A1 Objectives
B1 Describe Jesus's reacting to dishonoring the Father.
B2 Distinguish between righteous and unrighteous anger.
A2 Scriptures
B1 John 2:13-25
B2 Matthew 23:1-36
A3 Notes
B1 John 2:13-25
C1 Setting
D1 Near the time for the Passover.
E1 Took place starting on the evening of the 14th of Abib (later called Nisan).
F1 The evening of 3 April 2015
F2 And celebrated most of 4 April 2015 until evening.
F3 This celebrated the Passover over of the Lord's angel which killed all the firstborn in Egypt except where the Passover lamb's blood had been placed on the door posts and lintel.
F4 This was the last meal of Israel in Egypt.
F5 The Passover was celebrated by (Exodus 12:1-23).
G1 The family chooses a lamb or kid without any flaws on the 10th of the month.
G2 This lamb/kid was killed the eve of the 14th.
G3 The lamb's blood was sprinkled on the door posts and lintels of the house where the Passover lamb/kid was to be eaten.
G4 The lamb/kid was roasted with fire. The only way it could be cooked was by roasting.
G5 It was roasted with its head, legs, and innards.
G6 It was eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
G7 It was eaten quickly with a person's traveling clothes on and their staff.
G8 The people stayed in the house until the morning.
G9 Everything that was left over was to be completely burned up with fire. It could only be eaten during the night.
G10 The Passover of the Lamb is the evening doings.
G11 The Passover Feast/Festival is during the next day starting at dawn and lasting until evening.
E2 Then was the 7 day period of Unleavened Bread.
F1 This celebrated the first week of the Exodus from Egypt.
F2 The people had left in haste and only ate unleavened bread.
E3 Most likely this was the first Passover that Jesus attended after starting His ministry.
"This was the first Passover after Christ's baptism. The second is mentioned, Luke 6:1. The third, John 6:4. And the fourth, which was that at which he was crucified, John 11:55. From which it appears, 1. That our blessed Lord continued his public ministry about three years and a half, according to the prophecy of Daniel, Daniel 9:27. And, 2. That, having been baptized about the beginning of his thirtieth year, he was crucified precisely in the middle of his thirty-third." Clarke Commentary on passage.
D2 Jesus goes to Jerusalem. The Law required all males to attend the Passover.
D3 Jesus in the Temple.
E1 Josephus makes a comment that when Titus came and overthrew Jerusalem in 70 AD, it was at the time of the Passover and that there were around 3 million Jews there.
E2 During that week Josephus mentions that there were 260,000 sheep killed for the Passover as well as oxen.
D4 In the Temple people are found selling cattle, sheep, and pigeons. Compare Deuteronomy 14:23-26.
E1 People bought here the necessary needs for the Passover because they were from far away.
E2 The problem was that it was IN the Temple.
E3 One commentator mentions that even if the people had brought their own unblemished lamb, the priests would have decreed that animal as unfit. Thus the people had no recourse but to buy one at the Temple. These animals were owned by the priests. They had the market corned.
E4 Another mentions that the doves sold for $4 when the real, normal price of 5 cents.
E5 The sounds in the Temple were of animals, people haggling over the price of an animals, the clinking of coins with money changers. The sounds that should have been there were singing and prayer.
E6 "Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," Says the LORD of hosts. "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire And like launderers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the LORD An offering in righteousness. (Malachi 3:1-3)
D4 Also found were moneychangers.
E1 People from other countries would need local currency to spend.
E2 The people would exchange it because all currency had a pagan ruler on it.
E3 This was unacceptable to the Jews.
E4 So they exchanged it for the half-shekel which did not have these offensive images.
C2 Action
D1 Jesus made a small whip to move the animals (even sheep and cattle) from the Temple. the whip was made of rushes, which were probably the straw used to bed the animals.
D2 Then overturned the moneychangers tables.
D3 Ordered the dove sellers to leave. The reason was not to make His Father's house a market.
D4 Memory. The disciples remembered the verse in Psalm 69:9. Zeal
E1 In Greek has the idea of passion, heat
E2 In Hebrew it has the idea of jealous, envy
E3 Jesus has
F1 Zeal for His Father's house.
F2 Zeal for the Word of God--Scripture (My zeal has consumed me, Because my enemies have forgotten Your words. (Psalms 119:139, NKJV)
F3 Zeal to punish those who persecute the nation of Israel (and Jews) Psalm 79:5
F4 A zeal for Messiah's Kingdom. Isaiah 9:7
F5 A zeal to punish the wicked Isaiah 59:17
E4 We use it for a passion. We will speak up when what we hold dear is defamed or hurt. We are zealous for our family as in if someone steps up to hurt them in some way, we will speak up, "Hey, wait just a minute!"
E5 Examples
F1 Moses when he came down from the mount after receiving the Lord's commandments. Exodus 32:19-20
F2 Starting worship Baal. Phineas intervened and administered justice to an evil man. Numbers 25:7-13
F3 The people in Corinth. 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 (godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. Godly sorrow and a genuine contrition, but worldly sorrow is sorrow only because they got caught. Simon Peter had godly sorrow after denying Jesus; Judas had only worldly sorrow).
D5 The Jews there wanted a sign. (John 2:18)
C3 Some believe that the things Jesus did in the Temple in John 2:13-25 is the same incident recorded in Matthew 21:12-17.
B1 Matthew 23:1-36
C1 The Pharisees and Scribes (teachers of the Law) are the authorized teachers (sit in Moses' seat).
D1 Jesus tells the crowd to
E1 Obey the teachers.
E2 Follow the teachers.
E3 Do NOT imitate the teachers.
F1 They do not practice what they teach.
F2 They place loads on people's backs and do not help the people take those loads off.
F3 They are attention seeking.
F4 They think of themselves having more honor in society then what is true (seek the best, most honorable seats at feasts).
F5 They like the honor of being called "Teacher".
E4 To NOT call these or anyone Rabbi, Father, or Teacher. In Matthew 23:9 the word "your" in "your Father" is plural probably indicating that Jesus is referring to using father as a spiritual father. It is OK to call your dad--Father.
C2 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. (Matthew 23:13-14, KJV)
D1 Many translations do not have Matthew 23:14 concerning the evil efforts towards widows.
D2 The KJV and NKJV have the blocking to heaven passage first and the widow following.
D3 The English Majority Text Version, Pickering's translations and others have the widow passage first then the blocking one following.
D4 Pickering notes, "They are already condemned, but are making it worse. Perhaps 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit this verse (as in NIV, [NASB], LB, [TEV], etc.). A very small minority, perhaps another 1%, reverse the order of verses 13 and 14 (as in KJV and NKJV)." Note on the widow passage.
C3 The 8 woe verses.
D1 Given by the judge himself--Jesus Christ
D2 Woe for stealing from widows and yet make long prayers. (Matthew 23:14)
D3 Woe for stopping people from going to heaven. (Matthew 23:13)
D4 Woe for making disciples that are even more evil than yourselves. (Matthew 23:15)
D5 Woe for making the gold of higher importance than the Altar of God. (Matthew 23:16-22)
D6 Woe for making tithes more importance than justice, mercy, and faith. (Matthew 23:23-24)
D7 Woe for being righteous outwardly but evil and rotten to the core inside. (Matthew 23:25-26)
D8 Woe for being righteous outwardly in obeying the Law but inside disobey the Law. (Matthew 23:27-28)
D9 Woe for being hypocrites in appearing to holy and innocent by building monuments in honor of the prophets, while being disobedient to the message of those very prophets. (Matthew 23:29-32)
A4 Questions
B1 What is Jesus interested in that He does these things? He wants pure worship.
B2 What was so special about the Temple that Jesus drove the animals out, overturned the moneychangers tables, and preached on why He was doing this? How can we relate to this today? Are there things in Christianity that are against God's rules?
B3 Is anger wrong? What kind of anger would be OK? (The things that God is angry about).
B4 Was the Lord Jesus out of control?
B5 Did Jesus drive all the people out (John 2:15)? (No, the verse says "both the sheep and the cattle).
B6 Why didn't someone stop Jesus?
B7 What do we have zeal for?
B8 What is a sign as in John 2:18? Why do these leaders demand a sign? Were they genuine or faking it?
C1 A sign is doing a miracle to prove God's will in this matter.
C2 They wanted a sign, because they had a false idea of what Messiah would be like.
C3 They were faking it. They wanted him to stop, and they thought that he would fear the authorities.
B9 What sign did Jesus give them? (John 2:19)
C1 The resurrection.
C2 Not the physical temple. How do we know that He spoke of the physical? John 2:21
C3 Did Jesus express anger at these questioners?
B10 Are the incidents in John 2 the same as Matthew 21?
John 2:13-25
1 Wedding in Cana of Galilee 2 Met with Nico D Mus 3 Went into Galilee 4 Sheep and oxen driven out 5 Poured money out 6 Overturned the money changers' tables 7 Said, "Take this outta here. Do not make my Father's house a house of merchandise." 8 Religious leaders ask for a sign 9 Jesus spoke of the resurrection 10 Many believed | Matthew 21:12-17
1 Triumphal entry 2 Left and went to Bethany 3 No mention of sheep or cattle 4 Throws everyone out who were buying and selling 5 Overturned money changers tables 6 Overturned dove seller's tables 7 House of prayer 8 Den of thieves 9 Healed lots of people 10 Children shouting Hosanna |
B11 Why did Jesus call the Scribes and Pharisees the authorized teachers of the Law?
B12 Jesus is speaking to the crowd when telling them point about authorized teachers. Is Jesus an authorized teacher of the Law? Why?
B13 Jesus tells them to obey and follow the teachers. Is this wise? As long as they taught correctly.
B14 Jesus tells the crowd not to imitate these teachers. What is the heart issue with them? What does Jesus tell them not to imitate them? (They are hypocrites. The teach but do not practice what they teach). Does this make those teachers happy?
B15 What are the loads (burdens) these teachers place on people's backs?
B16 Why can't we call our preacher "Father Jacob"?
B17 Who is our one and only teacher/rabbi/theologian? (The Lord Jesus)
B18 Jesus condemns the Pharisees of doing their deeds before ours, yet He commands us to "letting your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works". Is there a contradiction?
C1 No
C2 SUMMARY
"All ambition for distinction above other common disciples of Jesus is condemned, whether this expresses itself by ostentation in dress, by prestigious titles or by positions of public honor. Such ambition despises the common brotherhood of all believers, ignores Him who is truly Father, and abases the Christ as unique leader. True superiority in God's Kingdom is decided on the superiority of one's humble service. Humiliation and punishment await those who crush others to promote their own interests." College Press commentary author comment on this reference.
C3 It is a matter of motive.
B19 Jesus and anger. Is Jesus still righteous even though He is obviously angry? (Anger without a cause is important. Most translations do not have it, so making the Lord Jesus a vile, sinning hypocrite. "God hates injustice and will judge it. Less than 2% of the Greek manuscripts, of inferior quality, omit "without cause" (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). NIV, NASB and LB favor us with a footnote informing us that "some manuscripts" add 'without cause'--by "some" they mean 98% of them!! More serious, the shorter text has the effect of forbidding anger, which would contradict other Scriptures (Ephesians 4:26, Psalm 4:4) and the Lord's own example (Mark 3:5)." Wilbur Pickering's note on the passage.)
B20 What is more important outward or inward righteousness? Some people say, "God looks at the heart," thus excusing their outward disregard for God's rules. Is that a good argument?
C1 Both are important. It shows consistency. As our Lord teaches if the inward is right, then the outward will be right.
C2 If the outward is wrong, then it is most reasonable that the inward is evil.
B21 Is it OK to point out false teaching and false teachers?
B22 How to we know what is false and true?
B23 When Jesus pronounces these woe and calls them snakes, is He being loving? (Yes, He is warning them that to believe and follow wrong teaching and false teachers, we will not know or do the truth of God).
B24 What is the balance between confront someone or just ignoring them?
