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Calvary Community Church

Sermon

Jesus Confronts Corrupted Worship, Part 2

Speaker
David Capoccia
Scripture
John 2:12-25

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In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia finishes examining John 2:12-25. John presents Jesus’ cleansing visit to Jerusalem on Passover so that you will not present God with corrupted worship but instead believe in Jesus. After a brief review, Pastor Dave explains specifically how verses 18-25 show why you must come to Jesus with full, genuine faith.

1. Jesus Demonstrates Zeal for God’s House (vv. 12-17)
2. Jesus Offers Only a Cryptic Sign (vv. 18-22)
3. Jesus Knows and Rejects False Believers (vv. 23-25)

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

This passage from John 2:12-25 confronts us with the sobering reality that Jesus sees through every form of corrupted worship. We are reminded that the same Jesus who cleansed the temple with holy zeal also knows every human heart—and will not entrust himself to those whose faith is incomplete or insincere. The passage reveals three instances of corrupted worship: marketplace religion in God’s house, demanding signs while refusing to truly believe, and a superficial faith that Jesus sees through and rejects.

Key Lessons:

  1. No amount of miraculous signs will convince a heart that is fundamentally committed to self rather than God—the problem is not insufficient evidence but suppressed truth.
  2. Jesus offered the cryptic sign of his death and resurrection precisely because the Jews’ demand for signs exposed their unbelief rather than genuine seeking.
  3. It is possible to sincerely say “I believe in Jesus” and yet have a faith that Jesus himself does not accept—the human heart is capable of profound self-deception.
  4. Genuine faith means giving up everything to follow Jesus without conditions, not fitting him into a life already devoted to other treasures.

Application: We are called to examine our lives for specific spiritual red flags: trusting something other than Jesus for salvation, habitual unrepentant sin, lack of desire to know God, devotion to idols competing with Christ, and spiritual isolation from fellow believers. Where these are found, we must repent and pursue wholehearted, unconditional devotion to Jesus.

Discussion Questions:

  1. In what ways might we adopt a “what have you done for me lately” attitude toward God, and how does the cross answer that mindset once and for all?
  2. What are the specific spiritual red flags mentioned in this sermon, and which one most challenges you personally right now?
  3. How can we distinguish between healthy self-examination and the kind of terrified introspection the Bible does not intend for believers?

Scripture Focus: John 2:12-25 reveals Jesus’ authority over the temple, his prophetic sign of his death and resurrection, and his omniscient knowledge of human hearts. Psalm 69:9 foretells the Messiah’s consuming zeal and subsequent suffering. Jeremiah 17:9-10 exposes the deceitfulness of the human heart. Romans 5:8 demonstrates God’s proven love at the cross.

Outline

Introduction

Well, it’s good to be back looking at the word of God with you. Many thanks to Pastor Bobby for taking the extra load over the last month or so as Emma and I try to figure out how to take care of our lovely boy. Thank you so much for your prayers.

Let’s go to the Lord in prayer before we hear from him. Speak, O Lord, we come to you to receive the food of your holy word. Plan to deepen us, shape and fashion us into your likeness. Amen.

How Do We Know If Someone Is Telling the Truth?

Preparation for the message today, I’ve been thinking about a certain basic question for life: How do we know when someone is telling the truth? Or to frame the question negatively: How do we know when someone is lying to you?

In some cases, a lie is quite easy to spot. You’ve probably seen a viral video clip of a toddler who’s been caught in some mischief—maybe putting marker all over the walls or going to town with Mommy’s makeup. When confronted by the parent as to who could have made such a mess, the little tyke with marker stains still in his hands or lipstick all over her face says, “I don’t know. Not me.” That’s such an obvious lie. It can be offered seriously, and it’s funny if a little sad.

But while sometimes the truth is obvious, many times in life it’s hard to tell if someone is lying. Some people think that they are good at spotting liars, and they therefore look for telltale signs in the way a person speaks and acts to betray his falsehood.

They might ask themselves: Is he avoiding my gaze? Is he getting fidgety? Is he using more speech fillers like “um” and things like that? Is he blinking a lot? Well, he must be lying.

However, the conclusion over years of scientific investigation is that there is basically no reliable outward tell that someone is lying. A person can act nervously even when they’re telling the truth, and a person who is lying can still remain outwardly quite composed.

In fact, a scientific review conducted in 2006 of more than 200 different experimental studies in which participants were supposed to decide simply based on how a test person was speaking or acting whether that test person was lying or telling the truth found that the participants in all these studies, which consisted of student volunteers and trained law enforcement, could only directly discern truth-telling from lying 54 percent of the time. That’s only slightly better than randomly guessing.

“There is basically no reliable outward tell that someone is lying.”

In other words, there is no easy way to know if a person is lying or telling the truth. Instead, we humans must rely on more effort-filled avenues of truth verification. We have to look for witnesses. We have to look for evidence to back up what a person is telling us. Or we must listen to what that person says over time to see if what he says remains consistent or involves contradictions.

Even these methods are not foolproof, but they’re the best of God. It’s the best we can do in our sin-cursed, vaporous world.

Jesus Sees What We Cannot

Yet there is one person for whom knowing the true from the false is completely easy. It takes no effort at all. He doesn’t need any help. Even before someone speaks, he knows the genuine ones from the frauds, the deceivers, and even the self-deceived from the truly faithful.

He knows this because his eyes do not see as ours do, resting on the outward appearance. His eyes cut to the heart. They look upon what’s inside. They stare at your inner person. Is there a human with such a penetrating grace? There is, and he’s the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, the word made flesh.

“His eyes do not see as ours do, resting on the outward appearance. His eyes cut to the heart.”

We’ve been studying through the Gospel of John, and even in the first two chapters, we’ve seen this kind of knowledge, this penetrating look from Jesus, even in the hearts of his first disciples. You remember when he’s calling them in the first chapters? He’s able to tell: “This is Nathanael. Light in whom there’s no deceit. I tell you your name is Peter. You are rock.” You can look right into the heart.

But as we go on in the Gospel of John, as we turn now to the account of John 2, we’re going to see Jesus’ gaze expose the hearts of would-be disciples, persons who pretend to or even think that they really do love God and seek his truth, but they don’t really. That’s what we’re going to see today.

Our need is this: we want to appreciate our need, even here at Calvary, to be genuine disciples of Jesus, followers who truly believe in him and do not offer him false, corrupted worship.

Scripture Reading: John 2:12-25

Open your Bibles to John 2:12-25.

This message is entitled “Jesus Confronts Corrupted Worship, Part Two: John 2:12-25.” This is true Bible, page 1060, if you’re using that.

A little over a month ago, we were looking at the first part of this passage. Let’s reread the whole section. We’ll review what we’ve seen, and then we’ll examine the latter two parts of the passage together.

John 2:12-25: “After this, he—that’s Jesus—went down to Capernaum, he and his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days. The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And he found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.

And he made a scourge of cords and drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. And to those who are selling the doves, he said, ‘Take these things away. Stop making my Father’s house a place of business.’

His disciples remember that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’

The Jews then said to him, ‘What sign do you show us as your authority for doing these things?’

Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’

The Jews then said, ‘It took 46 years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?’

But he was speaking of the temple of his body.

So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many believed in his name observing his signs which he was doing. But Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them, for he knew all men, and because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for he himself knew what was in man.”

Here we are again, looking at Jesus’ first cleansing Passover visit to Jerusalem. Remember, Jesus will have another cleansing visit on Passover in Jerusalem, and that happens right before his crucifixion. But this one’s the first one, and it takes place at the beginning of his three-and-a-half-year public ministry, around A.D. 27.

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

Now our author John the Apostle doesn’t record this visit simply because it was an interesting occurrence. No, he has purposely reported this event because it fits in the purpose, the main goal of this entire book. And we’ve looked at this before.

John 20:31: John tells us why he wrote this book. “These have been written—the record of these specific signs and what Jesus said—these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.”

John 20:31: “These have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.”

This is chiefly an evangelistic gospel, so that people will believe in Jesus.

The Danger of Less Than Saving Faith

Now, as wonderful as that goal is, as wonderful as the prospect is of believing in Jesus to receive eternal life, there is a danger. There is a deadly danger into which would-be disciples of Jesus can fall. And that danger is that they will believe in Jesus with something less than saving faith.

They will believe, but it’s not full belief. Maybe it’s just intellectual. Maybe it’s just emotional. Or maybe it’s part of the person but not all of the person. Whatever it is, in some way the believer doesn’t go all in on Jesus. It doesn’t give up all to follow him to the end. You hold something back.

Maybe it’s for the sake of sin. Maybe it’s for the sake of his own safety. Or maybe it’s just so he can serve some worldly treasure. A person wants to fit Jesus in his life along with something else.

So rather than presenting Jesus with the full, the pure, the sincere worship that Jesus is due as God, as the Son of God, this believer presents God with corrupted worship.

This believer therefore thinks, “Because he believes, because he’s heard the message and he believes, all is right with him and God, and therefore he is bound for glory.” But the sad reality is all is not right with him and God. All is very wrong with him and God. He is not bound for glory. He’s bound for eternal darkness and fire.

“Rather than presenting Jesus with pure, sincere worship, this believer presents God with corrupted worship.”

Our writer John the Apostle does not want his original audience to enter into that destiny, to share that fate. Remember, he’s writing to Hellenistic Jews. These are people who say they love God. They are God-worshipers. But he recognizes that there’s a belief that they can have that falls short, and the spirit of God does not desire such a dark fate for any of you this morning who are listening to this.

Thus we have this passage to warn us. And the main idea is, as we saw last time, I’ll repeat it: John presents Jesus’ cleansing visit to Jerusalem on Passover so that you will not present God with corrupted worship, but instead believe in Jesus, really believe in Jesus in a full way.

Our passage presents three poignant instances of Jesus confronting corrupted worship, and we saw the first one together last time in verses 12 to 17.

Review: Jesus Demonstrates Zeal for God’s House

This is just review. Number one: Jesus demonstrates zeal for God’s house.

Jesus encountered at this Passover feast what he no doubt had seen many times before in Jerusalem. He saw animal sellers and money changers turning the outer court of God’s temple—which was supposed to be a place of worship for all the nations—into a marketplace.

Having begun his public ministry, Jesus no longer held back his zeal for God. He took action. He made a whip, and he angrily drove out all the merchants and their animals, scattered the coins of the money changers, and warned them that they dare no longer desecrate his Father’s house.

This zealous cleansing of the temple testified not only of Jesus’ identity as the true Christ, but it also made clear that God is a God who will not tolerate corrupted worship in his people, not then and not now.

“God is a God who will not tolerate corrupted worship in his people, not then and not now.”

While nobody tried to stop Jesus’ act of righteous anger, some thought Jesus had some explaining to do. Thus we see in verses 18-22 a second instance of Jesus confronting corrupted worship. That’s what I want to look at together with you today, along with the third instance. But we’ll start with the second.

Jesus Offers Only a Cryptic Sign

Number two: Jesus offers only a cryptic sign.

Jesus offers only a cryptic sign. For this, we’ll start with just verse 18.

It says, “The Jews then said to him, ‘What sign do you show us as your authority for doing these things?’”

The Jews Demand a Sign

So right on the heels of Jesus’ dramatic cleansing of the temple, a certain question emerges. And notice who’s asking it: the Jews. And there’s that term again.

Most likely, the particular Jews that are raising this question to Jesus are the ones associated with the temple, the ones considering what Jesus just did—they have the most reason for concern. So this would be the temple officials, the priests, the religious leaders, probably the Pharisees and Sadducees. But as is often the case in this gospel, notice John tells us it’s the Pharisees and Sadducees or the priests. He just says “the Jews.” It doesn’t specifically identify which Jews.

And this is probably because John wants us to see that this question from the Jewish leaders is the same question that the Jews as a whole would be asking Jesus again and again. It really properly represents the people’s response to Jesus.

And what’s the question? “What sign do you show us?”

Now remember how John uses the term “sign” in this gospel. We’re not talking about any old symbol or communication, but a sign—a miracle. Every time you see the word “sign” here, or almost every time—I think it’s actually every time—it’s a sign miracle, a miraculous work that testifies to who Jesus is and from where he comes.

So when the Jews asked Jesus for a sign, they’re really asking him to perform a revelatory miracle. What do they want this particular sign miracle to show or to prove? Well, they say, “What sign do you show us as your authority for doing these things?”

“Every time you see the word ‘sign’ here, it’s a sign miracle, a miraculous work that testifies to who Jesus is.”

So do you see? They want a miracle from Jesus to prove that he has the authority to do what he just did. And what did he just do? He cleansed the temple in a dramatic way, all by himself, without asking permission of anybody.

Now it’s worth noting they don’t ask Jesus if what he did was right or if what he did was necessary. They merely ask if he can prove by a miracle that he had the authority to do what he did.

And why would they care so much about whether Jesus had the authority? Well, this is not simply the religious leaders getting a little uppity with Jesus, thinking he’s encroaching on their turf. It’s more than that.

It’s, as I said to you last time, the Jews, especially the Jewish leaders, realize that this sudden appearing and single-handed cleansing of the temple—that’s the kind of move that only one person would do or attempt to do. And that is the Messiah, Israel’s long-awaited Christ, the special deliverer, the coming king of Israel.

Many Jews have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Messiah. Remember, there’s a lot of Messianic expectation at this time. And so they think, based on what just happened, Jesus might be him. Or at least Jesus might be pretending to be the Messiah.

So as the Jews of Jerusalem did with John the Baptist—remember, they sent a delegation to him to ask him, “Are you the Christ? Or do you claim to be the Christ? Or somebody associated with the Christ?”—they wanted to see what he was claiming and what his credentials were. Well, now they’re doing the same thing with Jesus. They’re questioning Jesus and asking for his credentials.

“Do you claim to be the Messiah? If so, what do you have that proves it? Jesus, after this whole cleansing, you are acting like someone claiming to be the Christ. We expect that when the Messiah comes, he will have the power of God clearly, and he will do great miracles like Moses did on behalf of his people. So let’s see it. What kind of sign miracle will you do to prove that you’re the Messiah and have the authority to cleanse the temple and even rule as king of the Jews?”

This is what they’re after.

Now, you might think this is a golden opportunity for Jesus in his Messianic mission. Jesus, they’re asking you to clarify who you are so that they can follow and believe in you. That’s great. So why don’t you do as they ask? Why not do the biggest sign that you can think of? Prove you are the Christ.

Jesus’ Puzzling Response

Well, look at how Jesus responds. Verse 19.

“Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’”

What? What kind of response is that to them? That’d be like answering “What is two plus two?” with “Banana.” How does that answer follow?

John 2:19: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

We can imagine the Jews trying to make sense of Jesus’ words. “Okay, we just asked him for a grand miraculous sign to prove he’s the Messiah, and first he says you all destroy this temple. I don’t know why we would destroy the holy dwelling place of God, but okay. And then he says, ‘In three days I will raise it up.’ So the miraculous sign that Jesus is offering is to rebuild in three days the destroyed temple sanctuary?”

“What? First of all, it’s crazy to think that we pious Jews would destroy God’s temple. And second, it’s crazy to think that he could rebuild that temple in just three days. What kind of answer is this?”

And we know that this is how the Jews are thinking because of the response they would give to Jesus in John 2:20.

Look there. “The Jews then said, ‘It took 46 years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?’”

The 46 Years of Temple Construction

Now, you may ask, “What’s this business about 46 years?” Well, that’s a reference to the work that Herod the Great conducted on behalf of the temple back in 20 or 19 BC.

King Herod wanted to curry favor with the Jews, and he also wanted to indulge his desire for building. He loved to build all over Israel. So he embarked on a temple renovation project. He expanded, he built up, he beautified the temple of God. Or he started to.

Now, the temple had already been built. Remember, it was rebuilt under Zerubbabel after the Jews came back from exile. But now Herod is expanding and beautifying it and the grounds around it. He began this grand construction project back in 19 BC, but he died before he could finish it. But the work went on.

In fact, 46 years later, workers were still renovating parts of the temple. I mean, this is God’s house. You can’t just do a shoddy job or leave it unfinished, right? This is for his glory. So they kept going.

The Jews are thinking to themselves, “Who’s this character who says he can raise up a complete, glorious, beautified temple in just three days when we haven’t finished beautifying God’s temple in 46 years?” And by the way, the Jews would not finish their work on the temple before it was destroyed again in 70 AD.

“This is God’s house. You can’t just do a shoddy job or leave it unfinished. This is for his glory.”

You can see, as the Jews respond to Jesus, that they are incredulous. They do not believe what he just said. “Oh, Jesus, we asked you for a grand sign, but raising up the temple in just three days? That’s a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?”

But why would we need to rebuild the temple anyways? Your response makes no sense.

The Temple of His Body

Verse 21 reveals that there is a crucial detail that Jesus left out regarding his offered sign, a detail that completely clarifies his answer to the Jews. And let’s see it. Verse 21: “But he was speaking of the temple of his body.”

Oh, that changes everything, doesn’t it?

When Jesus talks about the Jews destroying the temple and raising it up in three days, Jesus is not talking about the physical building. He’s talking about his own physical body.

So the sign that Jesus is offering is not some speedy temple reconstruction, but what? His resurrection. After all, what is Jesus in himself? John 1 tells us he’s the word made flesh. He’s the eternal God dwelling with or tabernacling among men.

Thus, his body is the temple of God. It’s the dwelling place of God, and it’s a dwelling place even greater than the temple building.

“His body is the temple of God—a dwelling place even greater than the temple building.”

Yeah, what does Jesus foretell? His body, the very temple of God, will be destroyed. And who’s going to do it? The Jews, the very people who claim to love God and to love God’s house. They will destroy the greater temple of God.

But what will Jesus do? He will raise it up in three days. That is, by his own powers, the Son of God, he will take up the life he sets down again. Or he will take up again the life he set down and rise again from death.

“You want a grand sign to prove that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God? Well, here is your sign. God’s prophets had raised people from the dead before, a few times in the Old Testament. But no one ever raised himself. That is a Messiah-type move. That is a God-type move. Only God, only the God of life, has the power over death like that.”

So this will be a great sign. It will definitely prove who Jesus is. But this great foretelling is a great foretelling of both Jesus’ death by the Jews and his resurrection three days later. It’s given three and a half years before it happens, and it’s not clarified. Jesus doesn’t clarify it for the Jews, and he doesn’t even clarify it for his disciples, not here at least.

Rather, look at verse 22.

The Disciples Remember and Believe

“So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.”

Notice that it’s only when Jesus actually fulfills this cryptic word about his death and resurrection that his disciples remember and believe. Finally, it clicks. It all makes sense. When they actually see the risen Lord.

And by the way, we see this with Jesus’s other foretellings of his death and resurrection. It’s pretty plain, but they don’t get it. They can’t understand it. It’s only when he arises from the dead that they say, “Oh, that’s what he was talking about.”

“It’s only when he arises from the dead that they say, ‘Oh, that’s what he was talking about.’”

Even on that first Passover trip to Jerusalem, now we see it. Now we understand. Now we believe.

Which Scripture Did They Believe?

It says in verse 22 that when Jesus was raised, the disciples believed the scripture. Now that’s an interesting expression. Because usually when John in his gospel talks about “the scripture” singular, he’s talking about a particular passage, not the scriptures as a whole, but a particular passage.

But which one is John referring to here? We don’t see one specifically identified for us or quoted. It’s a difficult question to answer.

It could be that, though this is not the way John usually does it, John is referring to all of scripture here—all of the Old Testament, what it generally says about Jesus and his coming, his death, and his resurrection.

Or it could be that John is referring to a particular text without mentioning where it comes from. There’s at least one other time in the Gospel of John where he might be doing the same thing.

Perhaps John is referring to Psalm 16:10-11, where we’re told that the greater David would not be abandoned to the grave or see corruption, but that he would know God’s path of life. That is a foretelling of the resurrection of Messiah.

Or maybe John is referring to Isaiah 53:10-12, which talks about how the suffering servant—who is Jesus—will die on behalf of his people. Yet somehow it says he will prolong his days and he will see the offspring that comes from his sacrifice. How can that be? It’s because of the resurrection. There’s another foretelling of death and resurrection in that passage.

But there is another possibility, and this is the way I lean actually. John has mentioned an Old Testament text already in this passage. If we go back to verse 17, our author notes how the disciples thought of Psalm 69:9 when they saw Jesus’ zeal in cleansing the temple, and even quotes it for us: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

At that moment, they realize how Jesus was acting in consistency with that song. “Oh, David was zealous. This one who’s come after David is zealous. Yeah, that’s appropriate for the Messiah, zealous for God’s house.”

But they didn’t realize at that moment just how prophetic that statement and really that whole Psalm was about Jesus.

For this Psalm not only foretold that the coming seed of David would be zealous for God’s house, but that this greater David would be consumed because of that zeal.

Now don’t think of “consumed” as just, “Oh man, he was just really full of zeal.” No, the context of that statement is suffering. The very next line says, “The reproaches of those who fell on you fell on me.”

So when Jesus was consumed, or Jesus will be consumed by this zeal, that means he will be eaten up, he will be devoured. There will be nothing left of him because of his zeal. He would suffer the reproaches meant for God, even to the point of death.

Indeed, at his crucifixion, the mockers would feed him with gall and give him vinegar to drink, which is just what Psalm 69:21 says. This Psalm is foretelling Jesus’ death because of his zeal for God.

But that’s not how it would end. After all, the whole Psalm is a prayer for deliverance from death and for vindication from God against enemies. In Psalm 69:15, the psalmist specifically pleads with God to deliver him from the pit—what is the metaphor for death and the place of death?

The Psalm ends with the psalmist affirming that God has heard his prayer. So then, Psalm 69 is the foretelling both of the death and resurrection of the Messiah. It’s true in a certain way about David, but it was true about his seed in an even greater way.

“Psalm 69 is the foretelling both of the death and resurrection of the Messiah.”

No doubt this was one of the scriptures that became clarified for the apostles after Jesus’ death and resurrection. They said, “Oh, now I understand. The Holy Spirit made it clear to them. They say, ‘This was talking about Jesus. God had always determined for this to be, and he brought it to pass.’ And they believed.”

I think there’s a good chance that this is the text that John has in mind in John 2:22.

It’s hard to be dogmatic with that point. Regardless, the verified fact of Jesus’ actual death and his actual bodily resurrection eventually causes the disciples to believe in Jesus because of the foretelling scripture and because of the words that Jesus himself has said three and a half years before it happened. He says, “Even by these cryptic words, what’s going to happen? This didn’t happen by chance. It’s not some strange but happy accident. This is the work of God coming to pass in the one who is the word made flesh.”

This is more testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you have life in his name. Disciples realize that. We need to realize that.

Why Did Jesus Respond This Way?

But let’s now take a step back and consider this whole exchange in verses 18 to 22.

Doesn’t it strike you as odd? First, why did the Jews ask for a new sign? Wasn’t the cleansing of the temple a kind of sign in itself of Jesus’ identity? Maybe it wasn’t miraculous, but there may have been something miraculous that worked there, and that was pretty significant.

And doesn’t verse 23 go on to tell us that Jesus was doing signs? That is, he was performing miracles, multiple miraculous works during the week of the Passover feast—doing healings, exorcisms, casting out demons. Wasn’t Jesus then already giving the Jews the signs they were looking for? Why were they asking for another one?

Second, why does Jesus respond to the Jews the way that he does? Why not point them to the miracles that he’s done elsewhere? Why not point them to the miracle at Cana or the other miracles he’s doing in Jerusalem to verify his authority, to prove his messiahship? And why not offer them some new spectacular miraculous sign right then and there?

If they’re asking for him, why not give it to him? Make the temple lift off the ground and hover in the air or something. Wouldn’t that just settle the issue?

Sure, the coming resurrection is a pretty amazing sign, but even that—why not explain it to them? Why leave the Jews confused about it? They think you’re talking about the building. In fact, we see from the other gospels that three years later at his crucifixion, or right before it, many of the Jews will accuse Jesus based on this statement right here, that he threatens to destroy the temple and then rebuild a new one in three days. They will use that to mock and accuse him because Jesus doesn’t clarify his words.

“Wasn’t the cleansing of the temple a kind of sign in itself? Wasn’t Jesus already giving the Jews the signs they were looking for?”

What he says will be continually misunderstood, misremembered, and even purposely twisted against Jesus. Why let them do that?

The Root Problem: Unbelief

Well, the answer to all these questions is the same. It’s because of unbelief.

Though it may look like the Jews are interested in finding out whether Jesus is the Messiah so that they may believe in and follow him, Jesus knows their hearts. He sees what’s going on within. He knows that no matter what new sign he does, the Jews as a whole will not believe.

And why not? Two reasons, at least.

The first is because it will never be enough. Every time he does a sign, they will say, “That was great. What a mighty work of God. But what else you got?” Like the ancient Hebrews in the wilderness who kept turning away from God no matter how many miraculous deliverances he provided for them, so the Jews of Jesus’ day have adopted the same attitude. Basically, a “what have you done for me lately” approach with God and with the Son of God.

“Sure, Jesus, I’ll believe in you as the Messiah as long as you keep cranking out those miracles. But when they stop, or when they stop impressing me, well then I’m going to stop following. Because hey, a true Messiah just keeps on doing miracles for his people.”

And this really flows into a second main reason why the Jews, or rather why Jesus knows that signs will not lead to true faith in the Jews as a whole. Because the Jews are ultimately not looking for what the signs point to, but just the signs themselves.

“The Jews are ultimately not looking for what the signs point to, but just the signs themselves.”

“Hey, Jesus, are you ready to provide us with miraculous food? How about total health and wealth going forward? How about a mighty miraculous deliverance from the Romans? After all, if you’re really the Messiah, you’ll do these things for us, won’t you?”

This is what we see is going on with the Jews from other parts of the Gospels.

See, the Jews aren’t ultimately interested in God himself, and they’re certainly not interested in repentance. They don’t think they need forgiveness, deliverance from sin, salvation. What they think they need is a comfortable life to serve their own desires and idols.

They pretend to love God. They may think they really do love God. But really, they love themselves.

So as long as God, as long as Jesus serves their agenda, oh, they’re on board with him. But when he stops, or when he does or says something they don’t like, well then he’s dead to them. Literally.

Jesus isn’t going to play this game. In fact, never in his ministry, when somebody asked Jesus for a sign to prove who he is or to show his authority, he never agrees to that demand. He never produces a sign on demand.

And to those who ask, basically his response is this: “You want signs? I’ve already provided enough. If you don’t think it’s enough, it’s because you are wicked and spiritually adulterous. Nothing is going to satisfy you. Therefore, for you, I will offer one other sign. But I will only offer this cryptic one that exposes who you really are. You don’t want the truth, so I won’t bother explaining it to you. But others will know eventually.”

“You who say you love God and his temple, I tell you, you will kill me. You will destroy God’s greater temple. But I will raise it from the dead. I will raise my own body from the dead three days later. And in that day, it will be obvious to those with spiritual sight who I am and who you are. I am the Christ and the Son of God. But you, you are sons and daughters of the devil.”

Application: Do You Respond Like the Jews?

Before we go on, we should pause a moment and reflect on what Jesus’ ancient words mean for us today. This is the living and active word of God. It’s timeless and it does speak to us in the way that we need.

You should ask yourself: Do you respond to Jesus in a way similar to the way the Jews do here?

Have you been hesitant to become a Christian, to follow Jesus, to go all in on Jesus, because you’re not sure he’s provided enough evidence yet for you to trust him? You’re not sure that there is a God, that he is the God of the Bible, and not sure that Jesus is God or that he is the Christ.

After all, you have questions. You think God has some explaining to do about how things have transpired in your life. Really, you’d like to believe, but God just hasn’t provided enough signs to you yet.

Maybe if he spoke to you in a vision, or maybe if he suddenly healed you from a disease, or maybe if he delivered you from the problems of your life, well then you’d believe.

If that’s the way you’re thinking, you’ve got to banish that kind of thinking from your mind. Because like the Jews, you’re only kidding yourself.

The Bible says that you already know that God exists and that he’s the God of the Bible. God has made himself obvious to you through his work in creation, his work in your conscience, and in the good providence he’s exercised on your behalf in life. You don’t really need more evidence. You need to stop suppressing the evidence that God has already given you.

“You don’t really need more evidence. You need to stop suppressing the evidence God has already given you.”

And you don’t ultimately need God to deliver you from your problems. You need God to deliver you from sin, from death, from the wrath that hangs over you from God, which can only happen through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

God Has Already Proven His Love

Or maybe you do already believe, but your relationship with God is not as it should be. It’s really shriveled over the years. You don’t feel close to Jesus anymore. Once you were excited to read the Bible, pray, evangelize, fellowship with the church. Not now.

After all, your life has taken some turns you didn’t expect. You love God, but you’re not sure he loves you. After all, why otherwise would he let these difficult things happen to you?

If you’re like, “God has let you down. He’s betrayed you. Really, think God’s got to make it up to you before you can trust him again.” Is that how you feel?

I urge you, you got to turn from that ungodly kind of thinking. Because God doesn’t need to prove his love to you. He’s already proven it. How? In the most obvious way he can: in sending Jesus, his son, to die for you on the cross. There’s no greater way he can demonstrate his love.

That’s exactly what the scripture says: “God demonstrates his own love in this: that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:8: “God demonstrates his own love in this: that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

And he promises in his word he’s never going to leave or forsake you. He clarifies that he uses even the painful trials he brings into your life for your good. They are evidences of his love, not his lack of love.

You don’t need new evidence of God’s love for you in your life. You need to believe what he’s already said and what he’s already done for you.

Got to get rid of this flesh-driven “what have you done for me lately” attitude with God. “Yeah, I remember, God, you did some nice things for me in the past. But that’s different from now. I don’t like what’s going on now. I don’t think you love me now.”

Get rid of that ungodly thinking. That’s just pride. That’s a refusal to trust God. Take on a biblical mind again. Let God tell you what he has done, is doing, and will do, and live by faith.

I know sometimes it looks like, it feels like God doesn’t love you. What does the scripture say? “You have a more sure word.” We have the more sure word, which you would do well to pay attention to as a lamp in a dark place. Your experiences are going to be all over the place. But what you can trust without reservation? What God says in his word.

Look at the Psalms. We were just singing about some of the things that they say. Christians have trials. But let the trials drive you to God, not away from God. That’s what he’s meant for them to do. Hold on by faith to God. Wait for his deliverance. Do not slip into corrupted worship that says, “I don’t see a God, so therefore I’m not going to trust.” That is corrupted worship, and it only makes you miserable, and it certainly dishonors God and invites his discipline.

“Let the trials drive you to God, not away from God. That’s what he’s meant for them to do.”

Jesus Knows and Rejects False Believers

Well, we’ve seen a second instance of Jesus confronting corrupted worship in our passage. But there’s one more. Let’s look at the last in verses 23 to 25.

This is number three: Jesus knows and rejects false believers.

Jesus knows and rejects false believers. Verse 23.

Many Believed, But Jesus Did Not Entrust Himself

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feasts, many believed in his name observing his signs which he was doing.

Well, here we get a summary of Jesus’ activity during this first Passover feast. At first glance, it sounds very positive. Look, many are seeing the miracles of Jesus, and they’re believing in his name. Wonderful! That’s just like what John’s gospel was intended to do, as a whole, right?

John writes about these signs. John tells us about what Jesus did so that we will believe in the name of Jesus. Look, it’s already happening in Jerusalem. Jews are believing in Jesus as Messiah. Glory Hallelujah!

But then there’s verse 24 and 25.

“But Jesus on his part is not entrusting himself to them, for he knew all men because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for he himself knew what was in man.”

It’s an interesting facet to the original Greek here. A word for “believe” in verse 23 is “pisteuō,” from “pistis,” meaning faith or faithful. The word for “entrusting” in verse 24 is actually the same word. It’s also “pisteuō,” but it has to be translated differently in English because there’s a reflexive attached to it. It says “entrusting himself.” The “himself” part means it has to be translated differently.

But we could preserve the repetition in language with an alternate translation something like this: “Many trusted in his name, but Jesus was not entrusting himself to them.”

“Many trusted in his name, but Jesus was not entrusting himself to them.”

That’s poignant, isn’t it? Why not? They’re believing in you, Jesus. Why aren’t you accepting that?

The rest of the two verses gives the answer, emphatically saying the same thing three different ways.

Jesus knew all men. He didn’t just look at the outside. He didn’t just listen to words. He didn’t just pay attention to body language to see if these believers were sincere. He didn’t even need witnesses. He didn’t need someone to give testimony on behalf of someone else and say, “Oh, Jesus, Jim is a great guy. You really should accept him.”

No, Jesus always sees the heart. He knows every person inside and out. And for the masses who were supposedly believing in him at this first Passover, he himself knew what was in them.

The Deceitful Human Heart

And what is naturally in all people? We’re going to see it more in John 3: a love for the darkness and a hatred for the light, a love for sin and a hatred of righteousness, a love for self and a hatred of God.

Jeremiah 17:9 says famously that the human heart is more deceitful than all else and desperately sick. That means it is possible for us—yes, even us, we humans—to continue to love ourselves, exalt ourselves, even while we try to convince others, we try to convince ourselves, we’d even try to convince God that we love him. We can try to do both at the same time.

Jeremiah 17:9: “The human heart is more deceitful than all else and desperately sick.”

We might even be willing to believe in Jesus, become a Christian. But Jeremiah 17:10 says, “I, the Lord—that is, I, Yahweh—search the heart. I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.”

Jesus knew that the faith, the belief of those believing in him at Passover was suspect. There was something wrong with it, something incomplete about it. It was not reliable. These people thought they were giving themselves to Jesus, and they were just kidding themselves.

He knew their hearts, and so he didn’t give himself to them. He didn’t open himself to them. He didn’t accept and welcome them.

What was true then is still true now. Jesus is God. God does not change. He’s just as holy and right and good now as he was at this first Passover feast.

Which means Jesus still knows and rejects false believers.

The Terror of Thinking You Are Saved When You Are Not

It is possible for you, even some of you here this morning, to say—and you mean it—”I believe in Jesus.” I still have Jesus say, “I don’t believe in your belief.”

On the last day, the day of judgment, Jesus has already told us that there will be some who will experience the utter anguish of thinking they will be led into the kingdom of God, but only to hear rejection from Jesus.

They will say to him, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we do so much religious activity for your sake?” And he will say, “I don’t know you. Get out of here. You who love and practice sin.”

Could God say that for any of you here? I’d like to believe that won’t be the case. But I don’t know you. Only Jesus can see into your heart.

I know what the scriptures say: “Wide is the road that leads to destruction, and narrow is the way that leads to life. You find it.”

Don’t think that this is a problem just out there. “Oh yeah, all those Christian quotes, all those false versions of Christianity. Yeah, Jesus is talking about them.”

Now Jesus is talking about us. He’s talking about us. He’s talking about even this local assembly. And maybe some here who are kidding themselves that they really believe in Jesus are actually offering him corrupted, false worship.

Is that you?

I cannot think of any more wretched state than to think you are saved when you are not. You can fool others. You can even fool yourself. You can assuage your own conscience. But you can’t fool God. You can’t fool with the Lord Jesus Christ.

“I cannot think of any more wretched state than to think you are saved when you are not.”

So what should you do?

Give Up Everything and Believe

What I said at the beginning, and what God and by his Spirit, by the spirit of Jesus, is saying to us in this passage: no longer present God with corrupted worship, but believe in Jesus.

It’s time to stop holding back with the Son of God. Give up everything to him. Every sin. Every attempt to gain merit with God on your own. Every out-of-bounds desire. Every idol. Every earthly treasure that distracts you.

Jesus wants all of you. Give all. Give up everything you otherwise might hold on to, and take the Son of God instead. Take his perfect life of righteousness. Take his sacrificial death. Take his transforming resurrection power that causes you to live a new life of holiness. And ultimately, take eternal life. He offers that to you freely. But you have to give up everything else.

“Jesus wants all of you. Give up everything you might hold on to, and take the Son of God instead.”

No longer live for yourself or for anything in this world. Live for Jesus alone, no matter what cost might come with that.

A lot of these would-be disciples follow Jesus for a while, and then they fall away. Why? Because the teaching is not too hard, or because there’s some unexpected suffering that came along they didn’t like. How the Jews said, “Oh, you believe in Jesus? We’re kicking you out of the synagogue.” And they’re like, “Okay, I’ll believe in Jesus, but I’ll be really quiet about it because I don’t want to upset anybody.”

Those are the kind of people that Jesus didn’t entrust himself to. He says, “You’re ashamed of me. I will be ashamed of you whenever I come,” meaning you’re not going to have a part with me.

Live for Jesus. Live for Jesus alone. Don’t hold on to sin. Don’t hold on to a worldly treasure while you attempt to worship God at the same time. He’s not going to accept that.

Be willing to suffer righteously, no matter what he brings into your life. He’s going to use it for good. He’s going to use it for his glory. But to be a disciple of Jesus means that you will suffer. If you’re not prepared for that, if you’re not willing to do that, then you might have a faith that does not save.

Don’t come to God with conditions. Don’t say, “God, I’ll follow you as long as you don’t do this, as long as you don’t require this, as long as you don’t touch this thing in my life. I’ll follow you.”

Come to God without conditions. Let him set the conditions. Believe in Jesus. What will you find? Eternal life. That’s what John is saying. “Believe in the name of Jesus truly, and you have eternal life in his name. You have forgiveness. You have peace with God.”

That can be yours. But you must truly believe.

Examining Yourself: Spiritual Red Flags

Now one more word before we close. It is good—the Bible says it is good for us to examine ourselves as to whether we are in the faith. We see that in 2 Corinthians 10.

However, do not misunderstand. The Bible does not teach that we Christians are to walk in terrified introspection, being like, “I think I’m saved, but I have no idea. I could be wrong.”

No, the Bible’s very practical about this. If you have something in your life that is a red flag, a spiritual red flag, you need to address that because that should give you doubt as to whether you really belong to Jesus.

Don’t just be like, “I have no idea. I don’t see anything, but maybe I’m wrong.”

No, be honest with yourself. Be honest with what God says in the description and say, “Oh, God says that if I’m walking this way, that’s not how a Christian walks. That’s something I need to address because maybe I’m presenting God with corrupted worship.”

It’s very practical. Ask yourself questions like these:

Red Flag: Trusting Something Other Than Jesus

Do I believe the biblical gospel, or am I trusting in something other than Jesus to save me, to make me right with God? If it’s the latter, that’s a red flag.

“Do I believe the biblical gospel, or am I trusting in something other than Jesus to make me right with God?”

Red Flag: Habitual Sin Without Repentance

Am I walking in growing holiness with Jesus? I’m not perfect. I still sin, but I repent. I turn from it. I’m putting these things to death.

Or is your life marked by habitual and heinous sin, and you just keep falling back into it? But you’re not really interested in going all out to overcome it. You’re not looking for help from other people in the church. Just keep on sinning. “Oh, did it again. Well, I’m a sinner. God forgives me.”

That’s a red flag. That’s the spiritual red flag that you need to pay attention to because this verse—John tells us, the same writer who writes John, this gospel—those who belong to God, they don’t walk in sin. They do not practice sin.

What characterizes them? If something’s dominating your life, sin like that? You might be presenting God with corrupted worship.

“Those who belong to God do not practice sin. If sin is dominating your life, you might be presenting God with corrupted worship.”

Red Flag: No Desire to Know God

Do you have a desire to know God more and to become more like him? Or is it the thing that you never really can get around to? “Oh, I’m too busy. Oh, I don’t have time for church. Don’t have time for the Bible. Don’t have time to serve. I got all these other things going on in my life.”

If it’s the latter, that’s a red flag. Jesus said, “Seek me first. All these other things will be added unto you. Why are you so worried about all that stuff? I’ll take care of it. Yes, be a good steward, but seek me first.”

Matthew 6:33: “Seek me first. All these other things will be added unto you.”

Like a newborn, desire the pure milk of the word. If you don’t desire it, if you don’t care to know Jesus more, what’s got your attention instead?

Red Flag: Devoted to Something More Than Jesus

It’s another question. Ask yourself: Are you devoted to something else in your life more than Jesus?

We raise this a lot in Sunday school and different sermons. But what captures your time and attention the most? What do you love to talk about? What do you love to think about? Where do you spend your money? These can tell you what you really value most in your heart.

Is it Jesus? Or if it’s competing with Jesus, that’s a red flag.

God does not accept syncretism. You cannot serve God and money, he says. You cannot serve God and an idol at the same time. If something else is taking your mind, heart, and affection instead of God, that is an idol that you need to repent of because otherwise you could be presenting God with corrupted worship.

“God does not accept syncretism. You cannot serve God and an idol at the same time.”

Red Flag: Spiritual Isolation from Believers

Let me give you one more: Are you living an open life before the brethren you fellowship with them? And not just “hi, see you on Sunday,” but you are getting to know other people, and they are getting to know you. They get to know your struggles. They’re learning how to pray for you. They’re learning how to encourage you, instruct you, correct you.

Or you just keep yourself away from believers because they’re not going to understand me. They’re judgmental. I don’t really want to be around them. That’s too much work.

That is a red flag.

I quote this verse a lot, but there’s a verse in Proverbs that says, “He who separates himself seeks his own desire and quarrels against all sound judgment.”

The reason you’re not allowing yourself to be around people could be because you have an idolatrous desire that you want to serve. You don’t really want other people to know about. Even if that’s not the case, it is such spiritual foolishness to be a Lone Ranger Christian.

If you’re not really going to be around other believers, if you’re not really going to let them speak into your life, you can easily fall into sin. That’s why Hebrews says, “We are to encourage one another day after day as long as it is called today. Why? So that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

Hebrews 3:13: “Encourage one another day after day, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

Hardening by the deceitfulness of sin is the type of thing that can damn you forever. And you say, “I’m fine. I don’t think I need to worry about that.” Then you are arguing against the wisdom of God. You think you’re smarter than God. You think you’re stronger than God.

No, listen to the word. If you find yourself spiritually isolated—either physically you’re literally not with the brethren, or functionally you’re with them but you’re not really with them—that’s a red flag.

Those are the types of things that if you see in your life should say, “Oh, maybe I’m offering God with corrupted worship. He’s not going to accept that. I need to get my life right.”

Assurance for Genuine Believers

But if the opposite of those things is true, I am not—the scriptures are not, Christ is not laying any other burden on you. You can rejoice in your salvation. You can rejoice in offering your sincere worship to God because that’s what God is seeking.

He’s going to tell us in John 4, when he speaks to the Samaritan woman, “It’s not at this mountain or that mountain that God is seeking worship, but God is seeking worshipers who will worship him in spirit and in truth.”

Do you believe the gospel? If you are devoted to Jesus as your number one, if you’re seeking to become more like him, if you’re walking with him in holiness—not perfection, but the direction of your life that is seeking after him—and if you are maintaining a life of living with the brethren, those are all good signs.

Those are the types of things that the spirit of God is going to put assurance in your heart to say, “I really belong to God. I don’t have to question. I don’t have to be paranoid. I know my Lord, and my Lord knows me. And where my shepherd goes, I will be with him. I will follow. He’ll keep me forever.”

“I know my Lord, and my Lord knows me. Where my shepherd goes, I will follow. He’ll keep me forever.”

That’s something that you can rejoice in.

But when you’ve got that obvious spiritual red flag in your life, don’t just carry on. That’s what the Jews did. That’s what resulted in Jesus cleansing the temple.

Let the word of God sober you today.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray.

Holy Lord, we hear a message like this. We consider a passage like this, and we are brought back to holy fear. Or at least we should be. You are not a God to be trifled with. You are not a God for which we can put up a front and then just pretend that everything’s okay.

No, a God with whom we have to do is a consuming fire. Even as we were learning and meditating on in Sunday school today, your holiness, your separateness—it is beautiful. But it also means that you will act in a certain way. You will not tolerate corrupted worship.

My Lord God, may we not test you like the Israelites did, the ones with whom you rejected forever. You laid them low in the wilderness and said, “I will never let them enter my rest.”

Oh God, what a fearful thing that would be for anybody here.

Lord, I pray, if there’s anyone here who has been presenting you with corrupted worship, walking in sin, walking in broken relationships, walking in selfishness and pride, even while they claim to be serving you—oh God, I pray that you’d convict them in such a mighty way this morning so they would turn and repent, find eternal life.

Because that’s the beautiful thing about you: your holiness, your justice is so fierce, and yet your love is so overwhelming for any who turn to you. You welcome them with open arms. The banquet of repentance is open. You’re putting the ring on their hand, the sandals on their feet, the robe around them, and you say, “Come in and enjoy my salvation inheritance. I give you it all. You don’t have to stand in the corner. You don’t have to do some penance. I give you it all. But you must turn. You must give up all those other things so that I can give you myself.”

Oh Lord, I pray, if there’s any who needs to come to the banquet of repentance today, that they would, and they would see how good it is, how good it is to know you, Lord Jesus, and to walk with you in holiness.

God, do a great work for your own namesake today. And Lord, all things our hearts, may it be that we would be found like the disciples whom you accepted and you said, “Here’s an Israelite in whom there is no deceit,” and not like the Jews that you rejected at Passover, saying, “I know what’s in them. I’m not entrusting myself to them.”

Oh Lord, be merciful to this body, to this gathering, and we will give you praise. Amen.

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