The Lord of the Temple
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Jesus confronts the evil of false and hypocritical worship by cleansing the Temple.
Text: Luke 19:45-48
Date: 02/09/2025, the Combined service.
Series: "Luke: Thy Kingdom Come" Part 182
Description:
In our study of Luke, we have spent quite some time talking about the Kingdom of God, the Divine Cosmic Initiative, and the arrival of the King who will bring peace to heaven and earth. We have used that language to describe His Advent, His ministry, and His Triumphal Entry. And now, the King arrives and goes directly to the enemy He knows must be destroyed. He is about to wage war-- but it is not on the enemy everyone expected! But rather it is on the powers of evil, the serpent, sin, and death. And so, He goes directly to the "den" of one of the most dangerous enemies the new Kingdom and its church will face. And it isn't pagan Rome! It is His own people in the very place constructed for the worship of His Father-- the Temple! In this message we will see that Jesus, in His actions, in His fulfillment of prophecy, and in His bold and compassionate teaching, confronts the evils of false and hypocritical worship and thereby establishes Himself as the Lord of the Temple.
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I. Introduction, Rev. 7:9-12; 1Cor. 2:9.
II. Exposition of the text, Luke 19:45-48.
A. Context
1. The immediate context, Luke 19:38; Mal. 3:1-4.
2. Remembering the first cleansing, John 2:13-17.
B. The Lord of the Temple arrives.
1. The cleansing, vs. 45.
a. Setting the scene.
i. The Temple complex.
ii. The bizarre bazaar, Acts 2:9-11.
iii. The chief merchants.
iv. The united front.
b. Driving the merchants out, Mark 11:15-16; Mal. 3:1-3.
i. Pondering the compression.
ii. Another aspect of the Cosmic Initiative, Luke 19:10.
2. The justification, vs. 46.
a. A poignant reminder, Luke 4:4,8.
b. A house of prayer.
i. The context in Isaiah.
1) The nations will come to Zion, Isa. 56:6-8.
2) Identifying the apostates, Isa. 56:10-12.
ii. A comparison with John, John 2:16; Luke 6:5.
c. A den of robbers.
i. A scathing prophecy, Jer. 7:2-4, 8-12; Psa. 78:60-64; Lam. 2:5-7.
ii. The New Testament significance, John 2:16; Luke 19:43-44.
3. Teaching in the Temple, vs. 47a.
a. Another inclusio, Luke 2:14, 19:38, 1:68, 19:44, 2:46-47.
b. The boldness, Luke 18:31-33.
i. Infuriating the merchants.
ii. Offending the Sadducees.
iii. Inconveniencing the pilgrims.
c. The compassion, Jer. 7:8.
4. The plot to destroy Him, vs. 47b.
a. A new batch of enemies.
i. A shift in focus, Luke 9:22.
ii. The nature of the new enemies.
1) The chief priests.
2) The scribes, Luke 5:30, 9:22.
3) Principal men of the people.
b. Seeking to destroy Him, John 10:30,31; Luke 6:7, 11, 11:53-54.
5. The great tragedy, vs. 48.
III. Application
A. Guarding against the way of evil, Prov. 26:11.
B. The joy of true worship.
IV. Conclusion
