Lent

3


March 8, 2015 Akron
John 2:13-25

Gerland Klein

HE Knows
Goal: That the hearers reect that, just as Jesus cleansed his Fathers house, we too need our
hearts and minds cleansed by the sacrice of the one who knows all people.
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God, our Father, and from our cleansing Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
Dear friends,
As we proceed through the season of Lent, the purpose, reason, and need for Christs coming
Passion for mankind becomes more evident. The readings for today help us to more clearly see
this. In the Old Testament reading, the Law is given to us through Moses, in the Ten
Commandments. The Law points out our failures toward God and those around us. The Epistle
reading points out our desperaXon in trying to nd a way out using our own wisdom. And our
Gospel lesson points us to the One that is sent to cleanse us from the corrupXon of sin.
That Gospel lesson, read a few moments ago, will be text for our message this morningplus
the next three verses, John 2:23-25, Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast,
many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did
not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness
about man, for he himself knew what was in man. These will be our focus verses.
In our changing seasons, March 1st is usually viewed as the turning point from winter to spring.
Although we were sXll in winter the rst of the week, the last couple of days have been more
springlike. On our place, we look forward to the middle of March and we sense spring when the
cows start to calve. My brother and I run our herds together this Xme of year and we enjoy the
miracle of birth and giving the a]enXon to the tasks at hand. We dont pretend to be the best
cowboys, but we do give careful a]enXon to watching the herd and idenXfying all of the
newborns with eartags and record keeping so that we can more easily sort and manage the
herd as we move to our dierent pastures and progress through the year. By the end of the
spring, we know them all.
Much more than we know our ca]le, our text in v. 24 states that Jesus knows all people. Lets
take a look in the lesson for today.
Todays text is in the early stages of Jesus earthly ministry. Its Xme for the annual Passover
celebraXon, so as a faithful Jew, Jesus goes to Jerusalem as required.
But, when he went to the temple, he was disgusted by what he found. The temple courtyard
had been turned into a marketplace! Merchants have set up shops selling pigeons, oxen, and
sheep to the faithful who had come to Jerusalem from far-o lands. Money-changers were also

there, changing foreign currency into local money, again, so the faithful could pay the temple
tax of one-half shekel.
To have these things available to the foreign worshipers wasnt bad, because the worship of God
demanded the people bring sacrices in proporXon to their wealth. And it was totally
impracXcal, if not impossible, for someone who had to come a long distance to bring their own
sacricial animal. There needed to be some way for those things to be acquired in Jerusalem.
In the Old Testament, God had even given instrucXons for this kind of arrangement.
The problem was that the sellers had set up shop right in the temple itself, in what is known as
the court of the GenXles. It probably had a county fair-like atmosphere. The people had turned
the house of God into a sXnking spectacle.
Think of it! The worshipers, as they passed through the courtyard on their way into the temple,
were probably more focused on bargaining over the cost of the animals or bickering over the
exchange rate for their foreign money, than they were on singing entrance psalms and
preparing their hearts for the worship of the Most High God. What a disgrace! There was no
problem recognizing how guilty everyone involved in this trading was. As Jesus came into the
temple, these traders were right out in the open for all to see.
Jesus, incorrectly thought by some to be weak and sodwell, Jesus shows himself to be a man
of strength and acXon. He personally, and by himself, took on the whole bunch of themtaking
cords and using them as a whip, drove the animals and the merchants out of the temple. And
we assume from this account that not one of the merchants even dared to stand up to him. The
disciples immediately remembered that is was wri]en, Zeal for your house will consume
me. (Ps.69:9)We have Old Testament prophecy fullled. Signicantly, that same psalm
predicted some of the rejecXon and suering that lay ahead for Christ. For now, it gave the
disciples another sign that Jesus was the Christ, and maybe it led some fear of what was to
come.
So, we hear this story and say, Good, good for you Jesus! You saw those insiders from the
temple hierarchy, busted them and kicked them out in short order. Good for you!
Theres no doubt that this spectacle of people and droves of animals being sold within the
temple of God was bad, but Jesus was seeing even more. He looked into the peoples hearts.
He saw through their intenXons, their hiding behind Gods instrucXons in order to make a fast
buck. As bad as the scene had to bethe spiritual stench of the placelust for money at Gods
expensewas worse!
And how can we know that? John tells us, because he knew all people v.24. Jesus knew their
hearts and saw them for what they weresinners through and through, more interested in
making a few shekels than in honoring Gods house. Consider again the words before us, He
knew all peoplefor he himself knew what was in man. The Lord Jesus knows all and sees all.
And, just as he knew the hearts of the money-changers and animal purveyors, he knows your
heart and my heart as well! He sees our weak faith, our ckle faith, our misapplied faith. He

sees the reservaXons about our trust in Him and our misdirected expectaXons. He is able to
rightly judge our inner depths and what is found theretrue faith or a passing fantasy.
He sees our real amtude toward those Ten Commandments we heard in the Old Testament
reading for this day. Although, you might not be caught bowing down to a carved image, he
sees your amtude toward a whole host of other things you allow to be foremost in your life
from Xme to Xmeperhaps including your work, your money, your family, your vacaXons, your
sports.! He sees your amtude toward sins of the esh, toward other peoples property,
toward speaking well of your neighbor.!
Oh, yes, he sees it all! Just like the temple merchants, we rightly deserve to have Jesus take a
whip and drive us out of his presence forever! A commentator describes this as he writes, The
uncleanness in the temple portrayed the corrupXon of the people and was an image of the
impurity in their hearts. The condiXons exisXng in the temple are therefore a tesXmony against
the people. Jesus blows with the whip struck at their hearts. And the cleansing is a picture of
what must occur with the people to make it a holy naXon acceptable to God. And what is more,
this must be made to apply to the individual. The house of the heart must be cleansed if it is to
be the temple of God. (Ylvisaker,138-9)
Yes, dear friends, we too have a spiritual stench in the house of our heart. Indeed, we are in
need of a cleansing. During this holy season of Lent, our Lord call us to recognize our u]er need
for the cleansing of our hearts laden with sin. He calls us to allow his right and just Law to show
us our sins and then, in repentance and faith, to receive Him as he reaches out to usto you
and to mewith his love and mercy.
He urgently desires to cleanse the house of our heart, to wash it pure with the only cleansing
agent that will get the stench outHis holy, precious blood shed for you and me and the whole
world! This he did on the blessed cross of Calvary, about three years to the day ader He
cleansed the temple. Zeal for his Fathers house drove him to cleanse the temple that fateful
day. Zeal for you and mezeal moXvated by his eternal lovedrove him to the cross us, so
that we could be a temple of the Holy Spirit(1Cor6:19)your body and soul washed clean and
pure, thereby making us to be a righteous one of His forever.
You see, we are no longer one of those that need thrown outin Gods esXmaXon. Through
faith given us in the washing of renewal in our bapXsmal waters, were now one of his very own,
a forgiven child of his. Rather than chasing us out of his eternal presence with a whip, he
eagerly walks towards us, always seeking to embrace us, and inviXng us to dine at His Table,
regularly here on earth and eternally with him in heaven!
Jesus, be]er than I know my ca]le, knew all people. So, how much more was Jesus zeal for
His Fathers house, the place God had given for the eternal welfare of his people. And how
much greater is his zeal for our eternal welfare! His zeal for fallen mankind, which ulXmately led
him to the cross, was based on his love from eternity for us. In love, he knows us parXcularly
and singularly. That zealous love remains to this day and will remain throughout eternity. HE
knows.

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus. Amen.