A House of Prayer (John 2:12-17)

Topic: A House of Prayer

Reading: John 2:12-17

12 After this he went down to Caper’na-um, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples; and there they stayed for a few days. 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; you shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for thy house will consume me.”

Introduction and Overview

The message in these words is important. It refers to a problem that existed in the Temple in Jesus’ day, and still exists in the church today. It is a part of the thinking and the ways of the world that has taken root in parts of the church. And it should not exist because it is not the way of the Lord.

The house of the Lord and the places of worship should be a house of prayer. In one of the Matthew 21, verse 13 version, Jesus makes this statement, “My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you make it a den of robbers.” He was quite pointed about the problem at hand in the Temple. And it is a problem in much of the church today.

The problem is that the house of the Lord should be a place of refuge from the world. It should be a house of prayer, not a place for commerce. In the Temple, traders selling animals and birds, presumably for the sacrificial offerings carried out in the Temple. Also there were money traders working inside the Temple as if it were a place for commerce. It was a major problem in the eyes of the Lord for they had transformed the Temple from a house of prayer into a common marketplace.

And this is a relevant problem for the church today. There are sections of the modern church where commerce seems to be a major part of their mission. The churches have been set up so that you cannot enter or leave without running the gauntlet of their merchandise stalls. They offer books, music, recorded sermons, bumper stickers, memorabilia, t-shirts, and all kinds of things to people entering or leaving the church building. Such churches are not unlike the Temple when Jesus visited. They have turned the modern church into houses of trade rather than a house of prayer. So, let us look at these scriptures in more detail as there are still other interesting points in this section.

Key points from reading:

Jesus was part of a bigger family.
Jesus showed clearly that the Temple of God should be a house of prayer.
A house of prayer is not the place for commercial activity.

Discussion:

Scripture: John 2:12 – The Family of Jesus
- This is an interesting verse. We see here an aspect of Jesus and His daily life that is often overlooked. It is well recognised that Jesus was born a man, the son of Mary, but some sections of the modern church believe that was it. They seem to reject any idea that Jesus was part of a bigger family.
- Here we see that Jesus went down to Capernaum with His mother, brothers, and disciples. Note that He was with His brothers, and this is not His spiritual brothers. It is talking here about His brothers who were also the children of Mary. And although not mentioned here, Jesus had sisters as well. Look at what it says in this verse:
  
  55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? (Matthew 13:55-56)
- After the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph had other children. There were at least the four brothers mentioned here, and we don’t know how many sisters He had. We know that there were at least two, simply because the word in this verse is plural. But it could have been more than two also. Two of these brother of Jesus are also believed to have written two of the books in the Bible, specifically the books of James and Jude.
- So, although this is not part of the message about the Temple being a house of prayer, it is an interesting aside. It gives us a glimpse into the life and family of Jesus, and it tells us that He experienced the challenges and joys of family and relationships. He was not an only child as some seem to believe.
Scripture: John 2:13-14 – No Commerce should be in a House of Prayer
- At the time Jesus went down to the Temple. It was just prior to an upcoming Passover feast. At the Passover, there were sacrificial lambs killed and eaten in memory of the first Passover in Egypt. When the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt, God sent Moses to set the people free. There were many signs performed by Moses in front of the Pharaoh to convince him to allow the people to go. But in each case the Pharaoh would not set them free. The final sign occurred when God instructed Moses to have all the people sacrifice a lamb and paint the lintels and frame of their front door with the blood. They were then to all stay inside over night and eat the sacrificed lamb. That night, God sent the angel of death across Egypt who killed the first-born child of every family, including both people and animals. But whenever the angel of death came to a house with the blood of the lamb painted on the door-frames, it passed over that house and moved on. Pharaoh’s son was also killed that night and after this Pharaoh let the people go.
- These were the events that led to the keeping of the Passover, which is still observed today. It is always held in the northern spring time, often around late March or the beginning of April. It is also called the feast of the unleavened bread as the Jews avoid any kind of leaven during the days leading up to the Passover.
- The key part of the Passover was the killing of the Passover lamb. So, people needed to have a lamb to take part in the feast. In fact many, many lambs were needed as every household had to have a lamb killed and prepared for the Passover feast. And cunning entrepreneurs took advantage of that situation.
- Marketing 101 says that if you want to sell a product, you need to go where the customers are. So, because every household had to offer the Paschal Lamb at the Passover feast, every household needed a lamb and it needed to be offered at the Temple. So, from a marketing perspective the best place to sell lambs was at the Temple where the “customers” would be. And of course there were also other sacrifices of pigeons, cattle, and goats that were to be offered for different reasons too. So, they were also herded in and sold at the Temple as well. As a result, the Temple had become a house of commerce and trade, rather than a house of prayer. Effectively, if not deliberately, the animal sellers and money-changers had transformed the worship in the Temple into a means for profit. Commerce became more important than worship. And that bothered Jesus greatly.
Scripture: John 2:15 – Driving out the Evil
- Jesus was consumed with anger over what people were doing to the Temple. It was meant to be a house of prayer, not a common marketplace. Jesus was incensed over the callous disregard these people had for God’s house. He did not stand silent over this matter. Jesus took action to set things right.
- Imagine what it must have been like. The Temple was full of animals, all defecating and making stinking messes over what was supposed to be holy ground. The men in charge had a callous disregard for the solemnity of the the Temple. They did not see it as a house of prayer or worship. For them, it was a means to make a buck. So, Jesus made a whip and drove out all of the animals that were in the Temple. He overturned the tables of the money-changers, spilling their ill-gotten gains all over the place and telling them to get out of God’s place of worship. He made it quite clear that it was supposed to be a solemn house of prayer, not a place of commerce.
- And this same message needs to carry down to the church today. Many parts of the modern church use the same thinking and philosophy of those early sellers of animals and money-changers. Today, many churches look at their congregations as a customer base, rather than worshipers. They establish shops and stalls in the church where they sell so-called Christian products. Such churches are more like places of commerce than a house of prayer and worship.
Scripture: John 2:16-17 – Remove pollution from a house of prayer
- Money is not of God. Jesus made this abundantly clear when the chief priests and scribes attempted to find fault with him over the payment of taxes to Caesar.
  
  22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” 23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, 24 “Show me a coin. Whose likeness and inscription has it?” They said, “Caesar’s.” 25 He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Luke 20:22-25)
  
  In these words Jesus showed that money is a creation of the government of the day. It is a thing of this world, and therefore is not of God. God does not care about money. He did not create money or the monetary systems. If He had created money and monetary systems you can guarantee it would be vastly better than it is today. But money is not of God and has no place in a house of prayer. In a house of prayer and worship we should render to God the things of God. Worship, praise, honour, and a commitment to learn the things of God.
- When Jesus drove out the money-changers and the animals that were in the Temple, He was cleansing the house of prayer from pollution. The Temple authorities had allowed the Temple to be polluted for the sake of profit. Jesus was restoring the Temple to it’s correct state. It was to be a house of prayer, praise, and the worship of God. It was a holy sanctuary where people could meet to learn the things of God and give Him right praise and worship. And He carried out this cleansing with great power, wrath, and righteous fury. He fulfilled the prophecy that had been written in the prophets, “Zeal for thy house will consume me.” (John 2:17 quoting from Psalm 69:9)
- This is something that we should consider today. The modern churches are not meant to be houses of commerce. Just as the Temple was meant to be a house of prayer, so too are the churches today. Using the church and the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for profit and gain is wrong. Taking it a step further as those who preach the prosperity gospel is even worse. They have made money their god, and it will not save them.
- Seek God. Seek also the Lord Jesus Christ. Find the truth and when the church meets, meet as a house of prayer. Reject the commercial aspirations of some churches and have nothing to do with those who preach wealth and prosperity as an indicator of faith. That is prosperity gospel teaching and it is a lie. Have nothing to do with it.

Prayer Points:

Pray and ask God to lead you to understand these things. Know and understand that the church today, like the Temple in Jerusalem, is a house of prayer, praise, and worship of the Lord. It is not a commercial undertaking.