Psalm 55; Jeremiah 7:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
St. Luke 19:41-48
In
the name of the Father, and of the T Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
Jeremiah was given a difficult
vocation. He was called by God to be a prophet at a young age. As a young man,
he was given primarily to proclaim judgment against and call to repentance the
inhabitants of Judah and especially the people of Jerusalem. In his day, the
Jews would offer sacrifices to Baal in the morning, then go up to the temple in
the evening, offering sacrifices for their sin. The next day, they would
sacrifice to Baal, then go up to the temple for forgiveness. Some had even
begun to sacrifice their children on the altars of Baal, only to return to the
temple as though it were no sin. Day in and day out, the people believed they
could worship and live as they pleased because God’s Word of forgiveness would
freely be given to them.
This is what Jeremiah means when he
says, “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.’”[1] The Jews believed by performing the
prescribed rituals, by being in the correct place at the appointed time, and by
satisfying their perceived duties to the temple, they were free to live and
worship as they pleased. The Word of God had nothing to say about any aspect of
life outside of the temple worship. They truly believed they were delivered
from sin so that they could commit all manner of abominations.[2] They trusted in lying words that
cannot profit.
Jeremiah is sometimes called the
‘weeping prophet’ because he is recorded as shedding tears several times at the
harsh words given to him by God to speak judgment over the people of Judah and
Jerusalem. Jeremiah remained faithful to his prophetic office by calling them
to repentance and pronouncing the judgment of God. Eventually, he would stand
and watch as Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, sent to enact God’s judgment
upon the Judeans. Jeremiah would witness the presence of God depart from the
temple even as Ezekiel saw the same presence arrive to be with those in captivity
in Babylon. Eventually, Jeremiah would be carried away into Egypt, where the
very people to whom he was called to preach the Word of God would stone him to
death.
Christ our Lord stood overlooking the same city for which Jeremiah wept and shed his own tears. Jesus wept for Jerusalem because he loves her and all her inhabitants. Jerusalem was the city chosen to receive the Incarnate Lord, given the Word of God and the promise of everlasting life. Yet Jerusalem had rejected her Savior. Jerusalem had killed the prophets and neglected the Word of God. The leaders of Jerusalem had made commerce and trade their god, cutting deals with the Herodians and Romans. The temple was now a den of thieves.
Do not think this refers only to those
buying and selling in the temple. The Temple was a den of thieves because they
had robbed the people of the Word of God. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the
chief priests, and scribes had stolen the promises of God from the people,
teaching them to worship personal preference and luxury. The thieves in the
Temple were idolaters, adulterers, sloths, and gluttons. They desired the
approval of the world, not the promises of God. One can see silver on the table
but cannot see the eternity of heaven. Trust, but verify. Just in case God will
not provide, they had better provide for themselves.
This has direct implications on their
worship. Like the Jews in Jeremiah’s day, the worship life of the temple in
Jesus’ day revolved around the proper performance of rites with no thought
given toward faith. Keeping the Law was essential for salvation, the promise of
God was not. Come to the temple, pay your dues, hand the pigeon to a priest,
and you’re done. Your sins are forgiven, now go and do as you please. Our next
service is the same time next week.
In case you haven’t caught on, nothing
has changed. The devil, the world, and our flesh want your soul. It is far
easier to hand it over. Every news station, every website, every camera, every
phone, is collecting data on you so that those controlling commerce can more
effectively tempt you. Churches throughout the world have departed from the
Scriptures in favor of worldly practices. Christians demand pastors to act in
accord with preference instead of the Word of God.
There is no aspect of your life which
is not impacted by the Word of God. Being a Christian is a vocation, that means
you have been called to this station. You are a Christian 24/7, not only on
Sunday morning. The life of the Church is not constrained to one hour on
Sunday. The conduct of the Church is not a matter of preference. It is a matter
of confession, a statement of the objective truth of God’s Word. By this
confession, we are teaching one another and ourselves. Yet our flesh wars
against this confession. Our flesh desires that which tickles the ears. “For
the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to
their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for
themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be
turned aside to fables.”[3]
Repent of your idolatry of self and the
fellowship of the world. Repent of any false notion that God’s grace is so
cheap, you are free to live in abominations if you only attend the weekly
church service. Repent of the selfish notion that you are more important to the
Church than Christ.
Repent and receive the tears of Christ. Our Lord weeps over Jerusalem because he loves her. He loves the Pharisees and Sadducees, the chief priests and scribes, the leaders of the people, the Romans, and the Herodians. If this were not the case, he would not bother to rebuke them nor shed tears on their account. He desires not the death of a sinner but his conversion. Jesus weeps for your sin. I’m not so certain that Jesus isn’t weeping as he cleanses the temple with a whip of cords. He weeps for your sin and then bears it to the cross of Calvary.
The same Jesus who chases out those
buying and selling will shortly thereafter submit to these same authorities. He
will not struggle against them. He will not seek asylum. It is Palm Sunday when
he weeps for Jerusalem and cleanses the Temple. Jerusalem who kills the
prophets and silences the Word of God will soon kill the Prophet like Moses,
the Incarnate Word of God, the King of Kings, and Eternal Priest of the Most
High. Jesus will submit to the death of a criminal so that the money changers
don’t have to; so that you don’t have to.
Every drop of water in the Bible points
to Holy Baptism, even the tiny drops of Christ’s tears. He sheds these tears to
cleanse you of your sin. He sheds his Holy Blood to pay the debt your sin has
incurred. He rises victorious to proclaim his word of forgiveness and victory
over sin, death, and the devil; to claim you as his trophy. His tears, his
teaching, his life, death, resurrection, and ascension are all accomplished for
you, whether you like it or not. This is what Christ has to deliver to you
through the lips of a sinful man.
A parent who enjoys spanking their
child is an abuser. Chastisement truly hurts the parent as much or more than
the child because we love them. The Heavenly Father chastises us for our own
good. Christ cleanses the temple for the good of the money changers, so that
they would repent, then listen to his teaching. Immediately after cleansing the
desecration of the Temple, Christ teaches the crowds. He restores the Temple to
its purpose – that place where the Holy God dwells with his people,
distributing his Word of forgiveness and his gifts of salvation.
In
T Jesus’ name. Amen.
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