Luke 20: The Christ Comes To His Temple
(1) Sermon Script
Introduction
What do you do when you go home? Go to the fridge? Rifle through the pantry? Take your shoes off and put your feet on the lounge? Even put your feet on the lounge with your shoes on! Put on the TV show you want. You can watch news programs starting from 4:30pm for the rest of the night if you want. After all, it’s your house: if you can handle the fight with your kids. Because a man’s home is his castle.
When you go over to mum’s, you don’t go into the plastic coated room. No, that’s kept for special visitors, like the priest or the queen, if they happen to come over. You get to be in the kitchen, the engine room and epicentre and heartbeat of the house. The place where you go is where the food is. Because that’s where you go when you go home.
What do you do when you go home? Leave your clothes on your bedroom floor, pile up books on your desk or on the floor in your study, or on your side of the bed? Why? Well, because since you can remember your mother told you, ‘You can do that when you live in your own house’. And now you live in your own house. So you can… if it’s OK with your wife!
Maybe at your house on the weekend you might think about exercising your dominion in a more drastic way? Continue to chip away on that project. Whether it’s adding a room, putting in a new kitchen, or doing a new colour scheme. Maybe it’s knocking out a wall, or maybe opening the whole thing up? How about moving the furniture around – a change is as good as a holiday – at least, that’s what Better Homes and Gardens said on Friday night?
What about chucking stuff out? Going through cupboards and purging your primary school projects, clothes that don’t fit, boxes without lids, sox without partners, empty cd cases, unplayable dvds, long abandoned half-finished projects, all placed on the pavement waiting for the council cleanup. These are the privileges of ownership. This is what you can do in your own home.
Context
Our passage today shows Jesus coming home. He has been on a journey for 11 chapters, from chapter 9 to chapter 19. He has come from Galilee to Jerusalem by foot. At the end of chapter 19 he arrives in Jerusalem.
Now of course, some of you who know a bit of the bible will say to me, "Hang on. Jesus was born in Bethlehem but grew up in Nazareth in Galillee." In Luke chapter 4, we read "He came to Nazareth where he had grown up’ and he calls Nazareth ‘his home town’. What do you mean to say he has come home?:" (EJ p18)
But I’m actually referring to Jesus' words at the end of chapter 2, the third last paragraph on page 13. When Jesus was a boy of 12, he decided to stay back in Jerusalem and in the temple. He was sitting among the teachers in the temple, listening to them and asking them questions and astounding people at his level of understanding and his answers. His parents meanwhile were about a day into their journey when they realized he hadn’t come with them. And his answer to his frustrated and worried parents after they had spent three days looking for this 12 year old boy.
Why did you have to search for me? Didn’t you realise that I must be in my Father’s house? (EJ 14.7)
He says to his step-father Joseph that the temple is his Father’s house. He says to his middle eastern mother that home for him is not her kitchen, but Jerusalem.
So Jesus’ return to Jerusalem is for him, a sort of homecoming. The temple in Jerusalem is his Father’s house. And the inhabitants of the city itself are his Father’s tenants, their homes the servants' living quarters on his Father’s great estate.
Now, when I go back to my father’s house, I take a look at the backyard. Because my dad and my brother are into plants, and trees, and horticulture, and the ecosystem. My dad’s a local expert on butterflies. He travels around finding their food, grows it in the backyard, feeds the caterpillars, protects them from birds, looks after the chrysalises while they metamorphose, and finally releases the butterflies into the wild. He’s not against birds, because he also feeds a local butcherbird. And he adopted the stray cat, ‘fummy’ and her kittens. He likes most living creatures, no matter where they fit in the food chain. He is always adding an extra water tank to catch rainwater from the roof. So when I go over, I see what the latest development is. And sometimes we get to take home some chrysalises to release into our ecosystem.
What does Jesus do when he goes to his Father’s house? Which of his Father’s interests does he check out when he returns home? And what does he find out has happened while he has been absent?
A teary reunion (EJ 60)
First of all, there is the teary entrance when he reaches the city. Jesus is such a sentimental, isn’t he? Well, no. He sees the disaster that awaits his home. And so we read, page 60, third last paragraph:
As Jesus came near and saw the city, he wept over it. He said, “How I wish that you – of all places – had recognized this day the things that bring peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days are coming upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade against your walls. They will surround you and trap you from every side. They will destroy you and your children within your walls, and they will not leave one single stone upon another within you. And all this because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
You did not recognize when the Son came. Such a city is not worthy of the Father. It must be destroyed. So he weeps.
Re-arranges the furniture, purges the cupboards (EJ 60)
Jesus also takes the liberty of re-arranging the furniture and getting rid of the garbage. Second last paragraph on page 60.
Then he entered the temple court and began to drive out those who were selling things there. He said to them, ‘In the Scriptures it is written, ‘My house will be a house of prayer’, but you have made it into a hideout for robbers. He was teaching daily in the temple courts.
Here we see Jesus clearing out the rubbish from his Father’s house. The temple outer courts were being used to exchange money. There were livestock which could be bought for sacrifice, crowding out the gentiles who might gather there. Jesus evicted all of them. For the temple was for prayer and teaching, not profit and trading.
Throughout Jesus’ last visit to Jerusalem, this was how he spent his time. We see it on page 65, middle paragraph, just before the chapter 22 heading:
By day, Jesus was teaching in the temple court, but at night he went out and stayed on the Mount of Olives. And all the people would rise early in the morning and come to the temple to listen to him.
Jesus has cleared a space, hung out his shingle, and set up shop in the temple courts. For it is his Father’s house. It is his inheritance. And he has a right to be there.
Speaks his mind (EJ61-3)
We also see Jesus speaking his mind. I remember a friend coming over who belonged to the Jehovah’s Witness. He and I would talk about bible stuff on occasion. And as you can imagine we disagreed about some very important things: Jesus as God, and the Trinity for starters. One day when we were talking, I said something I knew that he would disagree with, and we asked him why he didn’t disagree with us. And he said to us, ‘well, we’re in your house’. One is permitted a greater freedom of speech in their own house than in other places. And Jesus clearly feels he has great freedom of speech in the temple.
Jesus shows his freedom of speech in his answers to questions. The religious leaders of Jerusalem keep trying to catch Jesus out. The chief priests and the scribes try to trap Jesus into tax evasion. But he cleverly shows that the coin has Caesar’s image, and should be rendered unto him, just as anything in God’s image – that is, humans, belong to God.
The Sadducees tried to trap him into denying the resurrection. So they question him about marriage at the resurrection. But Jesus shows that all who have faith are alive to God. So he silences them.
And then Jesus starts to say what he really thinks about those testing him. Page 63, the fourth paragraph.
In the hearing of all the people, Jesus said to the disciples, ‘Beware of the scribes, who like to walk about in long robes, and love to be greeted by people in the markets and to have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets. They devour the homes of widows and pretentiously say long public prayers. They will receive more severe judgment.’
Now he’s cutting loose. Imagine someone who doesn’t come regularly into our church. He walks into our service and said this sort of stuff in our hearing.
'Look at that bloke up the front wearing his fancy clothes, giving his long speeches, saying his long prayers, getting nice warm greetings, the best seats in the church, and the best bickies at morning tea, and most of it paid for by widows on a fixed income.'
If someone came in and said this, there are many things we could say about it. But one thing that’s undeniable is this, ‘Wow, he certainly felt he could say what he wanted! Why don’t you tell us what you really think?’
And while he feels free to pass judgment on some, Jesus likewise feels completely free to commend others. He speaks his mind, in the great tradition of homely plain speaking. And he speaks about that great taboo subject in our society: money.
Money
We like to think we don’t have taboos. But we do. For example, when you first meet someone, amidst the general chit chat, one of the first things you ask to get to know them is ‘what your name?, are you married? Do you have children?’. You then says ‘why aren’t you married yet?, why did you take that job?, how much do you earn?’ and ‘how much did that dress cost?’, ‘How much do you weigh?’ We think such questions are impertinent. Other cultures like those in Japan or Hong Kong or Malaysia think such questions show a genuine interest and friendliness. Well, Jesus only extends it by making us think: ‘How much of your money do you give away?’ and ‘How much do you spend on yourself?’[1]
We don’t talk about that stuff because we say it’s private. But that’s only our culture. Other cultures talk about it. And Jesus talks about it. Because Jesus is at home. And at home he speaks freely about the things that matter to his Father. He hammers the hypocrites who devour widow’s houses. But he also commends the widow who generously gives up her life. Page 63, Chapter 21, first paragraph:
Jesus looked up and noticed the rich dropping their gifts into the temple treasury. And he saw a poor widow drop in two small copper coins. He said, “Truly, I tell you that this poor widow has given more than all of them. For they all gave from their surplus, but she, in her poverty, gave all that she had to live on.”
We know nothing about this widow, except her poverty. She comes and goes anonymously. But Jesus won’t let her go without blowing her trumpet.
Apparently, there was little privacy in temple giving. There was no envelope system, the hiddenness of direct debt, the soft landing of bank notes. There was the metallic announcement that distinguished silver from copper and a handful from a pair. But Jesus knew exactly what she put in, and not just two small copper coins. Jesus literally says in a word for word translation, ‘all her life which she had she threw [in]’. That adds something to the translation that she put in ‘everything that she had to live on’. It says, she threw in her very life itself!
I hope you find that an encouragement. Because every one of us can be just as generous as this woman. God is not asking us to give something that we don’t have. To be as generous as this woman, we need only give our whole life, something well within the means of each one of us. It is self-sacrificial, because it is taking up our cross and following Jesus. But in the end, it’s just throwing our life back to the God who gave it to us, and will take it back anyway. For we ourselves are made in his image. And are we not to render to God the things that are God’s? God judges our generosity by the sacrifice, by the portion of our self that it is. If you have the smallest income, you can still give your life to your Lord, and that’s all he asks. And if you are rolling in it, it is your rich life you are called to give, not just the surplus, even if your loose change is greater than everyone else’s income combined. These things Jesus feels free to talk about. After all, he’s at home.
Knocking down a wall or two
Jesus then also tells us about the Father’s intention to knock down a wall or two. For the Father has some plans to open up the temple complex a bit, and give it a bit more of an open, airy feel, fitting with an appreciation of the great outdoors. Essential Jesus, Page 63, three paragraphs from the bottom.
When some were speaking about how the temple had been adorned with beautiful stones and offerings, he said, “These stones you are looking at – days are coming when not one stone will be left on another; they will all be torn down”.
Or on page 64, half way down:
But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that her ruin is close at home… And at the end of that paragraph: Jerusalem will be trampled by the nations, until the times of the nations are fulfilled.
Well, it’s not exactly renovation. It’s demolition. For when the Son dies, the temple curtain is torn in two. And this renders the temple obsolete. And in AD 70, the Romans finished the job Jesus started and leveled it. And from that day until today, for the best part of 2000 years, Jerusalem has been trampled by the gentiles. Even now, as we speak, the temple mount is controlled by a muslim council, and Jews are banned from walking upon it.
The Parable of the Tenants and the Son
Most of these elements are found in Jesus’ parable that was read for us. The context is the Scribes and Priests demanding that Jesus show his police badge. Starting at the top of page 20. [EJ61.1st]
One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple court and announcing the great news, the chief priests and the scribes approached him together with the elders. They said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these thing? Or who is the one who gives you this authority?”
It is a question of authority. Hey Jesus, who gives you the right to do this stuff and say this stuff?
And Jesus at first refuses to tell them. He answers their question with a question about John the Baptist? Jesus’ point is really this. Even if Jesus told them who has given his authority, their attitude to John the Baptist shows they wouldn’t believe him. They’ve already decided that Jesus must die. And the scribes would simply answer in the way that is most politically expedient, that would most consolidate their vested interests.
Nevertheless, Jesus does tell them where his authority comes from. He does it in a parable. And the scribes and priests understand exactly what he means. Because after Jesus says the parable, the scribes and chief priests wanted to lay their hands on him at that very moment because they knew he had told this parable against them. [EJ 62, 2nd paragraph]
The parable is about a vineyard. Probably a reference to Jerusalem, and especially the Temple, and perhaps by extension to the whole of the promised land. The man who planted the vineyard, its master, represents Yahweh, the God of Israel. And the tenant farmers are certainly the current religious leaders, the establishment, the scribes, high priests, teachers of the law, and the parties of the Sadducees and Pharisees, and probably by extension to any Jew for whom it fits. They do not own the promised land, but only lease it on the owner’s terms. For Yahweh always claimed to own the land (Lev 25:23). And Israel only occupies it according to God’s grace and on Yahweh’s terms.
Then the master and planter of the vineyard goes away. This represents the awayness of God, his transcendence, the fact that we cannot access him unless he reveals himself. But that doesn’t mean God isn’t there. In fact, Yahweh sent his servants, the prophets to the farmers, again and again. These servants represent the prophets, who continually called stubborn Israel to turn back to Yahweh. And the way the tenant farmers treat the servants is the same as the way Israel treated the prophets. This one they beat, that one they treated shamefully, this one they rejected and threw out.
So what does the Master of the Vineyard do?
What would you do? Imagine I own a rental property and I get the tenants from hell. Really nasty pieces of work. They beat up my Real Estate agents. They humiliate the debt collectors. The police won’t go there. So of course you say to yourself.
‘Violent criminals have overrun my estate. So I know what I’ll do. I’ll appeal to their better nature. I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.'
There’s something that seems niave, gullible, reckless and foolhardy, if we did this ourselves. But God is happy to risk being the fool, such is his mercy to the wicked. So he sends the Son.
And this of course is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Beloved Son of God, eternally one with the Father, utterly unique and impeccably obedient. And of course the farmers reason, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him. Then the inheritance will be ours.' So they throw him out of the vineyard and kill him.
And this will happen to Jesus very soon. Within the week, Jesus is taken outside Jerusalem to Golgotha and crucified on a hill between two criminals, at the request of the Sanhedrin.
Jesus is only saying what he has been saying since chapter 9: that the Christ must suffer, be rejected, spat on, beaten, and crucified, and after three days rise again.
What will the master of the vineyard do? This mild, simple, long-suffering planter of vineyards will give up, and write it off as a bad debt, and get on with life. No. The rejection of the Son will provoke his vengeance. He will come and destroy those farmers, and give the vineyard to others.
And that is what happened. In AD 70, Jerusalem and the beautiful temple was flattened. And gentiles have been in control of it almost continuously ever since. And even since the establishment of the Jewish State, and the 1967 6 day war, still the temple mount is controlled by gentiles. Almost 2000 years, and the temple still hasn’t been rebuilt. Jerusalem is still riven by war, mistrust and hatred. And who can see it ever being rebuilt, without God’s miraculous and final intervention?
We Christians are citizens of the Jerusalem that is above, the heavenly city that comes from heaven to earth at the end of the age. And that city has no temple, because God and the Lamb are there. And we need no shadowy temple now, for we have Jesus Christ who intercedes for us. And we will need no shadowy temple then, when the dwelling of God is with men, and when we have the reality of Father and Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
And meanwhile the gospel has gone out. For this vineyard has been given to others. Both Jews and Gentiles who submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and long for his appearing. And look, here are some of them! Here in this room: gentiles to whom the gospel has gone through the disobedience of the Jews. Now, you are fellow tenants of the Master, along with the Jews who trust in Jesus Christ, until the Son returns again to take us to be with him.
Let’s pray.
[1] Compare http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/behaviour.html or Kevin B Bucknall, Japan: Doing Business in a Unique Culture, 121