Matthew 2024

Matthew 21 verses 12 to 27.

Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changes and the benches of those selling doves. It is written, he said to them. My house will be called a house of prayer. But you were making it a den of robbers.

The blind in the lane came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts Hozanna, to the son of David, they were indignant. Do you hear what these children are saying? They asked him? Yes.

Replied, Jesus. Have you never read? From the lips of children and infants, you, lord, have called forth your praise. And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany where he spent the night. Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry.

Seeing a victory by the road, he went up to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, may you never bear fruit again? Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. How did the fig tree wither so quickly?

They asked. Jesus replied. Truly, I tell you, If you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the victory, but you also you can say to this mountain, go throw yourself into the sea, and it will be done. If you believe you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. Jesus entered the temple courts, and while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him.

By what authority are you doing these things? They asked, and who gave you this authority? Jesus replied. I will also ask you 1 question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

John's baptism, where did it come from? Was it from heaven or a human origin? They discussed it among themselves and said, if we say from heaven, he will ask, then why didn't you believe him? But if we say of human origin, we are afraid of the people for they all hold that John was a prophet. So they answered Jesus.

We don't know. Then he said, neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things? Good evening, everybody. Good to be here tonight and carrying on in this series in Matthew. If you were here a few months ago, you'd know that, we had Bart actually come and preach, basically the same passage, but in in Mark.

So I'm gonna try and do this a little bit differently and not so much focus on that middle bit of that passage in the fig tree, but I will make reference to it. So just to warn you, and if you have questions about what's going on there, I suggest you send Bart an email and don't bother me. Shall we pray as we begin, let's pray. Father, we thank you so much, for the opportunities that you give us to meet together as your people. We thank you so much for this evening service tonight.

And we thank you that we get another chance to come and hear from you, this evening. We thank you that by your word, you speak to your people, and we pray that as we look at this passage in Matthew, that you will do just that that by your holy spirit, you will take your words and that you'll plant them, deep into us. And so we do pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Well, let me let me take you back to verse 23, and you'll see it's pretty good a a pretty good questions there. You'll need to see it.

The the chief priest, they come up to Jesus, and they ask him these 2 questions. By what authority are you doing these things? And then, and who gave you this authority? Now I I think that they're 2 pretty good questions, aren't they? Well, you know, by what authority you're doing these things, and who gave you this authority, you should be able to ask people those questions.

I mean, may I take you back to February 20 21, a precious time for us all as we got to grips with zoom? And you might remember 1 of the most iconic British videos from Zoom was from a lady in the Hanforth Parish Council whose authority was questioned. And that was Jackie Weaver. In fact, Jackie Weaver, you have no authority here. Said 1 member, and it turns out actually she didn't.

So it's good to question whether someone has authority, although you kind of could understand why she did kick certain people out of that Zoom call. They were pretty vile. But it's good to ask that question. You know, we we and often we we have people who come in, and we we have we get they get our backs up sometimes, don't they? Who do you who do you think you are?

You know, coming in here, trying to implement your changes, you know, you get a new manager, maybe, a new boss or someone who takes over a certain, or or or or they seem to have taken over. Who who do you think you are? You know, coming in here, assuming authority over us. And all you seem to be is stirring more trouble and making our lives our lives more difficult. This is just a troublemaker.

That's what we we we sort of follow-up these questions with. Now isn't that exactly what's going on in this passage. Isn't that Jesus in this passage? Aren't aren't the aren't the religious leaders fair to ask this question by what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?

Aren't they right to be indignant at times at what Jesus is doing here? That's what I I wanna pose to you as we begin this, this sermon. And so what first, I want you to look with me at the authority of Jesus. Now does he have authority? So the authority of Jesus doesn't even have any.

You gotta remember that, during this time, Judah, or Israel, or Jerusalem is in a very precarious situation. They are controlled by the Romans, and 1 wrong move could signal curtains for this nation. And in the middle of that where where it could be so easy to completely lose your nation, you have this man hop onto a donkey, and ride into Jerusalem in the most unusual of ways, and you're always gonna be suspicious of those who are coming in with new ways. And as he rides in, people are going absolutely crazy for this man. They are praising this Jesus.

They are saying, as your see, in verse 9, Hosanna, to the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord, Hosanna, in the highest heaven, they're saying, this Jesus is gonna be our king. This Jesus is our Messiah, and maybe for many of those in that crowd, they're thinking, this is the 1 who's gonna deal with the the Romans. This is the 1 who will lead the revolt. This is the 1 who will lead the uprising. And so that chance is ringing in the air, and as he walks into Jerusalem, the whole city is stirred up.

Did you notice that in verse 11? They're riled up. They're stirred up. They're whoa. It's It's a simmering soon to be boiling cauldron.

And then he proceeds to go into the temple and he starts smashing the place up. He just starts absolutely going crazy as far as I can see, kicking things over, upturning stuff. Driving people out and and seemingly quoting scripture in a way that lots of bible colleges would probably be unhappy about about, you know, it to justify his actions. In you know, what separates Jesus from a vandal. Isn't that what he is?

He's just like, you know, you know, in those, during the the lockdown, we had the riots, and we had the people smashing up sharps and robbing shots. What's different about Jesus and then? What's different between Jesus and the and and and what people do to the businesses in the UK, 1 in 4 businesses. Smashed up or or experiencing some civil unrest. That's what he is, isn't he?

He's an upstart. He's a rebel. But then he goes even further. He goes even further in verse 14, because he gets the blind and the lame, and he invites them to himself, and he starts to heal them. Who does he think he is?

Who does he think he is? In god's law, Leviticus chapter 21 and verse 18, it's clear that the lame and the blind are not particularly welcome in the temple. So here's someone not just smashing up the the precious temple and the temple was very precious in those days, but it also is inviting people who we don't really want. Who will desecrate the sanctuary. And then to top it all off, he upsets the environmentalists, doesn't he?

Yeah? Not sure the religions are aware of this, but he goes and he curses the fig tree. It withers, and it'll never bear fruit again. What is this man about? This is the 1 that we we wanna talk about, is it?

Who does this man think he is? Who does he think he is? Verse 23, by what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority? Who do you think you are?

Who do you think you are coming in here, upsetting, upsetting the the norm, bringing in your changes? That's the question we should be asking this man, isn't it? Who do you think you are? Who do you think you are? Who do you think do you think you have authority over us?

You can tell us what to do. You can act in such a way. Who do you think you are? Now how would Jesus answer? What would Jesus' defense be?

Well, look we'd be at verse 24 to 27. Jesus replied, I will also ask you 1 question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John's baptism, where did it come from? Was it from heaven or of human origin?

They discussed it among themselves and said, if we say from heaven, he will ask, then why didn't you believe him? But if we say your human origin, we are afraid of the people for they all hold that John was a prophet. So they answered Jesus We don't know. Then he said, neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things? I love Jesus.

I know I've just been slating him, but he's great. What a genius answer that Jesus gives here? 1 of the reasons I love the way that Jesus responds to challenges to his authority and it challenges to who he is. He often uses a old Rubinic sort of style. He just asks a question back, but the question is so cutting.

I mean, isn't it a great scene? You ask that question. You can imagine, you know, in those sort of carties or in those films where they all gathered together with their heads in the, that's kinda what what's going on here? Oh, if we say I'll fight with you, but if we say have it, oh, my gosh. What should we do without human or have it?

I don't know. We don't know. But it's a great question because he's saying, okay. You know, he I know he says at the end, I'm not gonna answer the question. He really has answered the question by the way because he's saying John the Baptist Here's baptism.

Right? You remember that bloke on the Baptist? Yeah. And remember him? He wore camel clothing and ate locusts of all things and honey, I think.

Remember him? Yeah. Him. Yeah. Was he from god or was he not?

And what you believe about him will tell you what you believe about me. So if John the Baptist and his baptism was of human origin, it was just humanly made up then I am of human origin. Because what did John the Baptist do? He pointed to the lord Jesus and would say behold, the lamb of god, he takes away the sin of the world. But if John the Baptist is from god and has been sent by god himself, Therefore, the 1 he points to, aka me, Jesus, I am from heaven.

And so this is what Jesus is saying, my authority. You wanna ask that question. You wanna know who gave me the authority. Wanna know where it comes from? It's from heaven itself.

My authority is from god himself. The work the reason the work the reason I act the way I act, the reason I speak the way I speak. The things I say, the things I do are from god himself. To the pharisees don't wanna answer the question. We don't know, but Jesus clearly thinks that his authority is from god himself And I think the reason he believes this is because of his identity.

So that's my second point, the identity of Jesus. Throughout this passage, I hope you saw that Jesus is revealing who he is. The the first sign that he's revealed who he is, is that he accepts the song of the crowds. The crowd has been singing, Hammond Day in verse 9, Hozanna, to the son of David. In other words, we've been waiting for this this king, this messiah to deliver us from so much and to bring her an eternal kingdom that will last forever and ever.

That is the promise of the old testament. And they're saying, this Jesus as he rides in a donkey of all animals, This is the king. And not only not only are they chanting it on the road, but this is a song that clearly is a very catchy tune because the children in verse 15, they've got hold of it. What a song this is? You know, it's a catchy tune when the kids are singing it.

Verse 15, Hosanna, to the son of David. Now if he wasn't the Messiah, I imagine he would have said stop that, but he doesn't. In fact, he commends it. He's saying I am the king. I am the deliverer.

I am the redeemer. But there's more. He's not just the king that is marching into Jerusalem to bring salvation. He is, but he's more because his actions point to the fact that he is something greater. The blinds are healed.

The lame are healed. A tree is cursed and withers immediately. Now I don't know if you've ever tried to curse a tree. Maybe you've tripped over a root and cursed the tree Josh in your gardening experience maybe. Yeah?

Oh, there you go. Cursed, did it die when he cursed it? Probably not. We may have then axed it, but that's different, isn't it? Yeah?

If I curse it, it wouldn't happen, but but Jesus curses a tree and it withers immediately. Jesus is approached by blind people and lame people, and we've seen this throughout Matthew. Right? And they're healed. And so Jesus is revealing to them that not only is the e is he the Messiah, the longer waited, the longer expected Messiah, but also that he is god himself, and he drills at home even further.

Do you see those those kids are singing that song, Hozanna, to the son of David? And the the the pharisees are like, oh, Jesus, come on, mate. Have a word? Because you remember, like, religious people hate kids. I don't know where that came from.

Yeah. They they they should be they should be what's it? See, not heard? Is that them a phrase? Everyone's confused.

Yeah. I think that's it. Right. Yeah. So I shouldn't hear you, boys, ever.

Just see you. Beautiful faces. But Jesus doesn't come to shut up. In fact, he goes to scriptures and he quotes Samae, from the lips of children and infants verse 16, you lord have called forth your praise. That's an amazing thing that he uses that Psalm, because that Psalm is all about god.

It's all about god who is the creator. Oh, lord, how majestic is your name, that that children and really wee babies will praise you because you are the creator of all things. You are the carer of mankind that you, although a sovereign god will bend the need to care for for mankind. That's about god. And so Jesus is saying I'm not just the Messiah, but I am the eternal god of the universe.

That's who these chills are praising. I am not just someone of human origin pharisees. I'm not just someone who who has derived authority, and there's a just a prophet. No. I am god himself.

That's what Jesus is saying. And so we have the authority of Jesus. We have the identity of Jesus, but he has also been sent on a mission. And so the third thing is the mission of Jesus. Let's go back.

Let's go back to the start of the passage. See, the first time we went through the start, we viewed it from the perspective of the religious leaders. We've viewed it in terms of Jesus. This sort of this upstart, this rebel, this 1 who's causing a stir, this 1 that is is upsetting everything. But let's now acknowledge let's now go to the perspective of who Jesus is saying he is.

He is the 1 who has the very authority of heaven behind him, who has the authority of god himself, not only that, but he also is claiming to be god the Messiah. And so here he is. He's just ridden in. You've got the the the the the echoes of of that song ringing in your ears. And Jesus, as he walks into Jerusalem, he sees the temple And he and he makes a beeline for that temple and he walks in and what will be before his eyes?

Look at with me again at verse 12 to 13. Jesus entered the Temple Court and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changes and the benches of those selling doves. It is written. He said to them.

My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers. Here he is. He walks into the entrance of this temple. And he is repulsed. He's absolutely disgusted at what he sees.

Many of you are in our morning series in ezekiel. Might remember in ezekiel 8. God takes ezekiel and he takes him into the temple, the place which was meant to be a place of worship of the living god, a place that honored god, a place that was all about god, and they were using it to worship all sorts of different idols. And god says, you're gonna look at this ezekiel because it makes me feel sick. That's how Jesus feels when he walks through because he is in very nature god himself, and so he walks into this place, and it makes his stomach turn.

And that's shown by his words in verse 13. He he quotes 2 prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah. The first quote is from Isaiah chapter 56. You'll notice he says there my house will be called a house of prayer. My house will be called a house of prayer.

Now it might be really important just to read that in its context because I think it helps us understand what's going on here. If you've got a Bible, I would encourage you to turn with me to Isaiah chapter 56. And we're gonna read from verse 3 to 8. Isaiah 56 verse 3 to 8. It says this.

Is there a page number? Anyone wanna shout the page number out? 7 4 4. 7 4 4. 7 4 4.

If you're struggling to find it, it says this. First 3. Let no foreigner who is bound to the lord say the lord will surely exclude me from his people and let no unit complain. I am only a dry tree, but this is what the lord says. To the units who keep my sabbaths who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant.

To them, I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever and foreigners who bind themselves to the lord to minister to him to love the name of the lord and to his servants, all who keep the sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant. These I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar. For my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.

The sovereign law declares he who gathers the exiles of Israel, I will gather still others to them beside those already gathered. Did you see that? The very purpose of god's people in the old testament was to be a missional people. Their function was to be so attractive and such a light and preach such a message so the nations around them that the nations would come into the temple and know god. And here god promises that the temple, the purpose of the temple was that all people Juan gentile should be able to come into the temple and access god.

It would be of temp, a house of prayer for all nations at foreigners. Would all come in. I I believe that the the gate that was open was the the gate that was eastward facing, as if to say, if you remember in the garden of Eden, they went out the east way. And so to the east, it shouts to all foreigners, and all people of all nations to come in and experience the the mercy and the grace of god. And it's a great image, isn't it?

A house of prayer? A house? A home? You know, we we like to go home. You know, that you might have been away.

You've maybe, like, university for a while. Maybe you've been on holiday for a long time. 1 of the best things about going away, right, is going home. And there you go. You you see You see you you walk down your road, you see that the lights are on.

You can hear someone listening to music and singing. It's my dad. That's why I can hear him. You could smell the meal, a homely meal. It's mint and tatties, my favorite.

Scottish meal. I know you're all thinking what a rubbish meal, but oh well. There's the house, the home. I'm home. To commune, to be in relationship.

That's what god's temples meant to be, but then Jesus gives a second quote. Verse 13, but you are making it a den of robbers. See, it was meant to be a home, warm, welcoming, beckoning. But Jesus says because of what you're doing, this is like a den of robbers, a dark scheming, wicked place. And the reason why he's saying that is because in this temple, whether the gentile, the foreigner is meant to be able to come in and to worship and to pray to god, they have made it a money making business.

They are exploiting people They are, thieving from people. They are obstructing people coming to know and access god. That's what they're meant to be able to do at the temple. They're coming to the temple and not being able to access guards. They're being robbed.

Can you can you understand this? I don't know if you've ever been stopped getting some oil or it reminds me of of those, do you remember those just stop oil protests? I'm not asking you what you felt about them? But you remember Some people who were in emergency were trying to get to the hospital, and that these people were blocking the roads, and it made those people who were trying to get their dying relative to the hospital furious and rightly so. It's stopping access.

It's it's if something stops you from getting home. Doesn't it make you furious? The train's canceled. I've gotta take 4 replacement buses. What the heck?

It stopped me getting home to my loved 1. You're stopping people. Come to know god. Come to access god. And Jesus is furious, and rightly so.

And so he must deal with this. He must cleanse this temple. And so verse 12, it's a very forceful thing. He's going in and he's flipping tables upside down. He's flipping benches upside down.

He's forcefully driving people out because he's saying, I cannot have this. What he sees is a tree that is full of leaves and has no fruit. That's what that cursing of the fig trees about. It's got all the shell, all the external look of being healthy, but there is absolutely no fruit, no love, no grace, no mercy to those around him. And so Jesus in driving these people out in upturning these tables, in cursing this victory is signifying.

He is symbolizing that he is gonna do away with the temple. The physical temple must be done away with, and it must be replaced. That's why he says this mountain You can turn it to go and chuck itself into the lake. The mountain's eye on where the temple was in can go and get lost because the mountain has become defunct. It's now not serving the purpose of giving access to god.

It's now serving a purpose that stops people accessing god. And so Jesus is saying, I'm gonna replace this temple. And do you know how I'm gonna replace this temple? We're not gonna have a physical building. We're gonna have me, and that's the whole purpose of Jesus.

Jesus comes and says, I'll be the temple. So Jesus goes to a cross and dies on the cross and rises again because that is his mission to give you access on bridled access forever access to god the father at all times, that he would hang on the cross and shed his blood and rise again after he dies so that you can have access to the father. Romans's 5. Verse 1. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with god through our lord.

Jesus Christ through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of god. Ephesians 2 verse 18 after after Paul talks about the incredible mercy of Christ to bring peace to what says this. For through Jesus, we have access to the father by 1 spirit. Jesus says, I've come to give you real access to the father. And so we get a picture of this in verse 14.

See, within the temple, you have the true temple. Within the corrupt temple, you have the true temple. Within the fruitless temple, you have the fruitful temple. And so Jesus is there. The temple, the place by which we can meet god where we can have access to the father and the blind and the lame come to him and the healed.

Before couldn't come in. Now Jesus said I'm doing something different. I'm bringing in the blind. I'm bringing in the lame. It's what he promises to do in Luke chapter 4.

I've come to proclaim to give recovery of sight to the blind to set the oppressed free. Those lame people that are oppressed are gonna be set free by the mercy of the lord Jesus Christ. That's what the cross is gonna achieve for his people. And then the children see it in verse 15. And they don't have these ideas about a Messiah who's gonna kick out Rome.

They see a a Messiah who's gonna deal with the religious first. And they see a man who deals with injustice, and they see a man who can give sight to blind people, and they see a man who can restore the lame, and they praise him. And they say hosanna to the son of David's verse 15. They praise him for he is worth it. But when the religious see this, when they see that their external ways are challenged, they're indignant.

Imagine that. You see blind people See again. You see laying people walk and use their hands again, and you see children joyful. Now beaming from air to way going, wow. This man's gotta be the messiah, and they are vexed in in older translations.

It says they were sorely displeased. It's interesting when when the word is used for Jesus, it's when people stop children coming to him, but they're vexed when children are praising his name. And when they say to him, do you hear what these children are saying? He's like, yes. He commends them.

He he says these kids, although they're not as clever as you guys, you learned religious leaders. They get it. They understand. They understand who I am. They have childlike faith.

They trust in me because they see who I am. They can clearly so obvious who I am. It's so obvious that even you see the words from the lips of children and infants, the word infants is sucklings. It's literally tiny wee babies that they can understand him. And you teases the law because you're so obstructed by your mountain of pride of external religion.

Cannot understand who I am. And so Jesus in verse 23 to 27, he exposed them, didn't he? They're not willing to engage with the truth of Jesus. They're not willing to come face to face and submit to the fact that he who has the authority. And so their answer when he says human or heaven, they say that we don't know.

Well, if they're not willing to be serious in their assessment, they can't be trusted with anything. See, they they have that pretend seriousness. I wanna make sure we get to the end of the the matter. I wanna make sure that we we we discuss all the facts and the statistics before we make the judgment. And at the end of the day, they don't really care at all.

The disingenuous. They can't be trusted. And so whose example will you follow? You follow these pharisees? What who do you think you are?

What authority? Who's authority? But really, you don't care. Well, you follow the example of these children who just clearly understand how glorious Jesus is, and they praise him, and they trust in him. And so here's my final point What will you do with Jesus?

See, you've seen his authority. You've seen his identity. You've seen his mission. What will you do with him? How will you respond to the lord Jesus Christ?

Are you gonna be like the pharisees tonight? We've all got that in us. Rejecting him, refusing him his authority. I don't want you Jesus to tell me what I should do. I don't I don't want you to tell me g Jesus, I don't want you to tell me how I should get right with you.

I'm gonna decide that my own works and my own religion will get me right with you. I don't wanna tell I don't want you to tell me what I should do with my body, with my words. I'll decide that on my own. Is that gonna be you tonight? Rejecting the access so that you can try and access them yourself.

Or were you accepting? Were you, like the foreigner, like the lame person, like the blind person, like the child, will you respond in faith and praise to the lord Jesus Christ. Will you say Jesus, I cannot, by my own way, get right with you and access the father, but because of you Jesus, and your mission to go to a cross and to die and to rise again, I can have access to the father on bridal access. And like these children, isn't it a great picture that the children are in the house of prayer, they're at home, and they can access the father like children should. Remember how you were with your father you could go into him at any time.

That's what children should be able to do. That's what Jesus offers to you today. Come, know the father. And if you've done that, continue to accept and continue to submit to him, continue to rejoice and praise him for he is worth all of our praise. That's what we saw last week.

The great news about Jesus is that he gets rid of all the barriers. He gets rid of all the hangups and says, don't worry. You don't have to do it on your own. I will do it all so that you can have access to the father. And I think the the lesson from verse 21 to 22 is that the disciples, and therefore we, if we are Christians, are to go out and to do the same.

Let's remove the barriers of of things that stop people coming to access the father. Let us go out and in faith and in trusting in the lord Jesus Christ, where we go. And when we say to people, you can have access to a father. Come, will you know him? Remove the barriers and in faith offer access to the father through the lord Jesus Christ.

That's our mission. If you've accepted Jesus, that's our mission as it was his. Let's pray. Father, we thank you, for this story again. It's true story.

We thank you for the lord Jesus Christ, and we thank you that he was not just a mere man, but he is in very nature god. That he is the Messiah, the king, who comes to give us access to the father. And so we we pray that you will help us to be those who come to the lord Jesus Christ and his shed blood. And that we know you as father and that we rejoice in you and you alone. And if that is us, may we be those who offer this great hope of access to a world that longs to have the joy of being in your house of prayer.

And so we do commit these things to you now in Jesus' name, amen.