his mind was wandering and that he was in imagination on the sea, and they said, "Is it the Highland light?"
He said, "No."
A moment more, and he repeated the sentence, "I see a light."
They asked him again, "Is it the Boston light?"
And he answered, "No."
For the third time he said, "I see a light."
They said again, "Is it the Minot light?"
"Ah, no," he said; "It is the light of glory! Let the anchor go!"
And they slipped the anchor, and the old pilot stood before Him who had taken him in His arms and presented him without spot or blemish before His Father, saying, "My Father, every weakness, every failure, every blemish, every sin in all this life, put on Mine account.