Matthew 4:12 part 2 Jesus Cleanses the Temple

Matthew 4:12 part 2

Jesus Cleanses the Temple 

Between vesres 11 and 12 of Matthew chapter 4, a year in Jesus ministry had passed by. In verse 11 we read that Jesus had just successfully defeated the temptations of Satan after spending 40 days fasting in the wilderness. Now, he will be embarking upon his ministry, but after His temptation, we read in verse 12 that John the baptist was arrested. Yet if you look at the chronological order of Jesus life, John was not arrested until after Jesus entered Judea. However, Matthew does write about His ministry in Judea until chapter 19.

If we only had the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we would never have known about the events that took place in Judea. This is where John's Gospel fills us in on many important aspects of Jesus ministry. In order to properly understand what happened, I decide to cover the events that took place between verses 4:11 to 4:12, in a 9 part series. This is part two of that series, where I will cover 4 of the 9 steps Matthew omitted in his Gospel account of Jesus ministry.

Matthew 4:12 Part 2

Events Taking Place That Matthew Left Out

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

John 2:13-25

There are 72 distinct steps identified in the life of Jesus, from the Glory of His birth in Bethlehem to the Glory of His ascension into heaven. In Matthew 4:12, Matthew skips over 9 of those steps, step11 to 20. The reason is because Matthew covered Jesus' ministry in Galilee from Capernaum. In Matthew's Gospel we do not read of Jesus in Judea until 19:1 when He entered Judea to attend His last Passover feast, and ultimately His death on the Cross.

1. (2:13) Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem

1. Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand

1. John wrote his gospel about 15 years after the destruction of the Temple, for the gentile readers who may not have understood the Jewish customs or Levitical laws

2. Every male 12 and over among the Jews was required to appear at this Feast

1. The first of three great feasts celebrated by the Israelite people (Exodus 12:6-14)

1. Passover, or Unleavened Bread

1. Escape from death and Egyptian slavery

2. Harvest or Weeks

1. Harvest of the first fruits of their labors

3. Ingathering or Tabernacle

1. Gathered the fruits of their labors from the field at end of year

2. Celebrated on the 14th day of the first month (Ahib) the month they left Egypt (Deuteronomy 16:1-8)

3. Commemorates the night death passed over those with blood upon their door frames in Egypt

4. Celebration started in the evening when the angel of death came looking for the 1st born

5. Passover included the “Feast of Unleavened Bread”

3. Every male required to appear at the Temple three times a year (Deuteronomy 16:16) & (Exodus 23:17)

1. Once a year on the 15th day of the first month for the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” (Numbers 28:16-25)

1. Celebrated during the Passover, so all required to attend it also were required to attend the this feast

2. Opened with a convocation b (Sacred assembly, or calling together of the people for worship)

3. Only unleavened bread was to be eaten at this feast

4. Manual Labor strictly forbidden

5. Strangers and native born alike were punished for observing this holiday

6. This feast commemorated the haste in which they left Egypt.

7. Just as the blood is drained from a sacrificial animal so to was the leaven removed from all bread

2. Once a year on the 5oth day following the “Feast of Weeks” or “The Feast of Harvest”

1. Opened with a convocation and the usual restriction on labor

2. Early in the third month, day varied depending on when the harvest came in

3. (Numbers 28:26-31) describes the amount and nature of offerings allowed

4. (Deuteronomy 16:9-12) specifies who is to be invited; servants, sons and daughters, Levites, the fatherless, the widows, and the stranger

5. Also known as “The Feast of Harvest” or “Pentecost” (Greek for “fifty”)

6. The followers of Christ were gathered for this feast when the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 2:1-4)

3. Once a year on the 15th day of the 7th month for the ”Feast of the Tabernacle” (Exodus 23:16)

1. Also known as the “Feast of Booths”

2. Opened with a convocation and then another on the 8th day with many sacrifices

3. Celebration of the completion of the autumn harvest

4. All were required to live in booths made of palm and willow trees

5. It commemorated their wandering the wilderness while living in temporary shelters.

2. And Jesus went up to Jerusalem;

1. This explains why in verse 12 we read that they did not spend many days in Capernaum

2. Christ being made subject to the law for us satisfies the law of the Passover

2. (5:14) And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business

1. The Temple has four courts a sanctuary and an inner room called “The Holy of Holies”

1. Three Temples

1. Solomon’s Temple --- started 966 BC completed 959 BC

2. Zerubbaqbel’s Temple --- started 538 BC completed 515 BC

3. Herod’s Temple --- started 19 BC completed 64 AD --- Destroyed by Roman General Titus 70 AD

2. Herod’s Temple was built to appease his Jewish subjects, Herod Idumean

1. Considered by many as the eighth wonder of the ancient world

2. Enormous in size, opulent in design

1. The cream colored building and golden dome was too bright to look at on a sunny day

2. When people came over mountain and saw it in the distance, looked like another sun

3. Four courtyards separated by four doors leading from one courtyard to another

1. Court of the Gentiles was accessible to everyone, men, women, Jews, and Gentiles

2. Court of the Israelites, Gentiles barred upon penalty of death for entering. Warning signs all over

3. Court of the men where only Jewish men were allowed, women barred upon penalty of death

4. Court of Israel, the priests where only priests were allowed, the Temple was inside this courtyard

1. Except during the Feast of tabernacles, then Jewish men could enter and walk around the altar

2. Priests entered Temple to make sacrifice for sins

3. High priest entered Holy of Holies once a year on the day of atonement for all of Israel’s sins

2. Court of the Gentiles was where Gentiles could have access to God, and the Jews were to be a light for them; The very place where the world should have been introduced to the True and Living God, and His flock were fleecing them instead of feeding them

1. Jesus entered the courtyard of Gentiles and immediately saw his people being robbed in His House

1. Priests were greedy, they wanted more to increase their own personal wealth

1. Only Temple approved animals were good enough, charged exorbitant price for approved animal

1. Regardless how pure yours was you needed a better one

2. Usually due to some microscopic flaw that only they could see

2. Only Jewish shekels allowed all other coins considered unfit for Temple tax, exchange rate about 10 times the actually price

1. Caesars image defiled coin

2. Pagan god defiled coin

3. (5:15-17) When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."

1. Often His disciples would remember scripture concerning the messiah (Psalm 69:9)

4. (5:18) So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"

1. They ask Him by what sign, or authority

2. They know they are in the wrong, so they do not challenge His reason

5. (5:19-22) Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

1. The Jews refused to listen to Him

1. Later they would twist His statement using it against Him at His trial and then while He was on the cross

1. At the Trial (Matthew 26:61)

2. On the Cross (Matthew 27:40)

3. On the Cross (Mark 15:29-30)

2. His disciples would know what He meant after His resurrection (Luke24:8)

3. Jesus used two different word here

1. Greek word “hieron” was used when He referred to Herod’s Temple

2. Greek word “naos” was used when he referred to Himself

3. Here Jesus used the word “naos”

6. (5:23-25) Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

1. Fickle crowds begin to flock to Him, people who are looking for physical proof of His authority

2. Paul tells us that faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17)

3. Many of His early disciples were like these, they would leave when His teaching gets too difficult to accept (John 6:60-71)

"If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the LORD your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the LORD your God blesses you, then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. "You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.

(Deuteronomy 14:24-26)