"THE PASSION OF JESUS"

Text:  John 2: 12 - 17

     During the Thanksgiving week, we got to see what some call "religious passion.  In Mumbai, nearly 200 people were killed.  This story of Jesus cleansing the Temple illustrates Jesus at one of His most passionate moments. 

     Jesus was passionate about what was "right."  Scholars agree that there were probably two separate incidents in which Jesus cleansed the Temple.  The first was here in this John passage at the beginning of His ministry.  The second is recorded in the three Synoptic Gospels, of which I use the Mark account the most.  In Mark, Jesus scopes out the Temple and sees that it is back to business as usual even after He had cleansed it three years earlier (John).  The very next day, Jesus forcefully drives the unfit elements out of the Temple.

     Jesus had set it "right" the first time (John) and then once again as recorded in Mark.  There is a simple definition of "right" that really appeals to me:  "right" is how God does things.  For Jesus, what was "right" NEVER changed.  If something was right, it did NOT change - EVER!  What was right at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus was still right at the end of His ministry.  On the other hand, if it was wrong, Jesus opposed it with a passion.  We must admit that His passion was such that it actually made Him act - physically!  We see the hard working Carpenter throwing aside tables and running off merchants without so much as breaking a sweat.  The fact is, His passion was strong enough that it would produce a conspiracy that would eventually threaten His life.  When "right" was in the balance, Jesus stood up for it - regardless of the odds against Him.

     Jesus was also passionate about the "purposes" of God.  Matthew 21:14 tells us that Jesus healed the blind and lame INSIDE the Temple immediately following the cleansing.  This He did even though He was aware that a plot to kill Him was being hatched at the very same time.  You see, Jesus did not settle for simply getting rid of the wrong.  That can be done by the Righteous Judge Himself or frankly, by a self-righteous hypocrite.  Instead, Jesus immediately set about doing good, positive works.  He healed the blind and lame - in fact, all who were needy.  Mark also tells us that this was one of His most powerful times of teaching.  During this event after the cleansing, Jesus faced down the religious leaders and boldly and plainly shared the correct mind of God.

     Then, within hours after the second cleansing, Jesus completed the most selfless, positive act ever known to man.  He displayed God's ultimate purpose for His life by giving it for God's ultimate purpose of salvation for all mankind.  Certainly, if it was good and right to do, Jesus acted with burning passion.  His passion blotted out all but God's purposes.  In fact, he was completely blind to anything else.

     Jesus was certainly passionate about His Father's house.  The Temple represented God's presence to the people of Israel.  What picture do you suppose the Temple painted in the eyes of the world?  At the first cleansing, Jesus called it a "house of merchandise."‚ The greek indicates an agora - a marketplace.  You might say that Jesus equated what was happening in God's house to our local WalMart.  He looked at God's house and He saw WalMart.  The idea is that they were just doing business.

     At the second cleansing, Jesus called it a "den of thieves."  The idea is that it was like a band of plundering thieves who had absolutely no principles.  Jewish religious leaders were allowing their own people to be stolen blind in the name of religion!  While these "spiritual" giants of Israel were running the Temple, God certainly didn't look too good to the world (or to Jesus for that matter.)  Jesus' burst of anger on both occasions indicates how close to His heart was the "image" of His Father in the eyes of the world.  John observed in this passage in verse 17 that, for Jesus, the "image" of God in our world was a sore spot and quickly made Him angry.  We each have those inflammatory concerns which light a fire in our hearts because they are dear to us.  What God's house represented was such an issue for Jesus.  That God should look bad in the eyes of the world was a thought that Jesus could not stand.  Just a few hours later, Jesus would give the world a portrait of God painted on the cross of Calvary.  No masterpiece ever represented God's everlasting, selfless love more beautifully than the image of our sinless Savior giving His life for an unworthy world.  That characterization of God is stamped on the history of our world.

     So what does all this mean to us as Christians?  It means that there IS a place for spiritual passion!  Never should the events in Mumbai or the actions of radical Islam own the high ground of spiritual passion.  It means there is a RIGHT place for spiritual passion.  When "right" is in the balance, Christians should act passionately! When God's purposes are in the balance, Christians should act with passion!  When God's reputation is in the balance, Christians should act with the passion of Jesus!

     This past week I observed the passion of college football:  Alabama vs. Auburn, UF vs. FSU, the "Bedlam in Stillwater."  Where is OUR passion that looks like Jesus?  What spiritual value will be said to be "our undoing" as it was for our Lord?