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March 8, 2015

Following Jesus: Opposition

Preacher: Pastor Braun Campbell Series: Following Jesus Category: Biblical Scripture: John 2:13–2:22

Third Sunday in Lent 
St. John's Lutheran Church, Alexandria, VA
John 2:13-22

“Following Jesus: Opposition”

Baa! Moo! Coo! And for you?

It’s probably not what you think. If you’ve seen the title of this sermon in the bulletin [or on this page], you might have already made some guesses as to what pastor’s going to be preaching today. It’s the season of Lent, and this weekend sermon series is about following Jesus, so chances are we’ll be hearing about following Jesus in a way that overcomes the opposition that we’ll face for doing so. That’d make sense. I mean, there’s certainly a lot of opposition for Jesus, his authority, and his gospel in our world today. But the problem is, you are the opposition. And so am I.

Baa! Moo! Coo! And for you?

When Jesus went up to the great city Jerusalem for this Passover, he certainly wasn’t alone in doing so. The days, even weeks, leading up to the Passover saw people from all over the known world coming into town to engage in an important part of the Jewish faith: worship at the Jerusalem temple. There, they’d pay the temple tax owed by every adult Jewish male, offer sacrifices and prayers to Lord, and remember and celebrate what God had done to deliver His people in the past. Think about the crowds that descend on D.C. for the Cherry Blossom Festival and Independence Day festivities – and then stretch it out for at least a week-and-a-half. It’d make sense then that the temple, at the heart of it all, would be a pretty busy place.

Baa! Moo! Coo! And for you?

Heading into the temple, the first large courtyard area that people entered was called the Court of the Gentiles. That’s where Jesus found all those vendors and money-changers you heard about in this record of Jesus cleansing of the temple. They were all there to provide a service to the visitors who’d come to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover and worship in the temple. The vendors sold oxen and sheep and pigeons, animals used in the different sacrifices which were offered on behalf of the people. That makes sense: if you had to travel hundreds of miles to get to Jerusalem for Passover, wouldn’t you rather just buy your sacrificial animal on-site instead of bringing it along with you for the whole trip? And the money-changers offered a similar convenience. The annual temple tax had to be paid in the specific coin that was accepted there, so people exchanged their currency in Jerusalem. If you’ve traveled, you know how convenient services like that can be, even if you often have to pay a premium.

Baa! Moo! Coo! And for you?

Jesus probably wasn’t concerned about the fact that the vendors and money-changers were providing these services to people. In all likelihood, this was happening all over town in the days leading up to the big day Passover and the week-long festival that followed it. The biggest problem with what was happening was where it was happening.

Baa! Moo! Coo! And for you?

Imagine being one of those Gentiles who’d traveled a long way to worship in the temple there in Jerusalem. The Court of the Gentiles was where you worshipped. If you were not of the Hebrew nation, that was as far in to the temple as you could go. It’s the place that you would pray to the Lord, seeking His mercy and His grace, His forgiveness and His blessing. You could see the main temple building towering ahead, the place that housed the Holy of Holies, where God was present with His people. You could see the smoke rising from the continually sacrificed burnt offerings on the altars and smell their scent in the air. But what did you hear?

The sheep: “Baa!” The oxen: “Moo!” The pigeons: “Coo!” The vendors and money-changers: “And for you?” Each one of them, contributing to a cacophony that would disrupt the worship of the people who’d come to gather in the Lord’s house. The temple in Jerusalem was a place of prayer and song and teaching, something different from the world outside. It existed as a special location where the people could be with their God, and their God was with them. No wonder then, that Jesus got angry in seeing that the people weren’t honoring his Father’s house and its purpose – especially seeing the lack of care they demonstrated for the Gentile worshipers around them.

Jesus cleansed the temple – driving out the animals, the vendors, and the money-changers – out of love, not out of hate. Jesus cared about the people who had come to the temple for worship, including the Gentiles whose worship space had been invaded by the distractions of commerce.

What might Jesus do today if he saw what we do in his Father’s house? Are we failing to see it for what it is?

Baa! Moo! Coo! And for you?

When you come into a sanctuary, a house of the Lord like the one here at St. John’s, how do you see it? Do see a sanctuary any differently than any other space? It’s not an auditorium. It’s not a business. It’s not a social club. It’s not any of those: it’s far better. The sanctuary is a holy space, a special location where you come to be with your Lord and your Lord comes to be with you. That’s why, for example, our bulletins here ask all worshippers to “please refrain from conversation and put away newsletters and other distractions in preparation for this holy time in the Lord’s house.

The Jewish religious leaders hadn’t seen a problem with what had been going on in the temple. What went on there was under their authority. When they see and hear what Jesus has done, they come to confront him. “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” they demand. The opposition surfaces: at its core, it is opposition to Jesus’ authority.

It’s the same today. In this time of Lent as we are being called to follow Jesus to the cross, we need to look at how we, too, are putting up opposition to Jesus’ authority – his authority in our relationships, his authority in our choices, even his authority in our worship – realizing that we’re a lot like the religious leaders who confronted him back then. It’s easy for you or me to get caught up in the distractions of our hearts and minds and let them disrupt our relationship with God, even demanding a sign from Him to prove His authority over us.

Well, the Jewish religious leaders demanded a sign to show that he had the greater authority. And he would give it to them, even though they missed it, seeking something immediate that met their terms. Jesus offered them – and us – the divine sign of his resurrection after they – and we –sent him up to die on a cross. Jesus, the Son of God, has the highest authority, even over life and death.

Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice, to which all the others pointed ahead. All those burnt offerings in the temple, all those sheep and oxen and pigeons, were offered up because of the sin of the people. And there was a lot of sin that needed atoning for, everything that people have done in an attempt to deny God’s instruction (summed up in the Ten Commandments), everything that human beings have done in opposition to God’s authority. Jesus gave himself for them. He gave himself for you.

God’s wisdom was shown in the seeming foolishness of the cross, the sign which dominates this season of Lent. Lent points us to the divine sign that God offered up in Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection, the sign of Jesus’ authority – but most of all the sign of his love for us.

Jesus is the new temple. In his body, humanity and divinity come together. God is with His people. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to restore the relationship we once enjoyed with Him. Jesus is everything to which the temple had looked forward. We no longer need the temple to be made right with God. We have the cross. We have Jesus.

Following Jesus, come to the house of the Lord to worship. Come and find God’s mercy and His grace, His forgiveness and His blessing in the sign of the cross and the resurrection. In Jesus, they are here for you.

Amen.

other sermons in this series

Mar 29

2015

Following Jesus: Suffering

Preacher: Rev. Jack Meehan Scripture: Mark 15:1–15:47 Series: Following Jesus

Mar 22

2015

Following Jesus: Serving

Preacher: Pastor Braun Campbell Scripture: Mark 10:35–10:45 Series: Following Jesus

Mar 15

2015

Following Jesus: Judgment

Preacher: Rev. Jack Meehan Scripture: John 3:14–3:21 Series: Following Jesus