{"id":30640,"date":"2024-04-07T22:00:34","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T05:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/john-2_1-12-copy\/"},"modified":"2024-03-26T21:39:22","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T04:39:22","slug":"john-2_13-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/john-2_13-25\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Great Care of God\u2019s House"},"content":{"rendered":"

John 2:13-25 (CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

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Today\u2019s passage is John 2:13-25.\u00a0\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

John 2:13-17 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 13-17:\u00a0 Here we read of Jesus going to Jerusalem, visiting the temple courts and driving out those who had turned the temple courts into a marketplace.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As followers of Jesus and worshipers of God, we must\u00a0be careful not to use the house of God and your church family primarily as a way to expand your own business and make a financial profit for yourself.\u00a0 Otherwise we turn the house of God from a place of worship into a marketplace.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Does that mean you can never do business with someone in the church, even if you don’t actively seek their business but they approach you?\u00a0 No, but you still want to be careful that your primary motive for joining a church is not for business purposes and that any business dealings you engage in don’t become a distraction for you and\/or your church community.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus was passionate for the house of God and was willing to make tough, unpopular choices in order to maintain health in the house of God, even if that meant driving certain people out.\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes,<\/strong>\u00a0before Jesus can really add to His Father\u2019s house, Jesus needs to make some blessed deletions first<\/strong>, getting rid of whatever or whoever is distracting the people in God\u2019s house from accomplishing its purpose and mission.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In verse 17 John quotes a famous phrase from David, who wrote in Psalm 69:9, \u201czeal for your house consumes me\u201d.\u00a0 Just as David was passionate for the house of God where his people worshiped, just as Jesus was passionate for the house of God, may we have the right attitude toward the house of God.\u00a0\u00a0May we not simply use the house of God for our own selfish gain, but may we love our church, be devoted to our church, serve our church, and protect our church with passionate devotion.<\/strong><\/p>\n

John 2:18-22 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?”
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 18-22:\u00a0 Here we see Jesus predicting his death and resurrection, although the people thought he was talking about the physical temple where the Jews worshiped.\u00a0 Jesus cites his death and resurrection as the reason why Jesus has authority to clear the temple of money changers and money-hungry merchants.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Because Jesus died for our sins and rose from the grave, Jesus has authority unlike anyone else.\u00a0 He is worthy of our trust and devotion.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also, notice that Jesus called his body a temple.\u00a0 Nowadays people will sometimes say, often jokingly, \u201cmy body is a temple.\u201d\u00a0 But there is truth in that statement, both for Jesus and for us.\u00a0 Jesus is God in the flesh and God\u2019s Spirit lived inside Jesus\u2019 human body, so His body was a temple of the Holy Spirit unlike any other\u2019s.\u00a0 In a similar vein, the Bible says that if you have trusted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, the Holy Spirit lives in you and so your body also is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).\u00a0 In our case that doesn\u2019t mean we are God; rather we have the Spirit of God living in us.<\/p>\n

John 2:23-25 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men.
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 23-25: \u00a0While many trusted in Jesus (v23), Jesus would not entrust himself to them (v24) \u201cfor he knew what was in a man\u201d (v25).\u00a0 In other words, Jesus would not put his hope in people because Jesus knew that people are broken, imperfect, and prone to sin.\u00a0 Likewise,\u00a0serve people, love people, enjoy people, work with people and be a blessing to people, but don\u2019t put your hope in people as if they are your only or ultimate hope.\u00a0 Instead, put your hope in the Lord, who alone is perfectly faithful.<\/strong>\u00a0 As Psalm 130:7 says, \u201cO Israel, put your hope in the\u00a0LORD, for with the\u00a0LORD\u00a0is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Lord Jesus, I pray that I would have the right attitude toward the house of God, my church \u2013 not simply using it for my own selfish gain, but loving Your house, protecting Your house, serving Your house, and being devoted to Your house.\u00a0 Since You died and rose again, You have authority unlike any other.\u00a0 May I trust in You and place my hope in You alone.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is John 2:13-25.\u00a0\u00a0I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help, then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

John 2:13-17 (NIV)
\n13\u00a0\u00a0When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
\n14\u00a0\u00a0In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.
\n15\u00a0\u00a0So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
\n16\u00a0\u00a0To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”
\n17\u00a0\u00a0His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 13-17:\u00a0 Here we read of Jesus going to Jerusalem, visiting the temple courts and driving out those who had turned the temple courts into a marketplace.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30642,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30640"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30643,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30640\/revisions\/30643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}