|
Cleansing
the Temple: Yeshua’s Authority; A Parable About
The Failure Of The Leaders And The Majority Of
The Nation, And The Need For New Leadership; The
Stone Which The Builders Rejected
If you
knew that you were getting toward the very end
of your life, how would you spend your last week?
Enjoying some final pleasures? Seeking out a beautiful
and quiet place? Spending time with friends and
family? The Son of God knew He was about to die,
and He spent most of His last period of time on
Earth by doing what He knew God had called Him
to do - honoring His Father, telling the Chosen
People the truth, correcting us where we needed
correction - even if it meant conflict with the
leaders who were far from God - followed by suffering
and death - and resurrection!
The young
miracle working Rabbi from Nazareth had entered
Jerusalem triumphantly, hailed by many of His
disciples as Israel’s Messiah King. Many had faith,
trust, confidence in the One who was truly the
Son of David. But Yeshua knew that the majority
of the nation, and the majority of the leaders,
would reject Him, and that God’s severe judgment
would come to the Chosen People as a result of
not recognizing the time of our visitation.
The majority
of God’s special nation would not recognize the
time when the One who is rightly called Immanuel
came to us. We were spiritually insensitive to
the Creator. We were spiritually dry - like parched
ground. Too many in Israel were too far from God.
This farness-from-God was evident in the very
heart of the nation - in the materialism that
was allow to take place in God’s holy temple.
When He
entered Jerusalem, Messiah went to His Father’s
house, and He didn’t like what He found there.
Yeshua entered the temple and began to drive
out those who were selling (these men were
providing a good service - selling animals for
sacrifice, but it was in the wrong place, and
there was too much of it going on, and they were
charging too much) saying to them, “It is written,
'and My house shall be a house of prayer', but
you have made it a robbers' den”.
The temple
- which was the most important place on Earth;
the one place of real atonement; the place where
the principles of salvation and atonement were
most clearly seen; that most special place where
God would manifest His presence on Earth; the
place that was closest to God; the one place where
all human beings could come and seek the true
and living God and pray to the Creator in the
way He ordained - the temple was being turned
into a crowded profit-oriented middle eastern
marketplace - not a place of getting closer to
God through prayer - and that made the Son of
God righteously angry!
The Greeks
had defiled the temple in the time of the Maccabees.
Now it was being defiled by our own people, but
in another way - by crass materialism, so that
the worship of God was being crowded out of the
Lord’s Holy House! That was totally unacceptable
to the Son of God, and He took radical action!
The other
New Testament records tell us that in addition
to rebuking the leaders of the temple, Yeshua
threw out those who were buying and selling from
the temple, and overturned the tables of the money-changers,
and overturned the seats of those who were selling
doves, and He would not allow anyone to carry
goods through the temple.
Keep in
mind that Yeshua of Nazareth was a wanted man.
The most powerful leaders of the nation had determined
to eliminate Him. It took tremendous courage and
boldness and zeal for God, and zeal for the temple,
to act and speak this way in the very center of
power of those who wanted to kill Him! But, Yeshua
had that kind of courage, that kind of love and
zeal and enthusiasm for God and the things of
God, and He didn’t let powerful opposition deter
Him from during what was He knew was right.
May God
give each one of us the same kind of desire for
doing what is right, opposing evil, zeal, boldness,
fearlessness and courage! May each one of us be
blessed with the same sense of putting the will
of God first above safety, comfort, or anything
else!
And, this
was not a one-time act of courage. Every day while
He was in Jerusalem, right in the temple, Yeshua
continued to teach the people about God, and how
the Creator from whom they were estranged wanted
them to enter into His very real and eternal kingdom
by having faith in God and trusting in Rabbi Yeshua!
And
He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief
priests and the Torah-experts and the leading
men among the people were trying to destroy Him,
and they could not find anything that they might
do, for all the people were hanging on to every
word He said. The popularity of the courageous
miracle working Rabbi from Nazareth prevented
these powerful political and religious leaders
from doing what they wanted to do - get rid of
Yeshua. But, that didn’t prevent them from trying
- and ultimately succeeding. Luke records one
of their first efforts to do so.
On
one of the days while He was teaching the people
in the temple and preaching the Good News, the
chief priests and the experts in Torah (the scribes)
with the elders confronted Him, and they spoke,
saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You
are doing these things, or who is the one who
gave You this authority”?
The temple
and its worship were revered among the Jewish
people. The temple and its worship were vested
with great authority by God’s Word, and by a very
long history and by tradition. And yet, the Rabbi
from Nazareth felt the freedom to take radical
action in the temple, cleaning it and bypassing
the authority of the priests. God’s Word gave
them authority over the temple, yet Yeshua dared
to supercede their authority. Did He think He
was above their authority? If the leaders confronted
Yeshua over the issue of authority, maybe He would
say something that they could use against Him
to kill Him. But, the Wonderful Counselor is wiser
that the wisest, smarter than the smartest, shrewder
than the shrewdest, cleverer than the most clever!
He was and is and always will be the master of
every situation!
Yeshua
knew that this was a question that was designed
to attack Him. Yeshua answered their question
with a question of His own. He responded to their
challenge with His own challenge to them.
Yeshua
answered and said to them, “I will also ask you
a question, and you tell Me: “Was the baptism
of John from Heaven (God) or from men?”
They reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we
say, 'From Heaven', He will say, 'Why did you
not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men', all
the people will stone us to death, for they are
convinced that John was a prophet”. So they answered
that they did not know where it came from.
And Yeshua said to them, “Nor will I tell you
by what authority I do these things”.
Yeshua
knew that these leaders were far from His Father.
When religious and political leaders stray from
God, and start corrupting their God-given authority,
they do much damage and need to be confronted.
And, that is one of the reasons why God sent us
prophets. Confronting corrupt leaders is one of
the main functions of a prophet.
And, after
400 years of prophetic silence Heaven had sent
us John - one of the very greatest prophets, and
he had been trying to correct the sins of the
leaders. John had been bold and powerful, and
most of the people knew that he was a true prophet
vested with God-given authority - enough authority
to confront Israel’s leaders.
John also
had the God-given authority to recognize and announce
the arrival of the Messiah. So, if the leaders
were truly interested in issues of authority,
and really wanted to know where Yeshua got His
authority, it was only fair to ask the leaders
where John, who started his ministry before Yeshua
started His, got his authority. By asking them
this question, Yeshua turned the tables on them.
Now they were the ones faced with a difficult
question, a question that would expose their insincerity.
These
leaders knew that they had been outmaneuvered,
and they refused to respond to Yeshua’s question.
But, in spite of their refusal to respond, our
Rabbi had exposed the truth.
Don’t
feel that you need to answer every question -
especially if you are being challenged. The wise
person discerns what is motivating the question;
whether it is a real question, or maybe an attack,
or something else, and then he responds in a way
that is to his advantage, that will reveal the
nature of the challenge.
After
John’s powerful, prophetic, God’s ordained ministry;
after three or four years of the Messiah’s even
greater ministry, accompanied by the most profound
teaching and unparalleled miracles, the vast majority
of Israel’s religious and political leaders had
determined that Yeshua was not sent by God; He
was not the Messiah; He was a menace to the nation
and He needed to be eliminated.
Their
lack of faith in God and in the Messiah, their
rejection of Immanuel was unacceptable. It was
evil. It was terribly terribly destructive. It
would bring the severe judgment of God to the
entire nation. Their faithlessness disqualified
these religious leaders from ministry. New leaders
needed to be raised up who would properly shepherd
the people of God. Yeshua knew it, and told a
parable to help everyone understand the tremendous
things that were about to happen, and why they
were about to happen.
And
He began to tell the people this parable: “A man
(that’s God the Father) planted a vineyard
(that’s the nation of Israel) and rented
it out to vine-growers (that’s the leaders
of the nation of Israel), and went on a journey
for a long time (God’s dealing with Israel
would cover a long period of time - which it has).
At the harvest time he sent a slave (that
is one of the prophets, who encouraged the nation
to do what is right) to the vine-growers
(the leaders of the nation), so that they would
give him some of the produce of the vineyard
(the produce is faith in God and His Word, responsiveness
to the Almighty, righteous living, obeying the
Lord. The leaders’s responsibility was to set
an example of faithfulness and knowledge and righteous
living for the rest of the people); but the
vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed
(the leaders strayed from God and doing what is
right, and did not fulfill their God-given responsibilities.
When confronted by a God-sent prophet, instead
of listening to him, and receiving correction,
and returning to faithfulness to God, the Jewish
leaders almost always rejected the prophet, and
mistreated him).
And
he proceeded to send another slave; and they beat
him also and treated him shamefully and sent him
away empty-handed. And he proceeded to send a
third; and this one also they wounded and cast
out. This is a short summary of the history
of Israel. The faithless majority and their leaders
continually strayed from God and did not do what
He asked us to do. God sent the prophets to bring
correction, and they were mistreated and rejected.
But the
Lord did not give up on the Chosen Nation. He
decided to send Someone greater than the prophets,
who would exceed the prophets in wisdom, power,
authority and miracles. Surely the nation would
recognize the Son of God and respond to King Messiah
with faith and repentance, and get right with
God and be blessed!
God’s
plan was good and reasonable, but the unfaithfulness
of the leaders and the majority who followed their
bad example was so great that God’s Greatest Emissary
would also be rejected.
The
owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do?
I will send my beloved son (that’s Yeshua,
God’s Son); perhaps they will respect him’.
But when the vine-growers saw him, they reasoned
with one another, saying, 'This is the heir; let
us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours’.
So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed
him. What, then, will the owner of the
vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy
these vine-growers and will give the vineyard
to others”.
Israel’s
leaders would not recognize the Messiah. They
would not yield to His God-given authority - which
was greater than theirs. They would kill Him.
Such unbelief, such rejection of the Father and
His Beloved Son could not be tolerated! Leaving
such evil, corrupt leaders in place over the nation
that was to be a light to the other nations could
not be permitted! The plans of God to bring salvation
to the world, and bring an end to the destructive
forces of Satan, sin and death were at stake!
Judgment
was coming! The bad leaders needed to be removed.
New, faithful leaders - Messiah’s disciples, needed
to replace them and take over the leadership of
God’s people. A new revitalized Israel, that would
include the faithful remnant of Israel, and the
faithful remnant who would come from the other
nations, would very shortly begin!
The leaders
understood this prophetic parable, and didn’t
believe it or want it to become true. When
they heard it, they said, “May it never be”! But,
it was true, and would become reality - because
Yeshua spoke in God’s name, with God’s authority;
because God had put His words in Yeshua’s mouth,
and Yeshua was speaking to us everything that
the Father had commanded Him to speak to us; because
the Son of God is infallible, and always spoke
the truth; and because the Lord had already said
the same thing though earlier prophets - even
in the well-known book of Psalms, particularly
in Psalm 118, written about 1000 years earlier,
and which is read around this time of the year,
at Passover.
But
Yeshua looked at them and said, “What then is
this that is written: 'the stone which the builders
rejected, this became the chief corner stone'?
The builders were the leaders of the nation
of Israel. They were supposed to know God best
of all, and build up Israel and the nations by
having real faith in Him and being responsive
to His will and His word. They were supposed to
provide good teaching and wisdom and counsel.
The builders were supposed to be using good materials
to build a great spiritual house, the temple of
God where the Creator could once again live with
human beings. But tragically, the best stone of
all - the strongest, the most precious, the most
valuable, the very foundation stone of this great
and eternal and spiritual structure, would be
rejected by the builders of Israel!
Stone
is strong, solid, substantial, enduring. It is
great for building a house that will last a long
time. The best and greatest stone is the Messiah!
He is strong and precious and lasting! The leaders
of Israel should have known who He was and understood
how important He was to build up the kingdom of
God, and welcomed Him when He came and recognized
His great contribution and authority. But incredibly,
they rejected the Messiah! But, that would not
be the final outcome. God the Father would over-rule
the evil decision of the corrupt and faithless
leaders, and make sure that His Son would become
the foundation stone for God’s house, the foundation
for a new and perfect universe where the righteous
of all the nations will live with God and Messiah
and the good angels and with each other forever
and ever!
Yeshua
warned the corrupt leaders who were rejecting
Him that terrible consequences were coming because
of their rejection of Him. Yes, they will kill
Him in a few days, but that will not be the end
of the story. Good will overcome evil! Innocence
will overcome injustice! The righteous Messiah
will overcome the evil decree of these unrighteous
leaders! He will overcome death, and come back
vastly stronger and more powerful and utterly
destroy those who tried to destroy Him!
Yes, stone
can be used to build something strong that will
endure for a long time. But, stone can also be
used as a deadly weapon. Everyone who falls
on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on
whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust”.
The humble carpenter-turned-Rabbi from Nazareth
might seem to the faithless leaders to be weak
and inconsequential and subject to their authority
- but it was only that - seeming weakness and
inconsequentiality.
In reality,
the humble carpenter from Nazareth is El Gibor,
the Mighty God. He is the greatest and strongest
power in the universe! He is an immovable stone!
Nothing can ultimately defy Him, or overcome Him,
or reject His will, or overcome His plan, or make
His mission fail! He will utterly pulverize every
enemy that opposes Him - evil men, fallen angels,
and even the powerful forces of sin and death!
This great
conflict between Yeshua and Israel’s leaders is
not over. These deadly yet extremely enlightening
religious/spiritual/political battles will rage
for several more days - until the first day of
Passover. The experts in the Torah (the scribes)
and the chief priests tried to lay hands on Him
that very hour, and they feared the people; for
they understood that He spoke this parable against
them. So they watched Him, and sent spies who
pretended to be righteous, in order that they
might catch Him in some statement, so that they
could deliver Him to the rule and the authority
of the governor.
In conclusion:
The stone which the builders rejected, this
became the chief corner stone. Yeshua is that
precious and tested Stone that God has placed
in Zion, that precious Cornerstone that is a sure
foundation; the one who knows that and trusts
God and Messiah will never be dismayed! He will
be safe and secure and victorious forever and
ever!
The religious
and political leaders of the world, and the majority
of mankind might not understand that, but if you
understand that, that is something very special,
something wonderful. Act on that knowledge! Be
faithful to that truth!
Just as
stone is used for building, build your life with
Messiah. It is impossible to have a strong and
stable and enduring life apart from Him.
Just as
the cornerstone adds strength to the foundation,
and supports the rest of the building, build your
life on the Son of God. He must be your foundation.
He must be at the core of your life, your thinking,
your goals, your passion.
Just as
a stone can be used as a weapon, know that Messiah
is your protector. He will protect those who know
who He is, and identify with Him and serve Him
and suffer for Him. He will bring them safely
to the New Jerusalem.
Is He
your enemy? End your opposition to Him! Stop fighting
against Him. Don’t oppose Him! You will lose!
You will be crushed! Make your peace with Him!
Maybe
you believe in Him, but you are fighting against
Him in parts of your life. If you opposing Him
in any area of your life, don’t! That area of
your life will be pulverized! Submit that area
of your life to Him and you will be blessed by
the One who is the Stone, and strengthened by
the One who is the Cornerstone of God’s new and
eternal and blessed universe that is coming!
|
