John 2:13-25 | Get Out of My House

Opening and Scripture Reading\nIf you don't have a Bible, you can use the Pew Bible in front of you. If you don't own a Bible, we would love for you to just own that Bible. Feel free to take it home with you. I do want to remind you though that if you already own a Bible, don't take the Bible. Those Pew Bibles are meant for people that don't own Bibles. So, if you don't own a Bible or if you find your Bible particularly difficult to read, feel free to take a translation. I leave that to your conscience.\n\nWe'll be looking at the Fourth Gospel in the New Testament, the Gospel of John, and we'll be finishing chapter 2 this morning. So, we'll be looking at verses 13-25. John 2:13-25. It says this:\n\n> The Jewish Passover was near, and so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and he also found the money changers sitting there. After making a whip out of cords, he drove everyone out of the temple with their sheep and oxen. He also poured out the money changers’ coins and overturned the tables. He told those who were selling doves, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!” And his disciples remembered that it is written: Zeal for your house will consume me. So the Jews replied to him, “What sign will you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days.” Therefore the Jews said, “This temple took forty-six years to build, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the statement Jesus had made. While he was in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. Jesus, however, would not entrust himself to them, since he knew them all and because he did not need anyone to testify about man; for he himself knew what was in man.\n>\n> — John 2:13-25 (CSB)\n\nLet's pray. Lord, we pray that like the disciples, you would help us to remember what you've said and what you've done. In light of those things, that we would trust in you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.\n\nHave you ever had someone tell you something absolutely ridiculous? I remember doing homeless ministry in Skid Row as a teenager and having a conversation with a homeless man who claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. I remember thinking in my own head, "I'll believe it when I see it. When you show me the scars, if you die on a cross and rise from the dead, I'll believe it." Other people have other grandiose claims, great claims of physical feats that they can accomplish, and you'll think to yourself, "I'll believe it when I see it."\n\nOther people claim to come from prestigious backgrounds or like to puff themselves up with their words. And really, words are about as empty as the breath that you use to say them, right? At the end of the day, anyone can say anything about anything that they'd like. You could posture, be whoever you'd like. There are tons of people online right now on social media claiming to be millionaires because they decide to do XYZ. If you just pay them $90 and sign up for their course, they'll teach you how to do the same thing. Words are vacuous without substance. What we see this morning is Jesus making outlandish claims about who he is. Not because he's just saying it for the sake of saying it, but because he has the authority and the ability to back it up.\n\nSo, this is what John wants us to understand about who Jesus is this morning: that we need to truly trust in the true temple. John does this by overviewing three things. First, where are we? Second, who is he? And lastly, who are we? Where are we? Who is he? And who are we? Let's start with number one: Where are we?\n\n## Where Are We? The Temple as a Marketplace\n\nLet's look at verse 13 again. The Jewish Passover was near, and so Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple, he found people selling oxen, sheep, and doves. And he also found the money changers sitting there. So Jesus goes up to Jerusalem during the time of the Passover, where they celebrate God's redemption of the people of Israel through Egypt. In particular, the Passover is celebrating the time in the tenth plague where Israel themselves was not exempt from judgment. They had to sacrifice a lamb. They had to take the blood of that lamb with branches and paint the blood on their doorpost. And what would happen is when the spirit of the Lord descends into Egypt to take the life of every firstborn, if the doorposts are splattered with that blood, the spirit would see the blood and then pass over that house, and spare that house from judgment.\n\nThis moment was so central to Israel's identity. God doesn't just instruct Israel to do this once, but he instructs them to do it every single year. In fact, in Exodus 12:2, God tells Israel that the month where the Passover happens is to be "the beginning of months for you," is the first month of your year. So, the Passover literally shifts the Jewish calendar in light of what God does. It is so fundamental to Israel's identity that their calendar would rotate around the Passover. It would happen on the tenth day of the first month. It's like Thanksgiving mixed with New Year's. In other words, it's a really big yearly celebration.\n\nAnd one common tradition during the Passover would be to go up Mount Zion to go to the city of Jerusalem and to worship in the temple. And Jesus, like many others, made his way up this mountain to Jerusalem during the time of the Passover. And when he goes into the temple, he sees people selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and money changers. Now, these folks aren't there year-round. They are particularly there because of the holiday season. You can imagine all the people going up to the city would be a good time, a business. The way that you might see a Spirit Halloween store resurrect an old Toys R Us is kind of like what's happening here with these merchants and money changers setting up shop.\n\nAnd seeing these free-market merchants provokes Jesus to act. You can see that in verse 15. After making a whip out of cords, he drove everyone out of the temple with their sheep and oxen. And he also poured out the money changers' coins and overturned the tables. Really common story. Now, before you think Jesus went around whipping people, that's not quite what's happening here. It's not like Jesus saw red and kind of hulked out and then started beating people into submission. These cords were probably used to drive out large animals like oxen and sheep. But while Jesus isn't in a frenzy, he is furious.\n\nAnd you could see his reason why. In verse 16, he says, "He told those who were selling doves, 'Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a marketplace!' His disciples remembered that it is written, 'Zeal for your house will consume me.'" Jesus is furious because they've taken God's house and turned it into a market. And in Matthew 21, Jesus says the same thing in the temple, and he says that they have turned his Father's house into a den of thieves.\n\nWhat is so upsetting about this marketplace? Well, let me just address two things that it's not. Jesus is not upset because Jesus is against giving money to the temple. This is not him making some statement against financial contributions to the ministry. In fact, Jesus commends the widow with her two coins in Mark 12 for her generous heart in giving. He doesn't seem to want to dismantle the system of giving to the temple in advancing ministry work. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 9, Paul actually references this very activity. So, if you have your Bible, you can go and turn with me to 1 Corinthians 9. I just want to read you this passage briefly. 1 Corinthians 9:3-14. This is Paul talking about his own ministry work.\n\n> My defense to those who examine me is this: Don’t we have the right to eat and drink? Don’t we have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife like the other apostles, the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas? Or do only Barnabas and I have no right to refrain from working? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink the milk from the flock? Am I saying this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the law also say the same thing? For it is written in the law of Moses, Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain. Is God really concerned about oxen? Isn’t he really saying it for our sake? Yes, this is written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing the crop. If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you? If others have this right to receive benefits from you, don’t we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right; instead, we endure everything so that we will not hinder the gospel of Christ. Don’t you know that those who perform the temple services eat the food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the offerings of the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel.\n>\n> — 1 Corinthians 9:3-14 (CSB)\n\nSee what Paul is saying here in terms of the logic: If the Jewish temple functions with people giving their offerings to the temple and the Levite priests who are operating the temple are living off of these sacrifices, it's not like the entire cow is entirely burned up in the sacrifice. They will use it for the sacrifice, and the remainder of the cow's body will be used for a delicious steak dinner for the Levite priests, right? And in the same way, he's saying that then justifies supporting gospel ministers in the church. So it wouldn't make sense then for Jesus to be looking at this Jewish temple service and system that God himself has set up in Deuteronomy, and then say that the entire industrial complex of giving money itself is bad. That's not what Jesus is doing.\n\nAnd also, in addition, number two, Jesus is not against even the practice of people purchasing animals for the sake of sacrifice. So I want you to turn back in your Bible to Deuteronomy 14. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 14, that's the fifth book in your Bible. Deuteronomy 14:22-29. This passage is the justification for what these people in the marketplace are doing.\n\n> “Each year you are to set aside a tenth of all the produce grown in your fields. You are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and fresh oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, in the presence of the Lord your God at the place where he chooses to have his name dwell, so that you will always learn to fear the Lord your God. But if the distance is too great for you to carry it, since the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far away from you and since the Lord your God has blessed you, then exchange it for silver, take the silver in your hand, and go to the place the Lord your God chooses. You may spend the silver on anything you want: cattle, sheep, goats, wine, beer, or anything you desire. You are to feast there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice with your family. Do not neglect the Levite within your city gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you. “At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for that year and store it within your city gates. Then the Levite, who has no portion or inheritance among you, the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow within your city gates may come, eat, and be satisfied. And the Lord your God will bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.\n>\n> — Deuteronomy 14:22-29 (CSB)\n\nThis is a really practical command. The Lord commands a tithe, 10% from the Israelites. You are to take a tenth of all that you own and give it to the Lord at the temple. It's meant to be a celebration. You're eating, the priests are eating. It's a giant party here celebrating what the Lord has done and provided. But imagine for a moment if you're a farmer in Iowa, or let's say you're a dairy farmer in Bakersfield. You could smell the cows on the drive up the Grapevine, right? And you have the responsibility of taking out of your 400 cows 40 of them and then herding them all the way down to the city of Los Angeles. That is insane. It's just really hard to do. In fact, think about Jerusalem and where it's located. It's on a mountain. It's on Mount Zion. So, not only do you have to herd all this cattle, you have to herd them uphill. That sounds super unreasonable.\n\nSo, God in Deuteronomy 14 says, "Hey, if it's too hard because you've made too much money, or your herds and your flocks are that big, or it's uncumbersome or you're too far away, then what you do is you just exchange it for money and take that money to the city and then exchange that for goods so that you can still practice the service." So, Jesus isn't anti-Deuteronomy 14 here either. Jesus wasn't upset at the act of being able to change currency for animals. That's not the problem here.\n\nWhat upsets Jesus, what Jesus was against, wasn't necessarily what they were doing, but where they were. These people were placed around convenience, which is why they were right next to the temple. Actually, that's not what the text says. Where are they? They aren't next to the temple. They are inside the temple. And listen, I am very grateful for my bank, but we should not have a Chase ATM in the foyer. That's not where it belongs. But the economics of this holiday are so lucrative that their greedy hearts reflect that in their actions and where they choose to be. They start encroaching into holy ground. Think about what the heart of Deuteronomy 14 is supposed to be. They are supposed to be celebrating and delighting in the Lord. And instead, these money changers, these merchants, are celebrating their pocketbooks. They turn their Thanksgiving into a Black Friday.\n\nI had a conversation with a multimillionaire businessman who was a Christian, and well-meaning, I think, several weeks ago. He was asking me about the ministry work here. I was talking to him about it, and he told me, "Oh, no, no, you guys are doing everything wrong. What you need to do is you need to sell your property for the millions of dollars that it's worth, invest it in the stock market and then use the advancements that you get from the stock market and use it to help with the gospel work. It's the most efficient thing that you could do with your money," along with other rants about how he thought debt was good and so on and so forth. I appreciated his heart in intending to do me well, but I didn't tell him this, but in my head, I was thinking, "Sir, this isn't Goldman Sachs. It's a church, right? We're not a business. We're a church."\n\nAnd it's a danger not just for the money changers or the millionaires, but for ourselves, that we can get so caught up in worldly systems of thinking, worldly priorities, and worldly values that we begin to forget the heart of worship, what we're supposed to be doing. 1 Corinthians 6 tells us that we, the church, are the temple of the Holy Spirit, which means not just our actions, but our hearts need to reflect the things of God. Would you say that zeal for the Lord consumes you enough that you wouldn't be tempted to make alternative decisions like this? Or if Jesus were to pour these money changers' coins onto the floor, would you look at that kind of action and think to yourself, "What a waste?" Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And the more you treasure Christ, the more you will be willing to kill your sin. And the more you treasure Christ, the more you'll be willing to devote yourself wholly to the worship of God and the discipling of the saints. It's no wonder that the disciples look back and remember the prophetic words of David, "Zeal for your house will consume me," because Jesus has such a high esteem for his Father in Heaven that for anyone to enter into the house of God with any other alternative motive is an insult to the value of the God that you're claiming to worship. The more you value God, the more zealous you will be for a singular devotion to him. And Jesus is incensed. It says here he's consumed by this passion for God. And the Jews respond by saying, "Whoa, man. Who do you think you are?" Which brings us to point number two.\n\n## Who Is He? Jesus as the True Temple\n\nLook at verse 18. So the Jews replied to him, "What sign will you show us for doing these things?" I mean, the audacity of having a random man come into the temple and begin driving everyone out. And so the Jews ask him to show them a sign, which is another way of saying, "Show us your credentials." If I were to simplify this language and this request for a sign, the Jews are basically looking at Jesus and saying, "Who are you?" And Jesus responds by saying, "I'm the owner of this house."\n\nImagine if I came over to your house for a visitation, which I love doing, and please invite me over. I'd be happy to do it, right? And I come over and after dinner, we're sitting in your living room. I say, "Well, I had a wonderful time here. You all can leave now." Well, that wouldn't make much sense. I don't have the spiritual powers of eminent domain. I can't just evict you from your own home by virtue of my pastoral role. But Jesus can drive people out of God's house. And the reason why he can drive people out of God's house is because it's his house. After all, he doesn't refer to this temple as God's house. He refers to this temple as his Father's house. It's his house. Jesus owns this house. And so Jesus can evict people out of this house.\n\nIt's exactly why we as a church have the heavy responsibility of disciplining unrepentant church members to guard even this temple of the Holy Spirit. Not this building, though the building is very beautiful, though it does need fumigation, right? What I mean is the temple of this people. 1 Corinthians 6 talks about how y'all are the temple of the Holy Spirit. And the way that we guard this house, the way that we protect what's inside this house, is by disciplining unrepentant church members. I'm not talking about sinners—if that was the case, this church would be empty. I'm talking about people that are in unrepentant, open, serious sin. People that are with their actions proclaiming that it's possible to follow Jesus and continue sinning openly at the same time. We have the responsibility to kick those people out. To say definitively, "You cannot say that you can follow Jesus and give into your sin at the same time and expect the church to be endorsing you and protecting you and covering you by membership in this church."\n\nAnd the reason why we do that isn't because we think that we're great or because we think that we're high and mighty, but because we as a church have the responsibility to reflect Jesus's authority in the church as he's revealed it in his Word. It's exactly what Paul says that we ought to do. He says, "God judges those who are outside. You are to remove the evil person from among you" (1 Corinthians 5:12-13). And the reason why we do it isn't because we think that we're holier. It's not true. It's not because we're less sinful or because we're better than other people. The reason why we do that is because it's not our church. It's Jesus's church, and he gets to set the lines and the boundaries as he pleases. Jesus is the owner of this house. It's his Father's.\n\nBut Jesus goes a step further than that. The Jews ask him for a sign, and he responds not just by saying that he's the owner of the house, he responds by saying that he *is* the house. You can see that in verse 19. Jesus answered, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days." Therefore, the Jews said, "This temple took 46 years to build, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking about the temple of his body. So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the statement Jesus had made. Jesus's response to the Jews' request for a sign is "destroy the temple." He doesn't say, "Watch this." He says, "You destroy the temple, I'll raise it up in three days." You want to see a sign? Bring the demolition crew. Destroy this temple. I'll raise it up in three days.\n\nAnd all these people, I think reasonably so, think, "Absolutely ridiculous." I mean, the literal temple took decades to build. There are whole books in Ezra and Nehemiah where you could just read about the headache of trying to rebuild Israel after they come back from the Persian Empire. But Jesus wasn't talking about the physical stone or the mortar that was used to build this temple that he's next to. He was talking about the temple of his body because Jesus is God. Colossians 2:9 says that "the entire fullness of God's nature dwells bodily in Christ." In fact, that's the way that John opens his Gospel by pointing to this reality. John 1:14 says that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." In other words, Jesus is God. And rather than dwelling in a building, he's dwelling in a body.\n\nIn fact, if you want proof scripturally that Jesus is God, you actually don't need to look further than what he said he would do even here. Jesus says, "Destroy this temple," referring to his own body, "and I will raise it up in three days." And if you know your Bible and you know what it says about Jesus being raised, you would know that Jesus is making a divine claim here. Who says that Jesus—or Jesus here says that he will raise himself up? Romans 8:11 says that "the Holy Spirit raised Jesus up." In Acts chapter 2:24, as Peter's preaching, he says that "God raised Jesus from the dead." So if you read your New Testament thoughtfully and you know that all these authors know each other—John's friends with Peter, right? He knows Paul—you see that God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus all raised Jesus from the dead. And so the question is, which is it? And the answer is yes. All of them did it. God the Father raises Jesus from the dead. God the Spirit raises Jesus from the dead. God the Son raises Jesus from the dead. So why can Jesus say that he will raise himself up from the grave? Because he himself is God. Because in his divinity, God the Son is able to raise himself up from the dead.\n\nThe question then, if Jesus is God, if this is his house, if he really is the temple, should it be, "Who is Jesus to talk to the Jews this way?" The question is, "Who are the Jews to speak to Jesus this way?" And how much more for those of us who know that Jesus Christ rose from the dead? There are lots of outlandish claims that Jesus makes about himself. He claims to be God. He claims to save the whole world. He claims to be able to raise himself up from the dead. You know what would validate a guy to be able to say those things? If he actually rose from the dead. If he actually rose from the dead.\n\nIf you don't know Jesus, it is worth your time and investigation into this exact claim. Christians are not believing based on just feelings or vibes. I had a conversation with a non-Christian over lunch yesterday where we talked exactly about this. Christianity isn't just providing vague morals or good platitudes for you to adjust your life and walk forward. It's actually rooted in a historical claim. We are stating that Jesus actually rose from the dead and that that is a historically reliable claim. And if that's true, then that means that everything that Jesus said about himself is also true. If you have questions about that, I would recommend that you read *The Case for Christ* by Lee Strobel or *Who Is Jesus?* by Greg Gilbert. Henry, I'm remembering that you gave me a book that also investigates that claim. I forgot the name of it. So if you have questions about it, you could talk to Henry after service.\n\nIf Jesus rose from the dead, that means he has the credentials to back up what he says. That's exactly why the disciples, when they see the resurrected Christ, are able to think back to what Jesus said before, "Destroy this temple. I'll raise it up in three days." And by recalling that statement, they believe the Scriptures and what Jesus said. The same is true for you and I. When we encounter Christ, when we see him, when we believe in him, we are able to look back at what he said, be able to see that he meant what he said, and then believe in what he said. But Jesus didn't rise from the dead yet at this point in the story. Jesus was still ministering, and people were believing. But John concludes the story with a kind of believing that feels a little off. You can see that in point number three.\n\n## Who Are We? The Problem of Self-Trust\n\nLook at verse 23 with me. While he was in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. Jesus, however, would not entrust himself to them, since he knew them all because he did not need anyone to testify about man; for he himself knew what was in man. Jesus performs his signs, and people see and believe in him. Similar to what happened at the wedding of Cana, when the disciples saw Jesus's glory and believed in him. It's very similar phrasing here at the end of chapter 2 as what you see in the middle of chapter 2. Except there's a difference this time. While the people believe in Jesus's name, Jesus will not entrust, which is actually the same word for "believe." He won't believe in them.\n\nWhy would Jesus not believe in the people? It's an interesting thought. After all, the crowds can all see Jesus performing miracles. I don't think Jesus is doubting their ability to mentally comprehend the miracles and the signs that he's performing. The reason that John gives here for why Jesus won't believe in the many is because he knows them. He knows them. It's not about who Jesus is or Jesus's own abilities. It has to do with who the crowds are. He knows all of them, and whatever's in them is not worth trusting. You would not give your 16-year-old child your keys to your Cadillac. In the same way, Jesus won't entrust his soul to the crowds. He won't believe in them.\n\nThese crowds may 'oo' and 'awe' at Jesus's ministry, but these same people in Jerusalem will cry out for his crucifixion in just a few years. And no one in Jerusalem was exempt from this assessment. It says here that Jesus knew them all. He knew all of them. This is not a matter of just a particular selection of people that were in front of him while he's performing these signs and miracles. He knows everyone in Jerusalem, and he won't trust himself to any of them. But it's not just that Jesus won't trust the people right in front of him or the people in the city of Jerusalem. Based on what John says here in verse 25, Jesus won't trust in you either.\n\nIt says that the reason why Jesus didn't trust them is because "he knew what was in man." In other words, in all of mankind. There's a real danger in believing in Jesus and trying to also believe in yourself. A faith that's willing to acknowledge that Jesus is different, being able to see all the things that he does, seeing the way that he's different, even seeing the miracles that he performs, maybe even believing that he rose from the dead, but being unwilling to let go of a belief in yourself. A faith that tries to follow Jesus and your own hunch or your own discernment or your own self-reliance. A faith that plays 'hokey pokey' with holiness, that acknowledges God while also trying to advance yourself. That's exactly what these merchants and money changers are doing in the story, isn't it? Trying to claim that they can worship God while also advancing themselves, believing in a God who helps those who help themselves.\n\nWe could do this all the time with our own spiritual lives where we start to slip into trusting in God and having faith in God to then having faith in our faith in God, basing our belief system based on how we feel like we're doing or our own track record or our own abilities. And for Jesus, that kind of thinking is as unreliable as those merchants in the temple. Do you believe in your heart of hearts that at the end of the day, you're not that bad? "At least I'm not as bad as my neighbor or the other people sitting with me in this room or the people in Artesia." Do you believe that man is fundamentally good? If you do, you are fundamentally at odds with Jesus. He sees what is in man. And Jesus has no faith in humanity and neither does the Scriptures.\n\nRomans 3 says that "there is no one righteous, not even one."\n\n> as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.\n>\n> — Romans 3:10-12 (CSB)\n\nThat means you are no exception to that rule. Paul goes on to say that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Humanity is fundamentally flawed. And more than flawed, we are corrupt. That's exactly why Malachi in chapter 3 verse 2 is able to say:\n\n> But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will be able to stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire and like launderer’s bleach.\n>\n> — Malachi 3:2 (CSB)\n\nIf the spirit of the Lord were to descend right now and pass through our nation or pass through our planet like he did the nation of Egypt, there is nothing that you and I can do in and of ourselves to cover ourselves. We would all fall under the sword of God's judgment. There's nothing we could do to exempt ourselves from the Lord's justice because all of us deserve to burn in hell forever unless the Passover Lamb's blood covers you.\n\nWhat hope do we have as Christians? It's not in any belief that we have in ourselves. It's not rooted in our self-esteem. It's not rooted in our own self-trust. If you track your faith based on your track record this last week or how your heart feels or your degree of faith that you feel like you have in him, God wants you to stop. Don't trust in yourselves. Don't believe in yourself. That means evicting your self-righteousness and your sin. To say, "None of that belongs in here. Get all the sin and unrighteousness in you and pursue holiness because God's way is a better way." That also means taking all the self-reliance that you may have and temptations to start bearing weight on your own shoulders or creating some kind of narrative of an arc of redemption where you grow in competence and you get to really show Jesus that he didn't mess up by picking you. You need to get that out of your heart, too. Because when Jesus looks at you, he sees who you really are. And when he sees who you really are, he doesn't move to reject you. He actually moves to give you grace.\n\nDo you realize that Jesus not believing in you is one of the best things that you could ever hear? That Jesus isn't expecting you to keep up some track record? That Jesus isn't disappointed when he finds out that you're actually weak or weary or incapable? Jesus doesn't believe in you. He believes in himself. It's precisely because Jesus trusts his Father and his Father's will that he could then turn to us, whom he doesn't believe in, and care for us as his child. We are called to completely trust in our Passover Lamb who was slain for us and risen from the dead. If you're not a Christian, are you willing to do that today? To stop trusting in yourself and to trust in Christ.\n\nBecause if you feel despicably sinful, if you feel like there's nothing you could do to wash yourself clean, if you feel like there's nothing worthy in yourself that would make God want you, God agrees. And the good news of John 6:37 is that if the Father gives you to his Son, whoever all the Father gives to me comes to me.\n\n> Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out.\n>\n> — John 6:37 (CSB)\n\nIt has nothing to do with your will. It has everything to do with Jesus's will. It's about who Jesus is. He will never cast you out. If you're interested in knowing more about Christianity, I'll be standing right at the door after service. I would love to talk to you more about what it looks like to follow Jesus. Because if you trust in him, if you trust in Jesus, you can finally let go of this pressure, this unrelenting weight. You can trust in Jesus to forgive your sins. Not only that, you also become something greater by actually lowering yourself. By emptying yourself, you obtain a new identity that's more valuable than anything you could have achieved with all of your own human effort.\n\nDid you know that the Bible describes Christians, the body of Christ, as the temple of God? This is what 1 Peter 2 says. Peter says, "You come to him, a living stone, rejected by people but chosen and honored by God. And you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable through Jesus Christ."\n\n> As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God— you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.\n>\n> — 1 Peter 2:4-5 (CSB)\n\nYou see the themes in John 2 and the way that they relay over to 1 Peter 2: house, sacrifices, stones. What do you call a spiritual house where priests offer spiritual sacrifices? You call it a temple. That's where you do it. And that identity as a temple becomes a reason why you and I pursue holiness in our lives. It's an inherent part of who we are. We are the temple of the living God. Which is why to defile our bodies with sin is to defile the temple of Jesus. Pursuing holiness as a Christian, killing sin, is a way that we declare to the world that we are not trusting in ourselves and we are going to live in Christ.\n\nJesus himself says that "this is the will of him who sent me" in John 6:\n\n> This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day.\n>\n> — John 6:39 (CSB)\n\nHe trusted in his Father's plan. He knew that that crowd that he was speaking to would be the very same crowd that could not even reject the voice of the one that they were offended by. Jesus says, "Destroy this temple," and they obeyed. They killed him, and he rose on the third day just like he said. But the good news for you and I is that if we are the temple of Jesus and he says, "Destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days," then that means that you are also a part of this grand declaration of Christ. "Destroy this temple. I will raise it up in three days." If you are in Christ, you are the temple. If you are the temple, then that means that even as death itself threatens to destroy you, God promises you the same resurrection future that Jesus himself declares for his own body.\n\nThat's what Jesus is talking about in John 6 when he says that he will lose none of them that he has given me and I will raise them up on that last day. He promises you a resurrection future. That even as you feel your own body decay, as death begins to encroach onto you, as the world tries to promise you that you could distract yourself or implement policies to try to fight against the consequences of sin in your life, you as a Christian have absolutely nothing to fear. If we are stones being built up into this temple of the living God, then that means that God makes no accidents, and this world may come at you like a demolition crew and absolutely pulverize you. And you can trust in the promise of your Savior that he will raise you up on that last day. And because he's given us this word and this Christ and this kind of proof, you don't need to believe it when you see it. You can hear it and believe it. Let's pray.\n\nLord, we pray that you would help us to trust in this good news that we are the temple, but more importantly, that Jesus died for us and rose from the dead. We pray that you would help us to celebrate this good news and to join the tone of celebration that even we see in this passage that we're intended to have by celebrating the good news that we have in the gospel. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.