‘The
Buildings of the Temple’…?
10/16/2006
By Trevor Davis
One day the disciples came
to Jesus to show Him the grandeur of the buildings of the temple. (Matthew 24:1-3) Jesus responded, “See ye not all these things? Verily I say
unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not
be thrown down.” Later that day
these followers of Jesus asked Him to explain when this would happen and ‘what
shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?’
Isn’t it interesting that
people place so much value on the external appearance of things or even
physical structures? This is so
common. Even the very ones who walked
with Jesus in person had this temptation. I don’t notice any tears in Jesus’ eyes as He proclaimed the
demise of the religious structure in those days. Not a single tear. I have
to ask, “Where were those disciples during what just took place in the previous
chapter Matthew 23? Of course a
religious building has no real value, regardless how beautiful, if those who
use the building dishonor God--Especially a supposed “temple”? God doesn’t need a temple! For even the heavens cannot contain His glory!
I want to stress to the
people that Jesus Christ is fierce.
Yes, He is a loving and kind shepherd that laid His life down for the
sins of the world, but He is fierce.
You want to know what Jesus is really like? Read the scripture. There
you will find the truth that Jesus will make heads roll. You think Donald Trump makes people uneasy
and intimidated? —Read Matthew 23.
Jesus Christ, the real
Jesus is Lord and Master! According to
scripture His words come out of His mouth as a two edged sword. A living and dynamic sword that pierces and
splits in two that which is an offence to Him.
The liars, hypocrites and all of His enemies shall meet with the Christ
that has eyes of fire and knows and tries the hearts and reins of men. Look out.
This is the time to accept the reproof of the Lord. For as it is written, as many as I love I
rebuke and chasten…be zealous therefore and repent! (Revelation 3:19)
Sometimes in the religious
world people make grandiose monstrosities of structures for their own glory but
parlay it as if it was for God. This is
the case in the first century during Jesus’ earthly ministry. The religious system had become
corrupt. God wasn’t part of it. I don’t recall hearing of Jesus being
angrier than when He came to the temple one day and saw the religious racket of
buying and selling offerings for the temple.
Jesus took cords and whipped and yelled—kicking over tables as their
coins fell to the floor. He chased the
multitudes away in anger decrying, “You turned my Father’s house of prayer into
a den of thieves”! (Luke 19:46) Jesus
took the degenerated spirit of the religious racket very personally. He must have felt ‘how dare you do this
thing…’. Jesus hated the fact that
those who were called and responsible to lead the people into godly worship and
honor to God had created a racket that ripped off people even the widows and
orphans.
I encourage everyone to
reread Matthew 23. There you will see
Jesus telling the Pharisees and scribes of the religious system in His day the
truth about their ministry. Jesus
rebuked them for putting the people of God into religious bondage. He said they taught and proclaimed but
wouldn’t follow their own teachings.
Their works were motivated to be seen by the people. The Pharisees and scribes loved religious
appearances. They loved religious
clothing that elevated their ego. They
loved the seat of honor at banquets and in the meeting places. Jesus rebuked them for loving greetings of
accolades in the market places by the use of titles such as Rabbi, father,
master and so on.
Jesus made the distinction
between the religious system and the Kingdom of God simply by saying that there
is but one Master—Jesus Christ. Jesus
declared that those in the Kingdom of God are all brethren. Those in His kingdom are not to use titles
and accolades for the praise of men.
After all of this Jesus
was only getting warmed up in His decrying the religious spirit in that
day. I will paraphrase Jesus’ message
as He went on chiding the false religious spirit. He declared, ‘Woe unto you…
You hinder people coming into the Kingdom of God. You don’t go in yourself and those who try
to find God you make it harder than it really is. You rip off widows and orphans included. You love to hear your own voice praying long
prayers of vanity. You love to show off
to the people. You disregard how God
feels.’
‘You ruin people…you make
fake disciples that end up twice the child of hell than yourself! You’re blind guides. Ha!
You are supposed to lead people but you can’t even see where you are
going. Your perception is wrong. Your judgment is wrong. Your assessment is wrong. You are wrong. You tithe right down to the very least herb--Nitty gritty
specific. But you forget judgment,
mercy and faith.’
‘You blind guides. I can’t say it enough. You clean the outside but leave the inside
full of disgusting filth. All you care
about is what you look like. You’re
defiled with extortion you con men. You
are excessive and extreme in your error.
Woe unto you. You are like white
washed sepulchers that are all engraved and polished but the reality there is
only death and dead men’s bones inside full of maggots and stench. There is no life in you.’
‘You oppose the right
words of the prophets. You say you love
and honor them but you oppose the truth to the point of their death. You participate in the execution of the
prophets yet you build mausoleums to honor them you hypocrites…you actors. I see the truth about you.’
‘You say you love
God. I say you love death. You say you are the children of
Abraham. I say you are the children of
the devil the serpent. You are
serpents. You are the children of
vipers. You are poisonous and in your
mouth is death. How can you escape the
damnation of hell? You are already dead
and buried---you just don’t know the reality of it. Woe unto you.’
It shouldn’t be this way
but it was and is. The LORD loves
people. He loves people so much that He
gave His only begotten Son to die for the sins of the world. Whoever believes on Him shall not
perish. (John 3:16) This is the basic truth of the
scripture. What God has given and done
on our behalf is so far reaching and extreme, but for the stubborn and
rebellious person that despises God’s gift of love…woe. For those who disregard the sacrifice of
Jesus’ shameful death on the cross and act as if they loved Him as they follow
wicked ways…woe. It shouldn’t be this
way.
Matthew 23:
37. O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto
thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen
gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38. Behold, your house is left unto you
desolate.
39. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Notice what happened to
the erring religious system in Jesus’ day as described in these texts. The temple was razed, their house was left
desolate, their land was defiled and destroyed, and they were led away captive
into foreign lands. Worse than all of
this was the fact that Jesus said “you shall not see me henceforth, until you
shall say, blessed is he that comes in the name of the LORD. I wonder, do you think it is possible that
Jesus has withdrawn from a religious world and structure today and will not be
present until He is acknowledged properly?
It is not enough to say,
“Lord, Lord”. Jesus asked, “And why
call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? (Luke 6:46) www.soundingthealarm.com