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Jesus became the new temple

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[John 2:19]

Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."

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Jesus went up to the temple in Jerusalem on the Jewish Feast of Passover.
However, the appearance of the temple in front of Jesus was like a market.
It was full of people selling cattle, sheep and pigeons and money changers.

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Doing business in the temple and exchanging money is something God hates.
But those people were selling animals and changing money in the temple.
This was possible because the priests who had to keep the temple holy gave them permission to do this for their own benefit.

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Those who visit the temple need a sacrifice that must be offered to God for the forgiveness of their sins. Animals to be sacrificed to God must be without blemish.
The priests were tasked with judging whether an animal sacrificed by people was blemish or not.

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Using this, the priests did bad things. They even accuse people of defects in the animals brought by them, so that they cannot be sacrificed. The priests took advantage of the fact that they could not take the animal back, and offered it a very low price to buy the animal.

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They also made great profits by selling the animals they had bought at such a low price to others at a high price in the temple. Also, they easily passed the animals purchased in the temple.
People bought animals sold in the temple and offered them as sacrifices so that they could easily be accepted as sacrifices.

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Jews are also required to pay the temple tax in silver shekels. Pilgrims from other countries exchanged their money into shekels to give. The priests were also directly involved in this work, earning money-changing fees and making great profits.
They were making a lot of money by using the temple to offer sacrifices to God.

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Seeing that the temple was degenerate like a market, Jesus was righteously angry.
Jesus made a whip out of his cords and drove the sheep and cattle out of the temple.
He also drove out those who sold pigeons.

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Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers. Their money was scattered all over the land. Jesus drove out those who illegally traded and changed money in the temple.

“Get these out of here! The house of God is a place where all people come to pray.
Don't make this a market place!”

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The disciples, who were watching Jesus cleanse God's temple, seemed to be fulfilling the words David wrote, “My zeal for the house of the Lord has consumed me like fire.”
The way Jesus worked hard for a holy work seemed to be full of passion to sanctify the house of the Lord.

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The Jews who were bewildered by Jesus' actions came and asked him.
“If you have the authority to do this, show us the proof.”
The Jews demanded of Jesus to show them proof of what authority he had done.

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Jesus made a wonderful statement about their request. “Destroy this temple.
Then I will rebuild it in three days.” The Jews were astonished and asked Jesus again.
“It took forty-six years to build this temple. Are you going to rebuild it in three days?”

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The words of Jesus were letting them know that the body of Jesus is the temple.
When the temple is to be torn down, it is referring to the body of Jesus dying on the cross.
And the word of rebuilding the temple on the third day said that the dead body would be resurrected on the third day.

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The temple is where God dwells. Temples are built as places that lead people to encounter God.
The stone temple did not serve as a place where people could fully meet God. It had been corrupted as a place for the priests to earn money.
The temple became a place that prevented people from coming to God.

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There, the true temple, Jesus, came in the flesh. Jesus, who became the true temple, accomplished a new temple by resurrecting on the third day after his death. If anyone believes in the new temple, Jesus, he has completely restored the function of the temple so that he can come to God through him.

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What is more surprising is the fact that our bodies that have been saved by believing in Jesus have also become the temple of God.
[Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?](1Corinthians 3:16)
The body of every person who has been saved is the temple of God, and the Holy Spirit dwells in it. Our bodies have become holy places where the Holy Spirit guides us to walk with God all the time. We must be careful that our temple does not become as messy as the temple in Jerusalem.
We must use our bodies properly for the work that pleases God.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)