MIDWEEK LENT 3 – March 11, 2021 – John 2:13-22
“JESUS: A WILLING ZEALOT”
Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel Lesson just read, from John 2. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- We do not use the term “zealot” much these days. Our choice is “fanatic,” or “fan” for short. We don’t really think of fans as being “fanatics.” In fact, to be fanatical is to be an extremist, and no one really likes extremists.
- However, the term “zealot” comes from the word “zeal,” and it is not bad to have zeal for good things. We appreciate people who bring a lot of energy and commitment to the tasks we believe in and are trying to accomplish.
- The word “Zealot,” however, had a specific meaning back in time of Christ. You remember that one of Jesus’ disciples was called Simon the Zealot. The Encyclopedia Britannica gives this definition: “Zealot, member of a Jewish sect noted for its uncompromising opposition to pagan Rome and the polytheism it professed. The Zealots were an aggressive political party whose concern for the national and religious life of the Jewish people led them to despise even Jews who sought peace and conciliation with the Roman authorities.”
- Jesus is described in the incident at the temple as having “zeal for God’s house.” In fact, this zeal is described as consuming Him. So, Jesus was a Zealot, but not the political kind. It was the political Zealots who thought that perhaps Jesus would be the new Messiah-King. But as Jesus informed Pilate, His kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. It is the kingdom of God!
- Still, it is intriguing to see that Jesus had zeal, self-consuming zeal, and that He was “A WILLING ZEALOT.”
I. Jesus Had Righteous Zeal – For God’s House [For the sake of the Gospel, the true knowledge of God, that He be taken reverently and seriously]
Text: “Jesus told those who sold the pigeons, ‘Take these things away; do not make My Father’s house a house of trade.’”
John 17:3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You the only True God, and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent.”
John 3:17 “God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world, through Him, might be saved.”
Statement: It is really hard telling just how much indignation Jesus felt about the religion of Judaism which had high-jacked the “faith of Abraham” and displaced it with a religion of law and works. Obviously, He vehemently disagreed with the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and priests. He tried to teach them at every turn the way of repentance and faith in God’s gracious love. He tried to show them at all times that He was the promised Son of God, the Savior of the world. They rejected Him, at least most of them. The temple had been turned into a place where people gave their “tit” to receive God’s “tat,” a place to worship this false “tit for tat” god of Judaism! Jesus was zealous to correct this.
Application: It is no different to this day. Jesus abhors all who teach such false religion in His Name, and in the Father’s Name! Jesus, in this text, when speaking of the temple of God, was speaking about “the temple of His body.” The church is also described as being His body, and we are members of it. Consider what Jesus must think when people try to corrupt and kill His body, His people, with “tit for tat” religion of law! We should shudder to even consider it. And we see the extent of His zeal when we see that:
II. Jesus Was Forceful, Even Corporal, In His Zeal – A Warning To All Of Us Of His Zeal For The Good Of Mankind, And Especially His Church
Text: “Making a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And He poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.”
Statement: This is the only instance of Jesus exerting a forceful physical response upon people. Given His usual peaceful demeanor, and His description as “the Prince of Peace,” this is quite surprising. However, it is no different with the Father. God seeks to be a force of peace – this is His primary and antecedent will. He so loved us as to provide His own dear Son as a sacrifice for our sins, to take away our sin and guilt. He begs mankind to be reconciled to Him, to come to Him in repentance and faith. This is His primary will – for all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
Application: However, God also has a good and loving consequent, or secondary will. When men remain committed to sin and evil and violence then judgment and discipline will be coming, and often it is corporal in nature. God takes all of this very seriously, for it has to do with the good and welfare of His beloved human beings. His zealousness for this has not diminished over time, and will culminate on the Last Day. This is a warning to all of us to take care that we remain in His love, and living in accord with His love, especially within the church. It is a warning against misrepresenting God in any way! He wants all to know His love. And we see this in the fact that:
III. Jesus Eagerly Followed God’s Will For Our Redemption
A. He Had Willing Zeal In His Suffering And Death For Us On The Cross
Text: “Destroy this temple . . . “
Matthew 16:21 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
Mar_9:12 “And He said to them, ‘Elijah does come first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that He should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?”
Luk_24:26 “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?”
Act_3:18 “But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He thus fulfilled.”
Is. 53:3-5,8,9 “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. . . . By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man in His death.”
B. He Was Zealous Also In His Resurrection Victory
Text: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
Matthew 16:21 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
Luke 22:15,16 “And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
Luke 24;26,46 “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?” . . . and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.”
Statement: What God had planned from eternity He carried out in the Person of Jesus Christ, His suffering and death to redeem the world, every human being, from sin, guilt, death, and damnation! He was eager and earnestly desiring to do this! The necessity was the compulsion of God’s great love for us!
Application: Jesus remains just as zealous for your forgiveness, your blessedness, your eternal future in His glorious heavenly kingdom. This is what He created you for, what He died for, and what He has earnestly called you to faith for! This is why He zealously nurtures the church with His Word and with His holy Sacrament, the Sacrament of His own body and blood!
Conclusion: Jesus is “A WILLING ZEALOT.” Not for an earthly kingdom like that of Rome or the United States. He is a willing zealot for the eternal benefit of all people, that all may have eternal life in the Father’s kingdom! For this we give Him our eternal thanks and praise!
And our faith is richly strengthened in knowing just how eager and willing, just how zealous His love for us truly is! Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.