Cleansing the Temple: Yeshua’s Authority; A Parable About The Failure Of The Leaders And The Majority Of The Nation, And The Need For New Leadership; The Stone Which The Builders Rejected

If you knew that you were getting toward the very end of your life, how would you spend your last week? Enjoying some final pleasures? Seeking out a beautiful and quiet place? Spending time with friends and family? The Son of God knew He was about to die, and He spent most of His last period of time on Earth by doing what He knew God had called Him to do – honoring His Father, telling the Chosen People the truth, correcting us where we needed correction – even if it meant conflict with the leaders who were far from God – followed by suffering and death – and resurrection!

The young miracle working Rabbi from Nazareth had entered Jerusalem triumphantly, hailed by many of His disciples as Israel’s Messiah King. Many had faith, trust, confidence in the One who was truly the Son of David. But Yeshua knew that the majority of the nation, and the majority of the leaders, would reject Him, and that God’s severe judgment would come to the Chosen People as a result of not recognizing the time of our visitation.

The majority of God’s special nation would not recognize the time when the One who is rightly called Immanuel came to us.  We were spiritually insensitive to the Creator. We were spiritually dry – like parched ground. Too many in Israel were too far from God. This farness-from-God was evident in the very heart of the nation – in the materialism that was allow to take place in God’s holy temple.

When He entered Jerusalem, Messiah went to His Father’s house, and He didn’t like what He found there. Yeshua entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling (these men were providing a good service – selling animals for sacrifice, but it was in the wrong place, and there was too much of it going on, and they were charging too much) saying to them, “It is written, ‘and My house shall be a house of prayer’, but you have made it a robbers’ den”.

The temple – which was the most important place on Earth; the one place of real atonement; the place where the principles of salvation and atonement were most clearly seen; that most special place where God would manifest His presence on Earth; the place that was closest to God; the one place where all human beings could come and seek the true and living God and pray to the Creator in the way He ordained – the temple was being turned into a crowded profit-oriented middle eastern marketplace – not a place of getting closer to God through prayer – and that made the Son of God righteously angry!

The Greeks had defiled the temple in the time of the Maccabees. Now it was being defiled by our own people, but in another way – by crass materialism, so that the worship of God was being crowded out of the Lord’s Holy House! That was totally unacceptable to the Son of God, and He took radical action!

The other New Testament records tell us that in addition to rebuking the leaders of the temple, Yeshua threw out those who were buying and selling from the temple, and overturned the tables of the money-changers, and overturned the seats of those who were selling doves, and He would not allow anyone to carry goods through the temple.

Keep in mind that Yeshua of Nazareth was a wanted man. The most powerful leaders of the nation had determined to eliminate Him. It took tremendous courage and boldness and zeal for God, and zeal for the temple, to act and speak this way in the very center of power of those who wanted to kill Him! But, Yeshua had that kind of courage, that kind of love and zeal and enthusiasm for God and the things of God, and He didn’t let powerful opposition deter Him from during what was He knew was right.

May God give each one of us the same kind of desire for doing what is right, opposing evil, zeal, boldness, fearlessness and courage! May each one of us be blessed with the same sense of putting the will of God first above safety, comfort, or anything else!

And, this was not a one-time act of courage. Every day while He was in Jerusalem, right in the temple, Yeshua continued to teach the people about God, and how the Creator from whom they were estranged wanted them to enter into His very real and eternal kingdom by having faith in God and trusting in Rabbi Yeshua!

And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the Torah-experts and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him, and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said. The popularity of the courageous miracle working Rabbi from Nazareth prevented these powerful political and religious leaders from doing what they wanted to do – get rid of Yeshua. But, that didn’t prevent them from trying – and ultimately succeeding. Luke records one of their first efforts to do so.

On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the Good News, the chief priests and the experts in Torah (the scribes) with the elders confronted Him, and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority”?

The temple and its worship were revered among the Jewish people. The temple and its worship were vested with great authority by God’s Word, and by a very long history and by tradition. And yet, the Rabbi from Nazareth felt the freedom to take radical action in the temple, cleaning it and bypassing the authority of the priests. God’s Word gave them authority over the temple, yet Yeshua dared to supercede their authority. Did He think He was above their authority? If the leaders confronted Yeshua over the issue of authority, maybe He would say something that they could use against Him to kill Him. But, the Wonderful Counselor is wiser that the wisest, smarter than the smartest, shrewder than the shrewdest, cleverer than the most clever! He was and is and always will be the master of every situation!

Yeshua knew that this was a question that was designed to attack Him. Yeshua answered their question with a question of His own. He responded to their challenge with His own challenge to them.

Yeshua answered and said to them, “I will also ask you a question, and you tell Me: “Was the baptism of John from Heaven (God) or from men?” They reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From Heaven’, He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men’, all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet”. So they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Yeshua said to them, “Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things”.

Yeshua knew that these leaders were far from His Father. When religious and political leaders stray from God, and start corrupting their God-given authority, they do much damage and need to be confronted. And, that is one of the reasons why God sent us prophets. Confronting corrupt leaders is one of the main functions of a prophet.

And, after 400 years of prophetic silence Heaven had sent us John – one of the very greatest prophets, and he had been trying to correct the sins of the leaders. John had been bold and powerful, and most of the people knew that he was a true prophet vested with God-given authority – enough authority to confront Israel’s leaders.

John also had the God-given authority to recognize and announce the arrival of the Messiah. So, if the leaders were truly interested in issues of authority, and really wanted to know where Yeshua got His authority, it was only fair to ask the leaders where John, who started his ministry before Yeshua started His, got his authority. By asking them this question, Yeshua turned the tables on them. Now they were the ones faced with a difficult question, a question that would expose their insincerity.

These leaders knew that they had been outmaneuvered, and they refused to respond to Yeshua’s question. But, in spite of their refusal to respond, our Rabbi had exposed the truth.

Don’t feel that you need to answer every question – especially if you are being challenged. The wise person discerns what is motivating the question; whether it is a real question, or maybe an attack, or something else, and then he responds in a way that is to his advantage, that will reveal the nature of the challenge.

After John’s powerful, prophetic, God’s ordained ministry; after three or four years of the Messiah’s even greater ministry, accompanied by the most profound teaching and unparalleled miracles, the vast majority of Israel’s religious and political leaders had determined that Yeshua was not sent by God; He was not the Messiah; He was a menace to the nation and He needed to be eliminated.

Their lack of faith in God and in the Messiah, their rejection of Immanuel was unacceptable. It was evil. It was terribly terribly destructive. It would bring the severe judgment of God to the entire nation. Their faithlessness disqualified these religious leaders from ministry. New leaders needed to be raised up who would properly shepherd the people of God. Yeshua knew it, and told a parable to help everyone understand the tremendous things that were about to happen, and why they were about to happen.

And He began to tell the people this parable: “A man (that’s God the Father) planted a vineyard (that’s the nation of Israel) and rented it out to vine-growers (that’s the leaders of the nation of Israel), and went on a journey for a long time (God’s dealing with Israel would cover a long period of time – which it has). At the harvest time he sent a slave (that is one of the prophets, who encouraged the nation to do what is right) to the vine-growers (the leaders of the nation), so that they would give him some of the produce of the vineyard (the produce is faith in God and His Word, responsiveness to the Almighty, righteous living, obeying the Lord. The leaders’s responsibility was to set an example of faithfulness and knowledge and righteous living for the rest of the people); but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed (the leaders strayed from God and doing what is right, and did not fulfill their God-given responsibilities. When confronted by a God-sent prophet, instead of listening to him, and receiving correction, and returning to faithfulness to God, the Jewish leaders almost always rejected the prophet, and mistreated him).

And he proceeded to send another slave; and they beat him also and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed. And he proceeded to send a third; and this one also they wounded and cast out. This is a short summary of the history of Israel. The faithless majority and their leaders continually strayed from God and did not do what He asked us to do. God sent the prophets to bring correction, and they were mistreated and rejected.

But the Lord did not give up on the Chosen Nation. He decided to send Someone greater than the prophets, who would exceed the prophets in wisdom, power, authority and miracles. Surely the nation would recognize the Son of God and respond to King Messiah with faith and repentance, and get right with God and be blessed!

God’s plan was good and reasonable, but the unfaithfulness of the leaders and the majority who followed their bad example was so great that God’s Greatest Emissary would also be rejected.

The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son (that’s Yeshua, God’s Son); perhaps they will respect him’. But when the vine-growers saw him, they reasoned with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours’. So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others”.

Israel’s leaders would not recognize the Messiah. They would not yield to His God-given authority – which was greater than theirs. They would kill Him. Such unbelief, such rejection of the Father and His Beloved Son could not be tolerated! Leaving such evil, corrupt leaders in place over the nation that was to be a light to the other nations could not be permitted! The plans of God to bring salvation to the world, and bring an end to the destructive forces of Satan, sin and death were at stake!

Judgment was coming! The bad leaders needed to be removed. New, faithful leaders – Messiah’s disciples, needed to replace them and take over the leadership of God’s people. A new revitalized Israel, that would include the faithful remnant of Israel, and the faithful remnant who would come from the other nations, would very shortly begin!

The leaders understood this prophetic parable, and didn’t believe it or want it to become true. When they heard it, they said, “May it never be”! But, it was true, and would become reality – because Yeshua spoke in God’s name, with God’s authority; because God had put His words in Yeshua’s mouth, and Yeshua was speaking to us everything that the Father had commanded Him to speak to us; because the Son of God is infallible, and always spoke the truth; and because the Lord had already said the same thing though earlier prophets – even in the well-known book of Psalms, particularly in Psalm 118, written about 1000 years earlier, and which is read around this time of the year, at Passover.

But Yeshua looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘the stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone’? The builders were the leaders of the nation of Israel. They were supposed to know God best of all, and build up Israel and the nations by having real faith in Him and being responsive to His will and His word. They were supposed to provide good teaching and wisdom and counsel. The builders were supposed to be using good materials to build a great spiritual house, the temple of God where the Creator could once again live with human beings. But tragically, the best stone of all – the strongest, the most precious, the most valuable, the very foundation stone of this great and eternal and spiritual structure, would be rejected by the builders of Israel!

Stone is strong, solid, substantial, enduring. It is great for building a house that will last a long time. The best and greatest stone is the Messiah! He is strong and precious and lasting! The leaders of Israel should have known who He was and understood how important He was to build up the kingdom of God, and welcomed Him when He came and recognized His great contribution and authority. But incredibly, they rejected the Messiah! But, that would not be the final outcome. God the Father would over-rule the evil decision of the corrupt and faithless leaders, and make sure that His Son would become the foundation stone for God’s house, the foundation for a new and perfect universe where the righteous of all the nations will live with God and Messiah and the good angels and with each other forever and ever!

Yeshua warned the corrupt leaders who were rejecting Him that terrible consequences were coming because of their rejection of Him. Yes, they will kill Him in a few days, but that will not be the end of the story. Good will overcome evil! Innocence will overcome injustice! The righteous Messiah will overcome the evil decree of these unrighteous leaders! He will overcome death, and come back vastly stronger and more powerful and utterly destroy those who tried to destroy Him!

Yes, stone can be used to build something strong that will endure for a long time. But, stone can also be used as a deadly weapon. Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust”. The humble carpenter-turned-Rabbi from Nazareth might seem to the faithless leaders to be weak and inconsequential and subject to their authority – but it was only that – seeming weakness and inconsequentiality.

In reality, the humble carpenter from Nazareth is El Gibor, the Mighty God. He is the greatest and strongest power in the universe! He is an immovable stone! Nothing can ultimately defy Him, or overcome Him, or reject His will, or overcome His plan, or make His mission fail! He will utterly pulverize every enemy that opposes Him – evil men, fallen angels, and even the powerful forces of sin and death!

This great conflict between Yeshua and Israel’s leaders is not over. These deadly yet extremely enlightening religious/spiritual/political battles will rage for several more days – until the first day of Passover. The experts in the Torah (the scribes) and the chief priests tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and they feared the people; for they understood that He spoke this parable against them. So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order that they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could deliver Him to the rule and the authority of the governor.

In conclusion: The stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone. Yeshua is that precious and tested Stone that God has placed in Zion, that precious Cornerstone that is a sure foundation; the one who knows that and trusts God and Messiah will never be dismayed! He will be safe and secure and victorious forever and ever!

The religious and political leaders of the world, and the majority of mankind might not understand that, but if you understand that, that is something very special, something wonderful. Act on that knowledge! Be faithful to that truth!

Just as stone is used for building, build your life with Messiah. It is impossible to have a strong and stable and enduring life apart from Him.

Just as the cornerstone adds strength to the foundation, and supports the rest of the building, build your life on the Son of God. He must be your foundation. He must be at the core of your life, your thinking, your goals, your passion.

Just as a stone can be used as a weapon, know that Messiah is your protector. He will protect those who know who He is, and identify with Him and serve Him and suffer for Him. He will bring them safely to the New Jerusalem.

Is He your enemy? End your opposition to Him! Stop fighting against Him. Don’t oppose Him! You will lose! You will be crushed! Make your peace with Him!

Maybe you believe in Him, but you are fighting against Him in parts of your life. If you opposing Him in any area of your life, don’t! That area of your life will be pulverized! Submit that area of your life to Him and you will be blessed by the One who is the Stone, and strengthened by the One who is the Cornerstone of God’s new and eternal and blessed universe that is coming!