ZEAL(n) great enthusiasm or tireless devotion for a cause, person or objective John 2:13-17 Cleansing of the Temple - ACT 1 The Jewish Passover was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple complex He found people selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and He also found the money changers sitting there. After making a whip out of cords, He drove everyone out of the temple complex with their sheep and oxen. He also poured out the money changers’ coins and overturned the tables. He told those who were selling doves, Get these out of here! Stop turning My Father’s house into a marketplace! His disciples remembered that it is written: Zeal for Your house will consume Me. Jesus expected the temple sanctuary to be filled with humble worshipers offering their sacrifices for their sin. What he found was a market and it bothered him. So much so, Zeal for His father's house consumed him. Psalm 69:9 Zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult You have fallen on me. The Temple was a place of worship. THE most holy place in all Judaism. The Jewish leadership had placed a greater emphasis on the religious practices at the cost of reverence for the holiness of God. This amounted to an insult. An insult of the the Father and Jesus acted. Passionately. John 2:18-22 Cleansing of the Temple - ACT 2 18 So the Jews replied to Him, “What sign of authority will You show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days.” 20 Therefore the Jews said, “This temple took 46 years to build, and will You raise it up in three days?” 21 But He was speaking about the temple of His body. 22 So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this. And they believed the Scripture and the statement Jesus had made. Ephesians 2:11-13 11 …remember that at one time you were Gentiles… 12 …without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. IS a BIG deal IS a BIG deal Blood sacrifices were required for sin. Sin that separated the created from their Holy Creator. The temple building was where that took place. Jesus sacrificing Himself, His blood for ours, forever satisfied the Father's blood requirement for sin. John 2:23-25 Cleansing the Temple Complex-Act3 23 While He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many trusted in His name when they saw the signs He was doing. 24 Jesus, however, would not entrust Himself to them, since He knew them all 25 and because He did not need anyone to testify about man; for He Himself knew what was in man. Many followed Jesus because they were enamored by His miracles and eloquence. Jesus wasn't caught up in any of that. His focus was strictly on glorifying His Father. We would do well to be similarly focused. HEAD: Literacy in the 21st century is not the ability to read & write… It is the ability to unlearn & re-learn HEART/HANDS Read Psalm 119 everyday for the next week, or month! Psalm 119:11 reads… I have treasured Your word in my heart so that I may not sin against You. John Piper - Desiring God on Psalm 119