Gospel Outreach International

Have you ever wondered if we’ve made our Christian practices more complicated than God intended? In this Bible study, we’ll explore Jesus’s visit to the temple during Passover and what it teaches us about authentic worship versus human-made religious complexity. Through examining the original Passover feast and Jesus’s response to the temple merchants, we’ll discover important truths about keeping our faith focused on its simple, pure foundations.

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. John 2:13

• The Passover feast had seven original requirements: roasted lamb, bitter herbs, unleavened bread, girded loins, shod feet, staff in hand, and eaten in haste
• The feast wasn’t regularly practiced from Exodus 12 until Joshua 5:10
• By New Testament times, the Jews had added many rituals and complexities to the original Passover feast
• Jesus cleansed the temple because it had become a “den of robbers” rather than a house of prayer
• Signs and wonders shouldn’t be our focus - true faith is about trust in God, not visible proofs
• Jesus knew people’s hearts and didn’t entrust himself to those who only believed because of signs
• We must be careful not to corrupt simple biblical practices with human traditions

But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people John 2:24

Throughout this study, we see Jesus’s concern for pure, uncomplicated worship of His Father. He demonstrated this both in cleansing the temple and in establishing the simple memorial of communion. While we may be tempted to add complexity to our religious practices, Jesus shows us that true worship comes from a sincere heart that trusts in Him completely. His perfect sacrifice as the spotless Lamb calls us not to elaborate religious systems, but to simple faith and obedience.