Read Matthew 21:12–17
Questions from the Scripture text: Where does Jesus go in v12? Whose temple is it? What does He do to whom? And what does He do to what? To whom does He speak (v13)? How does He introduce His statement? Who is speaking in the statement? What does He call the temple? What does He say that it should be? But what do people do to it? Who come to Jesus in v14? Where? What does He do to them? Who see these wonderful things (v15)? What else do they see/hear? What are the children crying out? How do the chief priests and scribes feel about this? To Whom do they speak about it (v16)? What do they ask, in their indignation? To whom does He respond? What does He ask them if they have done? About whose mouths does that Scripture speak? What does it say comes out of them? Whom does it say has done this? Where does Jesus go, to do what, in v17?
What does Jesus show about Himself in the temple? Matthew 21:12–17 prepares us for the sermon in the morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these six verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Jesus is the God of the temple and the God of heaven.
Jesus is the God of the temple, v12–13. The temple is His house (v13a, cf. Isa 56:7). It is supposed to be a house of prayer, but the sights, sounds, and smells of the outer court have made that well nigh impossible. Even worse, this outer court was as far as the Gentiles could come, so doing this there struck directly against the “for all nations” part of Is 56:7.
The end of v13 is an even sterner warning than it at first seems. For, it is quoted from Jer 7:11, which preceded the exile. Now, Israel are about to go into a spiritual exile from which only the remnant will be recovered.
Jesus’s indignation is moral, but even more than moral. It is personal. No only is He the servant Who would bring the nations into the temple of God, but He is also the God of the temple. It is His house, for His worship, from His nations!
Jesus is the God of heaven, v14–17. As Jesus does the “wonderful things” of healing the blind and the lame (v13), the children know exactly what has happened. The Son of David has come with the salvation (“Hosanna”) of the Lord (v15).
The irony of the passage is that the chief priests and scribes are spiritually blind, spiritually lame, and spiritually infantile. Jesus answers one rhetorical question (“do you hear?”) with another one (“haven’t you ever read?”).
Indeed, Jesus affirms even more than what the children are saying. For, it is the wonderful works of the hands of YHWH that are the object of the praise of Ps 8:2. Jesus is claiming to be the One Whose Name is excellent in all the earth, and Whose glory is exalted above the heavens!
Dear reader, God give you spiritual sight, wholeness, and recognition to see that Jesus is the God of heaven!
Whose temple is the church? What sort of house should it be for you? How do you know that you have a welcome there? Who is Jesus? What must you do with His Name for His wonderful works?
Sample prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for gathering us from all the nations to be a house of prayer unto You. Grant that we would have eyes to see Your wonderful works and respond with Spirit-given praise, we ask in Your Name, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP8 “LORD, Our Lord” or TPH270 “At the Name of Jesus”