Jesus Purifies

In one paragraph

Pastor Nathan opened Holy Monday, the day after the triumphal entry, by placing Jesus' cleansing of the temple inside the larger story of what Jesus came to do: purify. The sermon moved through the gospel accounts of that day, the cursed fig tree and the overturned tables, and pressed the question of what Jesus might want to drive out of our own lives. Pastor Nathan began by acknowledging that...

Read together

1. Psalm 8:3-4,9 quoted at the opening to lead into worship, reflecting on God's majesty and human smallness
2. Colossians 2:14 quoted during worship to explain how God cancelled the record of charges against us by nailing it to the cross
3. Proverbs 3:5-6 quoted before the offering as an encouragement to trust the Lord and not lean on our own understanding
4. John 2:1-11 referenced as the wedding at Cana story that immediately precedes John's account of the temple cleansing
5. John 2:13-17 quoted to describe the early temple cleansing, including Jesus making a whip and overturning tables
6. John 2:19-22 quoted where Jesus says destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up, explained as referring to his body
7. Psalm 69:9 quoted as the Old Testament source for the disciples remembering that zeal for your house will consume me
8. Malachi 3:1-3 quoted to describe Jesus as a refiner's fire and purifier who comes suddenly to his temple
9. Isaiah 56:7 quoted as the source of my house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations
10. Isaiah 56:1-7 quoted in larger context about guarding justice, welcoming foreigners and eunuchs, and God gathering all peoples to his holy mountain
11. Micah 6:8 quoted in passing as sounding similar to Isaiah 56:1, about doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God
12. Jeremiah 7:11 quoted as the source of has this house become a den of robbers, which Jesus applied to the temple authorities
13. Jeremiah 7:1-11 quoted in larger context calling out hypocrisy, warning against trusting in deceptive words while practicing injustice
14. Psalm 67 recited congregationally as a closing prayer that God would bless his people so that all nations would know him
15. Matthew 5:16 quoted as the benediction, letting your light shine before others so they may see your good deeds and glorify God

Talk about it

1. The pastor mentioned that the money changers and sellers in the temple were running a normal, profitable business, yet Jesus drove them out because they were blocking people's access to God. What are some ways we might unintentionally put obstacles in front of people who are trying to draw near to God?
2. The pastor read from Isaiah 56, where God says He will bring foreigners and outsiders to His holy mountain and make them joyful in His house of prayer. How does that vision sit alongside the 'us only ism' the pastor described, and where do you see that tendency show up in church life today?
3. The pastor asked the congregation to reflect on this question personally: what might Jesus be trying to forcibly drive out of your temple, meaning your own life? What came to mind when he asked that?
4. The pastor pointed out that what made Jesus angry in several situations, the man with the shriveled hand, the children being kept from Him, the sellers in the temple, had a common thread: people being hindered from coming to God. Do you think that is still what grieves Jesus most? Why or why not?
5. The pastor ended with Psalm 67 and described it as a prayer that God would bless His people so that others would come to know Him. What does it look like practically, in your own neighborhood or relationships, to be a blessing that points outward rather than a circle that turns inward?