God In Flesh // Week 7 // What Angered Jesus Pacific Coast Church Pastors JF and Ashley Wilkerson
Hebrews 1:1-3a NIV
1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
John 1:14 NIV
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Matthew 21:10-13 NIV
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” 12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.”’
1. Exploitation
Jeremiah 7:9-11 NIV
9 Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord.
Proverbs 31:8-9 NIV
8 Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. 9 Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Psalm 82:3 NIV
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and oppressed.
Proverbs 29:7 NIV
7 The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.
Galatians 6:2 NIV
2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
James 4:17 NIV
17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
Matthew 21:18-19 NIV
18 Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
2. Exhibition
Matthew 23:1-7 NIV
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. 5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
Matthew 23:13 NIV
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
Matthew 23:15 NIV
15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
Matthew 23:23-36 NIV
Matthew 24:1-13 NIV
3. Indifference
Matthew 23:23 NIV
Matthew 21:20b-22 NIV
Discussion Questions:
1. Why did Jesus flip the tables in the temple area and how does his attitude in that scenario apply to you today?
2. Why did Jesus curse the fig tree and what did that symbolize? What are a couple ways you can keep hypocrisy of any kind from creeping into your life?
3. What does indifference look like in the life of a believer? Why does the practice of continually asking the Lord to check our hearts for this matter?