The Temple Sermon
(The Prophet Who Insulted God) Jeremiah 7; 26 Jeremiah speaks out loudly against the hypocrisy and empty ceremony of the worship in Jerusalem. This helps us understand that religion does not save, being of God does.
Hickory Lane Christian Church Washington Courthouse OH Rob Hoos
Introduction As we start this morning, I want you all to help me characterize how we think of the personality, and qualities of Jesus. So we will start by just doing free association, what are some of the first descriptive words that come to your mind when you think of who Jesus is: • Listen as they list out as many different qualities as they can. This will likely look at Jesus in light of his love, gentleness, etc. I think the way that we think about Jesus is typified by his love, forgiveness, grace, kindness, and gentleness. He is like the Jesus on our light up Jesus painting behind the screen, right. He is gently carrying sheep as he leads them home. Typically speaking, though we view Jesus in a number of different ways, he is typically a peaceable figure in our imaginations, and in much of Scripture. As we begin today, letʼs look at one of the stories in Lukeʼs account of the life and teachings of Jesus. Jesus had just entered into the city of Jerusalem during the end of his public ministry as people cried out welcoming him as the messiah/king and laid down their coats and palm leaves over the road to honor him as he rode into the city. Once he enters the city, one of the first things he does is to go into the temple. Now, typically, when Jesus would go into the temple with his disciples, he would be teaching, or healing, or worshiping. These seemed to be Jesus standard actions, they may have
even expected him to get into some sort of confrontation with the Pharisees. So, as he entered into the temple that day, his disciples probably did not expect too much different. But, something different does happen that day. Jesus enters into the temple, and Luke 19:45 and following records this account. 45 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, 46 saying to them, It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers. 47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words. Other accounts of this story help us to fill in the details when it says: he drove those out of the temple who sold. The account in Matthew says that Jesus “he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.” The account in the gospel of Mark reports that Jesus “And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.” Finally, the account recorded in the gospel of John states that Jesus “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.” Here we see that Jesus took some chords or rope, made a whip out of them, and used it to clear out the temple. I donʼt know about you, but when I read this story, it shocks me a little bit because it seems out of Character for the Jesus we hold in our mindʼs eye. This discrepancy has
led to people being concerned with trying to figure out how this passage should be understood and applied to our lives.
Buying and selling? Some have seen this passage to be loudly proclaiming Jesusʼ disdain for buying and selling in Godʼs house. To them, he was the most angry at their greed having infiltrated this place of worship. These people then take it across, and since the Church is now Godʼs house, they decry churches that would dare to sell anything.
Righteous Anger? Others look past the reason for Jesusʼ actions to look at the actions themselves and come up with the concept of righteous anger/indignation. To them, seeing Jesus act in this manner gives them the ability to be angry, act on it, and still be acting like Jesus.
No... So what does it mean I will simply bypass these two interpretations by saying this, Jesus purpose was not to cry out against those who would dare sell or buy in a place which was dedicated to God, nor was it his idea to try and give people a model for righteous anger. So we wonder, if these two things are not the reasons behind the actions of Jesus, then what is. What in the world is the significance of his actions here? What should we walk away understanding? The basis of what Jesus is trying to do here is contained within his statement which works its way into all of the synoptic accounts of this story. Jesus accuses them of making his fatherʼs house into a den of robbers.
Transition: About 600 years before Jesus, one of the prophets of Jerusalem had said the same thing that Jesus said, in the same place where he said it, and presumably, for the very same reasons we see Jesus saying it.
JeremiahĘźs Background: Temple Theology Jeremiah, a prophet of YHWH, during the reign of an evil king lived amongst a people that had a terrible misunderstanding about who God was, and what he desired from them. Like we were talking about last week, the people who were living in Jerusalem, and in Judea suffered from a problem. Because of historical circumstances, and theological development among the religious leaders, they had come to believe a certain set of ideals. 1. They believed that God lived in the temple. This was not an uncommon thing among the Jews because they believed that God had made his dwelling there. 2. Because God had told Josiah that he was going to destroy Judah, and Josiah responded by introducing radical reform. Everyone started worshiping at the temple in Jerusalem again, even though their hearts never changed. So they continued to simply go through the motions, but the destruction never came. This made them begin to think that their “running through the motionsâ€? or empty rituals were enough to appease YHWH and keep him from destroying them. 3. Finally they also figured, that since God lived there in the temple, and since he had not yet destroyed Jerusalem, it could also be that God would never destroy the place where his temple was. This made them trust in the temple of the Lord as their greatest line of defense against the other nations. God would never let them destroy Judah because his temple is there.
Additionally, they had kept worshiping him through ritual, so there is no way God would act against them at all.
Jeremiah始s Temple Sermon So, it is in the midst of these wicked people that Jeremiah is told to go and speak to them the word of the Lord. Open with me to Jeremiah 7 so we can look in depth at this amazing sermon within the book of Jeremiah. 1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and speak Jeremiah is told by God to go and speak to these people, but it looks as though Jeremiah is going to be told to say something which will be very unpopular. He is told to stand in the gate of the temple. Why stand in the gate though? See, inside, the temple authorities had their power, those people who were once members of the priestly order along with Jeremiah. They would have had the legal ability to arrest, or harm Jeremiah for the message he was speaking. Had he been outside of the temple, then he would have been within the realm of the evil king Jehoiakim who would have been able to stop him from speaking, and possibly done him harm. So God tells him to stand in the gate of the temple. There, no one was in power, and because of the power struggle/vacuum in this area of the temple, Jeremiah would have been able to talk for longer, and deliver the message in its entirely. You know that if you have to find some place to stand so people cannot stop you from talking that the message is bound to make some people upset. You know that the message will be confrontational and dangerous.
So Jeremiah takes his stand in the gate of the Temple, and he begins to speak the words of God. Hear the word of the LORD, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD. the LORD, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD. 3 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD. 5 “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, 6 if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever. 8 “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered!—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD. Jeremiahʼs words likely cut right to the heart of their thoughts, actions, and motivations. The Lord calls out to them to change their actions, and if they actually heed him and actually change their actions, then he will let them live where they are. Then, he speaks out against that very thought system that they had been dealing with, and which had been plaguing them. In the fourth verse, we see Jeremiah denouncing them by saying “Do not trust in the words that are being spoken: This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the lord, the temple of the Lord.” This is basically their way of
expressing that God would never let Jerusalem be destroyed so long as the temple of the Lord was there. God is telling them, if you actually practice justice, then I will let you live here, not because of the fact that the temple of the Lord was there, but because they were legitimately following the commands of God. He goes on to correct them again by saying that they are trusting in these words to no benefit because they are false. These people are doing all of these wicked things, and living in such a way that is totally opposite to God, and then come into the temple and say “I AM DELIVERED.� Then, Jeremiah makes the same accusation against these people that we see Jesus making in the gospel account. Has this place become a den of robbers? The basic concept that is going on here is that this place, this temple has become a hiding place for these people in the sense that they go there to try and escape the consequences for their wicked actions. It has become their hideout because despite their actions, and wickedness, they think they are saved because they are there.
Jeremiah brings up Shiloh Then, Jeremiah, to emphasize his point begins to point toward another story in the history of the Israelites. He brings up Shiloh. 12 Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, 14 therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. 15
And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim. After Jeremiah spoke these words, the people began to try to kill him. What is he referring to here? What is the big deal with Shiloh? What about this made the people so mad? Shiloh is the name of the city where the Ark of the Covenant rested during the time of the Judges, and thus, this was the center of the Jewish worship system. During the time of the Judges, the Philistines had come up against Israel, and were prevailing against them in battle. The Israelites had been beaten before them because of their wickedness before God. He had condemned them to lose the battles because of their evil. So, in order to turn the tides of the battle, they decide to bring the ark of the covenant, the symbol of God dwelling among them, into the camp. They think that this means that God is with them, and will have to fight for them. When they bring it into the camp, everyone gets really excited and riled up. The enemies start to worry a little bit, and say “Oh no, God has come into their camp.” This rally is short lived, because the Israelites are totally defeated by the Philistines, and they not only destroy them, but they capture the ark of the covenant. Thus, it is seen as being totally defeated by their enemy. This issue is an absolutely huge deal, but it is only alluded to in 1 Sam 4. It is such a hard and hurtful thing to Israel, that they just donʼt really talk about it much. They were destroyed because of their evil, and this serves as a way for them to understand their current situation. In Jeremiahʼs time, they were doing the same thing, and the promise of Shiloh is that God will not treat them with favoritism, but will destroy them.
Jeremiahʼs Message Jeremiahʼs message is essentially that God will not save them because of their ritual observance of the law, or because of their association with Israel or the temple, or Jerusalem. The only thing that can save them is if they repent, and begin acting in such a way that pleases God.
Bringing this to Jesusʼ Time Jesus, by referencing Jeremiah through the quote “den of robbers” in the same place that Jeremiah would have spoken it 600 years earlier, is not trying to speak out against the buying and selling, or give us a way of thinking about “righteous” anger. Rather, Jesus is trying to say that empty ritual, and simply being Jewish is not enough to be part of Godʼs people. True, authentic life as a member of the kingdom of God, repentance, and living like Christ is what is required. Like Jeremiah, Jesusʼ actions cry out about the destruction of the temple, Jerusalem, and ultimately God abandoning their people because they have rejected him. That is why Jesus laments over the destruction immediately before he goes in and cleanses the temple. It is not a type of holy anger, it is a symbol of God overturning and destroying Jerusalem and the temple. This was fulfilled 70 AD.
The Application This is how we come to understand these actions of Jesus, and from this we draw our application. We draw meaning from Jeremiah and the teachings of Jesus by understanding that empty worship does not save, nor does it accomplish what God desires.
Today, so many people go to church, day in and day out. They go in for services, and they go out after them, and they are not changed or affected by their relationship with God. They think by attending church, and warming the pew, or the chair that they are gaining salvation, or accomplishing the will of God by doing this. The message of the temple sermon in Jeremiah is that empty ritual and religion doesn始t save, but a true relationship with God which involves worship, and changed lives, is what really counts.