Oct. 19, 2025

Background:

• The anger of Jesus is seen in this passage
• The abuse of the temple angered the Lord because they were abusing His temple
• Our bodies are also a temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
• We have been bought with a price; so our bodies no longer belongs to us but belongs to the Lord

Key Sermon Points:

1. How He cleansed the temple

• He went into the temple and drove out those who profaned and exploited the temple
• This happened in the outer court where the Gentiles worshipped
• People traveled great distances to go to the temple and purchased animals for use as a sacrifice at a very high price the priests were charging
• The abuse of the temple lets us know that the church was not priority to them
• This is God's house

2. Why He cleansed the temple

• It is written My house is a house of prayer
• Jesus speaks on what was already recorded (Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11)
• Jesus held the temple in the highest regard
• The word My is possessive...it is God's and only God's
• Things are just lent to us on our pilgrimage through this world
• The temple or church is the place where His presence dwells and thus it is a special place
• We are servants not owners
• The House is to be operated according to God's will
• We are not to exploit the temple
• Jesus called the temple the House of Prayer, which is set aside for God's people to come together...not a place for buying, selling, stealing, gossiping, etc.
• It's God's house of prayer (1 Timothy 5:13; 1 Peter 4:15; 2 Thessalonian 3:11-12)
• Jesus was upset because the priests were taking advantage of the people

3. The results of His cleansing the temple

• The leaders sought to destroy Jesus because:
  • They were loosing control of the temple
  • They were misusing and abusing the people
  • They were loosing control of the people
  • Jesus was teaching the true Gospel of God
  • They were loosing money because Jesus cast out the vendors
• They were unwilling to surrender to Jesus
• They just wanted control of the people and all that the people could give them
• They were letting greed keep them from Jesus (1 Timothy 6:10)
• Money is not evil, but the attitude that we have towards money
• We are just stewards
• They were letting the greed get them
• They were letting self-confidence and self-righteousness keep them from God
• We have to be careful to not get like that
• Jesus modeled effective teaching (Matthew 4:23)
• Effective teaching can occur in any place at any time
• When we do effective teaching, it will cost us something
• When we stand up for right and righteousness, then we will be called things that we aren't..and people will want to destroy us
• They tried to destroy Jesus, but couldn't because it wasn't His time and the people were listening
• It is important to speak positive things because it will come back to us
• We must understand that we must stand for right and righteousness
• We can't have thin skin as Christians because we will be persecuted for standing up for righteousness
• It's God's house and God sets the rules
• When we come in, we must have the attitude that we will pray, worship Him and bring glory and honor to His name