Setting The Scene In Luke

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You're listening to Heed the Word with our pastor and teacher Ken Davis. Pastor Ken is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro in Burleson, Texas. Please join us as we study the Gospel of Luke verse by verse.

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How often do we see that today? Where people are extorted for money in the name of Jesus. You'll get those flyers or those letters that come in the mail and that they'll say, hey, if you have a prayer need, you know, just write it down here and send it in with your gift of$100 or more. And we'll be happy to pray for you. Don't we see things like that? Don't we hear the televangelists talk about sending in your gift of faith or planting that seed so that it'll return to you a hundredfold? We see people being extorted even today in the name of God. And it is displeasing to our Lord.

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The Gospel of Luke is the third account in the Gospels of the life and teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As believers, there are few studies that will benefit us more spiritually than studying the life and teachings of the Master. In the Gospel of Matthew, we are warned to watch out for false teachers. From the outside, they may have the appearance of godliness, but their lives bear no fruit. These false prophets, these wolves in sheep's clothing mix truth and lies. They add to and take away from God's Word. Beware, believer, so that you are not easily deceived. Don't forget to stay with us after today's message to hear more information about He the Word, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 19, verse 45, as we join Pastor Ken.

False Teachers And Modern Extortion

Triumphal Entry Reconsidered

Cleansing The Temple Begins

Leaders Plot While Crowds Listen

Isaiah’s House Of Prayer For All

Jeremiah’s Den Of Thieves Warning

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We just studied the triumphal entry, which is a bit of a misnomer. The triumphal entry, such as it is, will truly see his second coming when he comes to rule and to reign and to bring judgment upon the earth. This, though he seems to have been received initially, would result rather in his rejection. And we see the beginnings of that even this morning in verse 45, chapter 19. Then he went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, It is written, My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. And he was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy him, and were unable to do anything, for all the people were very attentive to hear him. So the people, as he entered Jerusalem, had had thrown down palm branches and thrown their clothes before him as he came in riding on the donkey. As they received him, they cried out, Hosanna, save now, right? And yet the leaders of the people rejected him. Why would they do such a thing? You know, Jesus, as he came here into this place, did many marvelous and mighty works, and yet, in spite of all of that, they refused to receive him as their Messiah. It had been prophesied in the book of Daniel that the time of his coming would be near. Daniel had given them all the information they needed to know that Messiah was about to appear, and yet, when he did appear, they would reject him. It makes no sense when we think about it in the light of truth. And yet when we recognize the frailty of humanity, the vanity of man, the evil that resides in our hearts, we can begin to comprehend how they would have rejected their Messiah. Matthew 21, if you'll turn there, gives us another picture of all that's happening at this time. Let's start at the beginning for context. Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Beth Page at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, The Lord has need of them, and immediately he will send them. All this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you, lowly and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey. So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and sat him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitude who went before, and those who followed, cried out, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. And when he had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved. That word moved is kind of like an earthquake. It's as though the whole city is trembling, saying, Who is this? So the multitude said, This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee. Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves, and he said to them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. Then the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, saying, Hosanna to the son of David, they were indignant. Can you imagine? Blind men are coming to Jesus, and by the power of God, he is miraculously opening their eyes. The deaf are coming to them, and he is opening their ears that they might hear. And he's teaching the people the wonderful truths of God. And yet the leaders and the priests and the scribes become indignant with this? They become angry over the fact that Jesus is doing these things. You see, he had interfered with their system, he had interfered with the way that they viewed things, he had interfered with their commerce and with their profit, and even the children were crying out to him, praising him. The leaders of Israel, they couldn't receive it. They became indignant, and they said to him, to Jesus, Do you hear what these are saying? And Jesus said to them, Have you never heard out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants you have perfected praise. Then he left them and went out to the city of Bethany and he lodged there. Jesus, in the passages that we've just read, cleanses the temple. He goes in and he sees what is happening here and he says, This is not right. And so he begins then to, in a very violent manner, cleanse the temple. He overturns the money changers' tables. Can you imagine what that must have been like? I mean, here are all these stacks of money, most of them coins, I would imagine. I don't think they had paper money at that time. And so he overturns the tables, and on the stone floors of the temple, the money would just be scattered. And he overturns the seats of the cellars of doves and of the animals, and he drives them out of the temple. What an incredible scene we see here. You know, so often you see the films or the pictures of Jesus, and he seems like this very soft, very patient, very genteel person, right? But that's not the picture that we see here at all. We see a prophet. We see a leader, we see a man who has zeal for God and for God's house, and who breaks with convention and does that which would seem almost insane to those that would view it. The Bible says, Be angry, but sin not. So we know that in his actions here, Jesus is not sinning, but he is driving out the impurities from the temple. Luke 19, 45 through 48, as we just read in the first few verses there, it says, Then he went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold, and it saying to them, It is written, My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. Those two statements that he's made are quotes from the Old Testament from two different places. Let's look at each of them. First turn to Isaiah chapter 56. Isaiah chapter 56, starting in verse 1, tells us this Keep justice and do righteousness, for my salvation is about to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who lays hold on it, who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Do not let the son of a foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord speak, saying, The Lord has utterly separated me from his people, nor let the eunuch say, Here I am a dry tree, for thus says the Lord to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, and choose what pleases me, and hold fast my covenant, even to them I will give in my house and within my walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters. I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love the name of the Lord to his servants, everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbaths and hold fast my covenant, even them I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar. For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. The Lord who gathers the outcast of Israel says, Yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him. Jesus is saying, as he quotes this verse, that my house was to be a house of prayer. And as we look back at the context of this verse, it was to be a house of prayer for all nations. You see, this place where all of this buying and selling and trading and robbery really was going on was in the court of the Gentiles in the outer court. That was the place where the children of Israel were to testify of the glorious things of God to the people who would come from other nations. And yet they had made it a den of thieves. Jeremiah 7 is the other verse that Jesus quotes. Let's turn to that. For context, let's start in verse 1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Stand in the gate of the Lord's house and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah, who enter in at the gates to worship the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Do not trust in these lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these. What he's saying here is, look, if you repent, I will allow you to dwell in safety in this place. Do not assume that because the temple of the Lord is here, you'll be safe from destruction. Because Jeremiah had been proclaiming and preaching that the judgment of God was coming. And yet many of them were saying, Oh, well, we have the temple of the Lord here, the temple of the Lord. Hey, you know, we're okay, right? Jeremiah saying, Don't be fooled by that. Verse 5. For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say we are delivered to do all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I have seen it, says the Lord. But go now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it, because of the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all these works, says the Lord, and I spoke to you, rising early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house which is called by my name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh, and I will cast you out of my sight as I have cast out all your brethren, the whole posterity of Ephraim. What's he saying? He's saying, Look, if you want to dwell in safety, then repent. Don't trust in the fact that the temple is here, because the temple in and of itself is no safety for you. You see, when the children of Israel first came into the land, the tabernacle of God was established in Shiloh. And it was there in Shiloh where the people would go and they would offer up sacrifices. Now Shiloh was in the area that was at this time or had been previously Israel. And Jerusalem was in Judah. Well, Israel was carried away captive by the Assyrians and completely destroyed in spite of the fact that Shiloh had been there. Now he is referring here in the book of Jeremiah to the destruction of Shiloh and to what had happened to this place. Now, the Bible doesn't really tell us precisely what happened to Shiloh, but archaeology does. In 1929, there were discoveries that concluded that the destruction of Shiloh did indeed take place, and I'll quote here, after the Battle of Ebenezer by the Philistines around 1050 BC is when they estimate the destruction took place. Since after its destruction, Shiloh was not rebuilt until about 300 BC. The ruins of the place were surely evident in Jeremiah's day, witnessing the destruction that took place about half a millennium earlier. Albright, Thompson, and Unger all make mention of the excavations that have disclosed the destruction of Shiloh. This destruction of Shiloh, where once God's name was recorded, provided the wretched proved the wretched error of the people in their foolish faith that God had irrevocably committed to the preservation of any place that was previously a place where his name had been. What they were doing is they had said, because of the fact that the temple was here, or because of the fact that the tabernacle was here, that they were safe in that place, regardless of their actions. And yet even archaeology attests to the fact that Shiloh was destroyed. Now, as we look at what's happening here in the temple, we need to ask ourselves the question: why is all this buying and selling taking place in the first place? Why are they even here? What are they doing? Well, the law had established the fact that in the land of Israel, when they would come to worship, when they would bring their sacrifice, if they had to come from a great distance, that they could take the first fruits or the firstborn of their flocks and they could sell them for money. And that they could then carry that money in their hand. And when they arrived at Jerusalem, they could use that money to buy something to sacrifice. It's in Deuteronomy chapter 14, and we're not going to go there now for uh for the sake of time. But uh, if you want to study that out and see where the Lord speaks of it, it's in Deuteronomy 14, verses 22 through 29, where he gives them that provision that they can sell the firstborn of their flocks and that they can take that money and buy a sacrifice when they come. And so, in a sense, what began to happen in the early days there was really as a service to the people. It was a good thing that they would be there in the city of Jerusalem, ready to sell animals that were approved for sacrifice. But like so many good things we do, they can become corrupted by our flesh, can't they? And that's exactly what had happened here. First of all, though this was a good thing for them to be doing, it was not a good thing for them to be doing in the sanctuary. Secondly, though it was a service that they were providing to the people, they were making exorbitant profits off of this, as Jesus called them, a den of thieves. And so not only were they doing what they ought not be doing, but they were extorting the people under the pretense of worshiping God. How often do we see that today? Where people are extorted for money in the name of Jesus. You'll get those flyers or those letters that come in the mail, and that they'll say, Hey, if you have a prayer need, you know, just write it down here and send it in with your gift of$100 or more, and we'll be happy to pray for you. Don't we see things like that? Don't we hear the televangelists talk about sending in your gift of faith or planting that seed so that it'll return to you a hundredfold? We see people being extorted even today in the name of God, and it is displeasing to our Lord. It is displeasing to him. Jesus, when he came to the temple that day, was fulfilling the prophecy of Malachi 3, verses 1 through 3 that said this Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. That was speaking of John the Baptist. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming? And who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like a launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver, he will purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. Now, Luke 19, 47 and 48 told us that the leaders of Israel in Jesus' time were no more interested in justice and the true worship of God than were the leaders during Isaiah or Jeremiah's time had been. They wanted to destroy Jesus, regardless of the good that he was doing, in spite of the message that he proclaimed, they wanted to destroy him. Now, as we read in Luke and in Matthew, we get the impression that the cleansing of the temple takes place immediately upon Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem. But Mark gives us a little bit clearer picture of that and shows us that that's not quite how the time frame progressed. Let's turn to Mark chapter 11, verse 9. This is the triumphal entry that we see here. Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when he had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. And so we see from Mark that the timeline goes like this. Jesus, as he's coming into Jerusalem, is coming in, riding on the donkey, receiving the praises of the people as he enters in. And then he comes to the temple and doesn't immediately begin turning things over and kicking people out, but he looks all around at everything that is there. Now we're not told exactly what he sees at this time. Are the money changers there at this time? Are the sellers of oxen and doves and all of those there right then doing all of that? If they were, then I find it interesting that Jesus did not act immediately, but that he withdrew and took time to consider what he had seen and to pray about his response. If that is what he saw, I think that's a good lesson to us. That when we come into a situation where we have an inclination to act immediately, that it's better to step back and to evaluate the situation and to seek God's will concerning it. Perhaps that isn't what he saw, though. Perhaps he saw worshippers there. Perhaps as it was already late, the temple was pretty empty. We just don't know. But we do know that he departed and they went into Bethany. And then Mark tells us a story that I find very interesting in terms of how he places it. Matthew takes this story and he places the entire story of the fig tree after the cleansing of the temple. But Mark does something with it that I love, and that is he breaks it in half. He puts one part of it before the cleansing of the temple, then he shows us the cleansing of the temple, and then he puts the second part of it at the end. And by doing so, I believe, he really ties these two things together and gives us an incredible illustration in the process. So let's read beginning in verse twelve. Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, he was hungry, and seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, he went to see if perhaps he would find something on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response, Jesus said to it, Let no one eat fruit from you ever again. And his disciples heard it. Now does it seem like Jesus maybe got angry at the fig tree and kind of lost his temper? This is the only destructive miracle we see in all of Scripture. That's not the case, of course. Everything that is was created for him and by him. And so the highest purpose that this fig tree could have would be to provide fruit for the one that had created it. And so, in not doing that, in not fulfilling that highest purpose that it had in providing fruit for him, how could it then provide fruit for any other? There's a lesson in that for us. If we don't provide fruit unto God, then how can anyone else find nourishment in us? How can we provide anything for anyone that is any good if we are not first fruitful and pleasing to Jesus? Israel is represented quite clearly by this fig tree. Scripture tells us, I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your father's as the first fruits on the fig tree in its first season. You know, it was completely reasonable for Jesus to expect that there would be fruit upon this tree. For one thing, fig trees spread out their leaves and produce figs at roughly the same time. In fact, the figs typically precede the leaves. So to see the fig tree from afar and to see the leaves on it is a sign that, hey, there's supposed to be fruit here. It looks as though there ought to be fruit here. There is activity, there is appearance, and yet upon closer inspection there's no fruit. And Jesus would find the same thing as he entered the temple. A whole lot of activity, a whole lot of work, a whole lot of things going on. But there was no true fruit of praise or worship that was taking place there. But rather there was extortion. Let's read on in Mark 11, starting in verse 15. So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves, and he would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. Then he taught, saying to them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves. And the scribes and the chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy him, for they feared him because of all the people who were astonished at his teaching. When evening had come, he went out of the city. Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree which you cursed has withered away. So we see that Jesus comes to the tree and expects to find fruit. Finding none, he says, Let no man eat fruit from you again.

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Unfortunately, that's all the time we have for today. You've been listening to Heed the Word, the teaching ministry of Pastor Ken Davis, Calvary Chapel in Burleson, Texas. We are currently making our way through the Gospel of Luke here on Heed the Word. The Gospel of Luke is packed full of insights about Jesus, our Savior. So we encourage you to join us again, same time, same place, for the next study through Luke with Pastor Ken. As we mentioned at the beginning of today's broadcast, this teaching, as well as many others, are available from the Heed the Word Media Player. You can listen to today's teaching, download today's teaching, subscribe to the Heed the Word podcast, or even get a copy on your mobile phone. Everything's right there. There's even a Bible available for you to follow along in the scriptures as Pastor Kent teaches. So log on to HeedTheWord.org and continue studying with us today. If today's teaching has blessed you, perhaps you'd like to visit us for worship. Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro meets each Sunday morning at 10.30 a.m. and Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. We'd love to have you stop by and join us. For more information and driving directions, log on to www.heedtheword.org. This has been another edition of Heed the Word, the verse by verse, chapter by chapter, and book by book teaching ministry of Ken Davis, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel, Southwest Metro. Place a marker in your Bibles and join us next time for our continuing study through the Gospel of Luke right here on Heed the Word.