Jesus Cleanses the Temple

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons,
and the money-changers sitting there.
And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen.
And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.
And he told those who sold the pigeons,
“Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”
His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?”
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast,
many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.
But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people
and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

John and the Synoptics (Matthew, Mark, Luke)

Matthew, Mark and Luke are spoken of by scholars as the Synoptic Gospels because they share a common narrative framework (Greek synopsis, “with one eye”), with some variations. John’s gospel includes material that the Synoptics leave out, and leaves out material that they include.

John’s gospel covers a longer period of time than the Synoptics. The Synoptics mostly focus on the last few months of Jesus’ public ministry, after his disciples had joined him in preaching, teaching and healing, and he had become a recognized public figure. John’s gospel covers a longer time frame, including several visits to Jerusalem. John’s narrative mentions three (or possibly four) Passovers, this being the first.

John is also more reflective than the Synoptics.  He interweaves narrative with extended reflections on the meaning of these events. Sometimes, as in today’s passage, it’s very clear that as he does this, he is looking back on the past, and reflecting on these past events in the light of the resurrection of Jesus (John 2:22)

John’s Gospel and “the Jews”

The Gospel of John makes frequent references to “the Jews”, and quite often does not cast them in a positive light (John 2:18-20). Putting this in context, it’s good to remind ourselves of two facts. First, John usually (as in today’s passage) used this term to refer to the Jewish leaders or authorities (just as someone might say that “the Americans” took a certain action, when they are really speaking of the President and his government).  Second, it’s good to remember that John was himself Jewish, as were all of Jesus’ first disciples. In the early years of the spread of the gospel, as we see from the Book of Acts, leaders like Peter, John and Paul could go into the Temple and worship there like any other Jew (Acts 3:1, Acts 21:26), and Paul could preach in synagogues (Acts 13:4-5, 14-15) and be accepted as a fellow Jew who brought a teaching about a man that he believed was the Messiah. During this time, many Jews became believers in Jesus, and did not stop considering themselves Jews. Some have estimated that as many as one third of Jerusalem’s inhabitants were believers in Jesus before the city was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. But as Gentiles began to join them, a new entity – the Christian church – began to emerge. Eventually the synagogue and the church became two separate entities, and Jewish Christians like John began to distinguish themselves from their fellow Jews, partly because of the opposition they had experienced from the official leaders of Judaism. So, by the time John wrote his gospel, it was natural for him to refer to “the Jews” as a group that stood in opposition to the message of Jesus. Sadly, as the leadership of the church gradually became more and more Gentile, it also became more and more anti-Semitic, and Jew-hatred became a plague of the church. This began to emerge as early as the writings of Justin Martyr (100-165 AD), who blamed the crucifixion entirely on the Jews and depicted it as a reflection of their perversity. The New Testament does record strong words spoken by Jesus and the apostles about the consequences of rejecting Him. But although Jesus, John and Paul had strong words of warning and rebuke for their fellow Jews who did not accept Jesus as their Messiah, they evidently also loved their nation and wanted their fellow Jews to be saved. Paul says that God has not rejected His people whom he loved, but is using Gentile believers to make Israel jealous so that she can come to repentance in the last days (Romans 11:11-23). Many believe this is beginning to happen in our times. 

One Cleansing or Two?

According to Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17 and Luke 19:45-46, Jesus cleansed the Temple towards the end of his public ministry, after he had entered Jerusalem on his way to the cross. John records a cleansing of the temple near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Some scholars have suggested that Jesus only cleansed the Temple once, and that John put this event near the beginning of his narrative to make a point about Jesus’ identity. But there’s no compelling reason why Jesus couldn’t have cleansed the Temple twice, once near the beginning of his ministry and once near the end. Following John’s chronology, the two cleansings would have been two or possibly three years apart.  By the time of the second cleansing of the Temple, recorded in Matthew 21:12-17 , Mark 11:15-19 and Luke 19:45-48, Jesus had become a public figure, a major leader who was seen as a threat by the Sanhedrin and probably also by the Romans.  But the cleansing recorded by John didn’t get nearly as big a reaction, although it did get Jesus into an animated discussion with the Jewish leaders.

Jesus’ zeal for his Father’s house

John records that when reflecting on this event in later years, his disciples remembered Psalm 69:9. Jesus  loved the Temple and referred to it as his Father’s house (Luke 2:41-49). Heavenly things were real to him.

The church is referred to as the household or temple of God in Scripture (Ephesians 2:19-22). It’s good to remember that Jesus is passionate for the purity of his Father’s house.

Jesus’ authority

The prophet Zechariah, looking forward to the Day of the Lord, had this to say about the Temple (Zechariah 14:20-2. 2).

By cleansing the temple Jesus was acting as only the Messiah had the right to do. When he was challenged, he spoke a riddle about his body as God’s temple (John 2:18-21). This is a clear statement that Jesus’ body is, in a special and unique way, the dwelling place of God.

Jesus’ knowledge of people

John 2:23-25 says that many came to believe in him when they saw this powerful Messianic act and the other signs he was doing, but that Jesus did not entrust himself to them because he knew what was in people’s hearts.

One commentator points out that although they believed, and their belief may well have been sincere, it wasn’t very well-informed yet. They didn’t know what kind of Messiah Jesus was going to be. This may be why he knew he could not entrust himself to them.

Signs in John

There are several events in John chapters 2 through 12 that John refers to as signs. In fact this is his preferred term for a miracle.

• Why do you think John uses this term?
• What do you think John wants us to see about Jesus? (John 2:11)
• What kind of response did these signs elicit from his disciples? (John 2:11, 22)

Pray

Let’s pray for one another to have eyes to see the glory of God, and believing hearts.

Let’s also pray for the salvation of Israel.