We have been considering the person of Jesus. There are so many great things about him. Jesus is creator. The Bible says by him were all things created and though he is so powerful he cares. The Bible says he careth for you. This is certainly demonstrated by the fact that he bled for us. In his character there is nothing spotted and he is unblemished. In spite of all of his greatness he is rejected. Jesus is wrath.
1991-04-07 Jesus is Wrath and Grace
And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting. John 2:13-14
The temple told us a lot about what God is like. The fact that God dwelt in the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem tells us that God wants to dwell with his people. When Jesus entered into the courtyard of the temple it was God dwelling with his people, because that was one of the names he was given. Emmanuel means “God with Us.” Matthew 1:23
As people would come to the temple at Passover, there was a necessity for there to be a blood sacrifice. There is always a necessity for there to be a blood sacrifice for sinners to come to God. The Passover was one of these blood sacrifices. It was a time of remembrance. When Jesus came up into the courtyard on that particular day it was in preparation for the Passover, an event that had been observed by the Jews for one-thousand five hundred years. They remembered they had been slaves in Egypt with no control over their destiny. God set up the Passover in which he said they would sacrifice a lamb, collect the blood, and put the blood on the doorposts and when the death angel comes through and sees the blood on the doorpost he would pass over your home and your firstborn will be safe. When the first born of the Egyptian, who did not believe God, was stricken with death, it was then that Egypt let their slaves go and Israel became a country and a nation.
That lamb that was slain and the blood that was placed on the doorpost was the first part, but the other part is that the Israelite was to take that lamb and roast it and have a dinner with some bitter herbs as a reminder that their slavery in Egypt was very bitter.
At the time of this remembrance Jesus walks up the stairs and comes into the courtyard of the temple. Looking to his right he sees the temple building itself which had the holy place and the Holy of Holies and various other things. From the outside of that temple he would of seen marvelous columns rising high and a temple made out of white stone and covered with gold with beautiful craftsman like decorations throughout. It was a reminder that God is holy.
To the left Jesus would have seen another sight. He would have seen vendor, after vendor, after vendor, set up in the temple courtyard just like the marketplace in the middle of the city. Here were opportunists desiring to make a buck off something that was holy. Every family must have a lamb to sacrifice at Passover. The merchants were there, right in the temple to sell them a lamb, to make it easy, and to make money off the lamb in a setting of which everyone knew they would have to buy a lamb. Jews were coming from all over the world to Jerusalem and they wouldn’t be bringing a lamb with them. They would purchase their lamb and all the vendors were set up in God’s holy temple to make money. I think it’s very possible that you could hear the noise of the marketplace there in the temple perhaps as vendors might say, “Get your Passover lamb here, I’ve got a deal you can’t refuse.” That doesn’t sound too holy to me. It didn’t sound too holy to Jesus either.
These Jews who were coming from all other countries of the world into the temple area had to change their money. They could not pay for their lamb with the money from the country that they came. There were men in the temple who were changing the money. As they robbed the people they had the people in a situation where they couldn’t go elsewhere to change their money as it was convenient to do it there and they had to buy a lamb, so that was the time to really milk people, when they don’t have many options.
Jesus saw the holy Passover, the prominent feature of which was the remembrance of what God did in Egypt and at this time all he could witness were men piling up the greed as they saw a holy time as an opportunity to enrich themselves personally.
Do you realize that every good thing that there is man pollutes? Everything! Jesus is now thirty years old and he has been coming to the temple at Passover for every year and he has seen this unholy greed of making a buck off of God’s things every year, but he never did a thing about it. Now he is starting his public ministry and he goes and makes himself a Cat-of-Nine-Tales whip. If you can picture a huge twenty acre courtyard and Jesus takes that whip in the midst of a great crowd getting their money changed and suddenly there is a crash as people hear the coins hit the floor. Everything stops and goes silent. All the eyes in that courtyard focus on where they hear the coins hit the floor and they see Jesus whipping men who are so scared that they leave everything and take off. At the moment of that silence this is what happened.
And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. John 2:15-16
One man cleaned up all that unholy pollution. I’d sure love to see that one man come along now and clean up all the unholy pollution, wouldn’t you? Jesus is wrath. Make no mistake, his wrath always falls on sinners. Even though he waits, like he did at that time in his life, his wrath will always fall. You may sin year, after year, after year just as Jesus went into that temple year after year and did nothing about the sin that was going on until the start of his public ministry. As time came, he dealt with the sin and when your time comes he will deal with your sin. Make no mistake, because he waits. Don’t think it won’t happen. That is how God works. People can sin for a long time before judgment falls. Sometimes it falls early. Jesus is wrath. He demonstrated that in the temple, but he also taught wrath clearly.
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:41-42
And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:50
Jesus is describing one aspect of hell, the wrath of God for all eternity upon sinners, in this section of scripture. Jesus taught more about hell than he did about heaven, yet there are those who believe in one, but not the other. Hell awaits the unbelieving sinner, whether he believes there is a hell or not. Jesus is wrath, therefore there is a hell. If you don’t believe in hell you don’t believe in Jesus and you are lost and you are an unbeliever.
Humans have the ability to think around things and that’s what they’ve done with hell because they don’t like the concept and they don’t like the possibility that they are going to have to suffer in hell for their sin. They want to put it out of their mind. There is no doubt in all the world that Jesus taught that there was a literal hell of punishment for all eternity for sinners.
And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 25:30
Notice, Jesus calls it outer darkness and weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Matthew 25:41
Now he is taking a human being and saying to the human, “Depart from me. You’re cursed into everlasting fire.” The word hell is not used here. If you took the word hell out of the bible what would you be left with? You’d still see everlasting fire as the description.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. Matthew 25:46
Jesus said everlasting. He said punishment. It means the punishment goes on for all eternity.
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Mark 9:43-48
He has made a comparison. He has said it’s better that you cut off your hand than to go into hell. He said it’s better to pluck your eye out and none of us would want to do that. Jesus kept saying the fire is not quenched over and over again. Jesus said it and that’s good enough for me.
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. Luke 16:19-24
Jesus said the rich man was tormented in a flame. If this description was a parable, and it is not, what was it about? Skiing in July? Jesus names Lazarus and says there was a rich man, and he says he died and was buried, and in hell he was in torment. Jesus is wrath. He taught wrath.
Jesus also has the characteristic of grace. I cannot think of any greater word in all the world or all of scripture than the word grace. As great a word as grace is, grace would mean nothing if there was not a hell. How can we explain grace? Is the letting of the sinner off the hook, and not punishing the sinner for their sin – is that grace? No! That’s not grace, for there would be no justice if the sinner was left off the hook.
If the governor of a state decided to serve the term of a murderer who is convicted with life in prison and let them live in the governor’s mansion, that would be a human form of grace. Someone else pays the price for sin but you’ve still got the same old murderer, and now the murderer is living in a mansion. The murderer is not worthy that a governor should take their place. We are not worthy that Jesus took our place, but that is the grace of our Lord Jesus. The word grace means unmerited favor. Favor bestowed upon us that we did not merit, and that we did not deserve.
People erroneously think that they will go to heaven because they believed in God and when God looked at them he will find some merit in them that will say there is enough merit in them and enough good works in them that they are deserving of heaven. However, the bible uses the term “for by grace are we saved.” It is by grace which means there was no merit at all found in us that we should be in heaven. Here’s the difference between Jesus grace and our earthly example. This is what the bible says.
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Colossians 1:12
What’s it mean? Jesus not only took my punishment and erased my sin debt but he made me new. He made me fit to be in that mansion. He made me different to be in that mansion. The bible says “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:5-9
The miracle of the new birth produces someone who is cleansed from sin on the one hand, because all sins are under the blood, and who is a new creature on the other hand indwelt by the Lord, and who can live in the mansion not as a murderer, but as a new loving and loved child of God. That is the grace of God. What can be greater than that?
Jesus is wrath. Jesus is grace. I’m glad that his wrath will eventually bring justice to punish all sin. I am glad his grace did not give me what I deserve. Jesus is worthy of all of our admiration and adoration. For anyone on the face of the earth, no matter how noble they are in the eyes of others, to turn Jesus down as their savior deserves hell forever. It’s so much better to taste of his grace than to partake of his wrath. I hope you will partake of his grace.
To receive Jesus as savior you must believe that he is God, that he taught on hell, that he died for your sins, and that he was buried and rose again in his body and went to heaven and is now in heaven. You must believe that you are a sinner and that you need to be saved and you can’t be by any goodness in yourself and only repentance toward Christ can give you the miraculous new birth. If you’ll trust that and ask him to save you, you could be saved today for all eternity. Will you ask him?
Faithful Pastor 