Sermon – March 7, 2021 – Lent 3

Printable PDF:  3-7-2021 Lent 3 Sermon

David R. Clark  ~  John 2:13-22  ~  March 7, 2021  ~  Lent 3

WHO’S THE BOSS?

13When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

 

Dear friends in Jesus,

          If you have a sibling you have played this game. If you are the oldest, it’s probably humorous. If you aren’t, it probably isn’t. The game? “You’re not the boss of me!”

When my father died, one of my sisters, trying to bring a little levity to a sad time, informed all of us that Dad had left her in charge when he died. Obviously there’s a difference between being the boss and being bossy.

The Jewish leadership tried playing a deadly serious game of “Who’s the Boss” with Jesus. To the average person they were the ultimate authority. So who is the boss?

 

  1. Jesus has authority over our worship.

13When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

What makes good worship for you? Is it a familiar hymn? Is it a sermon that strikes you right between the eyes or lifts you up? Is it a sense of humor or a sense of reverence? We have some important feelings in common in this regard and a few different ones. What if the value of your worship was based on your ability to give an offering? And what if you could not give a valid offering unless you stopped at a little table in the narthex where you were required to write a check for “Grace Greenbacks,” because we didn’t accept the American dollar? What if that one “Grace Greenback” cost two American dollars, and the extra dollar went to your pastors?

Would you be offended? Would you be angry? Jesus was. If you were a Jew traveling from some distance to Jerusalem to offer a sacrifice, it was much easier to buy an animal in Jerusalem than it was to transport it all the way from Rome or Ephesus.  But these people had set up a market in the temple courts, a place meant for worship of the true God. So Jesus made a whip and drove the animals out of the courts. He also turned over the tables of the money lenders. Jewish priests wouldn’t allow an offering of Gentile money, so you were forced to exchange it for “temple” money.

Jesus was so offended he drove them out of the temple courts. A place that was dedicated to sacrifices for sin and approaching God had become a marketplace. They cheapened worship of the true God. As Luke says in chapter 6 verse 5, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” Jesus did this twice during his ministry.

I suppose that an account like this could make us wary of “fundraisers” where a simple offering is not good enough, or of people who will buy some baked good or spaghetti dinner but won’t give an honest offering. As Jesus shows, offerings are worship, and Jesus is the authority of true worship.

          There are many distractions that can devalue true worship. In fact, anything that distracts us from approaching God does that. Worship is not play time or business time. It’s Jesus time. We don’t “fit worship” into our busy lives. We organize our lives around worship. We come to show reverence to Jesus and to hear what he has to say to us. We come here with hearts overflowing with guilt for our improper priorities, anxiously looking forward to Christ’s absolution. We come here with planned heart-felt generous thank offerings so that we can continue to support Christ’s ministry. Why? Because that’s the way the Boss wants it.

 

  1. Jesus is the source of our hope.

Not everyone likes to hear that. Not now. Not then. 18The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

Different words, but they said it, “You’re not the boss of me.”

So Jesus loved them and gave them a sign to prove his authority. The sign was his own resurrection from the dead after three days. He had the power to do something no mere man could do, to raise himself up from the dead.

Ultimately that is why he is the boss, and it’s why worship is so key for believers. It is here that you and I find Jesus. It’s in his house, hearing what he has to say, receiving hope in a world that has gone hopelessly mad. How many times have you have said or heard, “I just want this to be over,” or “I have had enough,” or “I just want my life back.” As genuine as they are, each show a need for something more important than different rules for wearing masks or a couple of vaccine shots. They show a need for hope that goes beyond any earthly authority. Jesus is that hope.

While his own mother watched through tear-choked eyes, Jesus died for you. With heavy hearts, two distraught men buried his body the best they could in a borrowed grave. Three days later he rose victorious and destroyed the power of sin, death, and hell. The disciples saw and believed and put their hope in him. He is our hope, and that’s why he is the boss. Amen.