John 2: 13 -25
If One Will Not Do, Why Not Try Two
13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. 15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. 16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” 17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.” 18 So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?” 19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” 21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said. 23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. 24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.
When you put all the Gospel versions together it appears that we run into some problems. Okay, here’s your homework. We are going to go over each Gospel and see what the writers say. Then I want you to think about the possible problems of differences and be ready next week to discuss them. Oh, you want to know the answers today? Okay, actually, it is not that difficult to point out the variables.
Mark 11: 11-2612 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it. 15 So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 16 And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. 17 Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ 18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching. 19 When evening had come, He went out of the city. 20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” 22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. 25 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Matthew 21:12-22 12 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” 14 Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant 16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?” 17 Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there. 18 Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away. 20 And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?” 21 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.
Luke 19:45-48, 45 Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’” 47 And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, 48 and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.”
Now, we know that Matthew and John were with our Holy Master, Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when all of this took place. Would you agree? Now what about Mark? If you have been studying God’s Word with us that you know that I often point out how Mark got all of his information from Peter. So, we have three eyewitnesses.
Lastly, what about John’s version?. His version seems different. The answer is that John’s version is different. You see our Lord cleansed the Temple twice. One early in His ministry to get the religious leaders attention to do what is right. This is what we are reading about here in chapter 2. Apparently later on in the future, these religious leaders had allowed the money changers and the merchants back in the Temple to do business. So, our Lord came back and cleaned house again. This is what Matthew, Mark, and Luke are talking about.
John tells us of the first time, early in His ministry, when His prime concern had been the treating of God’s house like a marketplace and a stable. Then His main opponents were the traders, and His aim had been to drive out the cattle as well. He had wanted to clear the house for prayer. It had not been a direct attack on the leadership.
When our Lord Jesus cleans the Temple the second time we see how His accusations reached much deeper than in that first clearing of the Temple. The second time He will call it not just a marketplace. He will say, ‘But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ He then, by implication, is involving the Chief Priests themselves in it.
Those who came to the Temple would need to have suitable sacrifices that could pass the test of being unblemished. Thus sacrificial animals and birds were sold in the Temple by traders commissioned by the chief priests with a certificate guaranteeing that they were satisfactory, together with such things as wine, oil and salt, . And this was done in the Court of the Gentiles under the sanction of the authorities with little regard for what it meant for worshippers. It was not a far cry from this to making the test very stiff for sacrificial beasts brought in from outside by individuals so as to ensure that they often failed the test, so that the prospective worshippers had then to buy certificated beasts or birds at ultra high prices, with suitable commissions paid to the authorities. And this undoubtedly happened regularly. No doubt the ‘rejected’ beasts were included in the price as part exchange and some no doubt were later sold on again as certificated beasts.
In addition, The Temple tax had to be paid in the Tyrian two drachma piece which was the nearest available equivalent to the Hebrew half shekel. (This was the equivalent of well over a day’s wage). This was because it had no image of man or beast on it. Thus moneychangers sat at tables and accepted other currencies in exchange for it, charging a comparatively large fee for the exchange and a further fee if change had to be given, while the chief priests again claimed their commissions. The noise of typical Middle Eastern negotiation and haggling would have been deafening, and the whole process was designed to extract as much money as possible from the unfortunate pilgrims, many of whom were poor, and to line the pockets of the chief priests and their cronies. When our Merciful God, Lord Jesus overturned their tables and their beloved money went rolling round the floor, it would have been to the delight of the crowds.
The result of all these practices was that those who came into the court of the Gentiles of the house of God, instead of being filled with awe and a realization of the presence of God, found themselves in a busy, hectic marketplace, with buyers and sellers arguing and disputing loudly and furiously, prospective sacrificial animals and birds adding their own particular protests, and moneychangers calling out their rates. But such potential worshippers were only Gentiles and so it did not matter.
In John’s Gospel chapter 2 The Lord Jesus’ action had merely been to clear the Temple, telling them not to turn the Temple into a shop, but as the other Gospel writers list in their version of His second appearance to clear the Temple, He not only did that but also ‘taught’ and drew the attention of people to the full situation.
13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
John constantly tells us that Jesus went up to Jerusalem for the different Feasts of the Jews, and especially for the Passover. This is apparently Jesus’ first Passover after taking up His calling
It is not too surprising that it is not mentioned in the other Gospels, for the other Gospels tell us little about His early ministry in Jerusalem, especially in its earlier stages, concentrating rather on His itinerant ministry, thus they tended to disregard the happenings at the trips to Jerusalem, possibly because they were not present (in John ‘His disciples’ is a vague term not necessarily always meaning the twelve), or possibly because they saw Galilee rather than Judea as the true reflection of Jesus ministry. Galilee welcomed Him. Judea put Him to death. But John, who records a number of trips to Jerusalem, perhaps did not wish to jar the account of the final visit by describing a violent visit to the Temple, and perhaps wished to finish his Gospel on a spiritual note with his concentration on the cross. He does after all leave out the physical details of the last Supper, and of Jesus’ prayers in Gethsemane, and he ignores Jesus’ actual baptism and the transfiguration, while hinting at both. His later concentration is on the new coming of the Spirit. And he might well have seen the repetition of such an event as superfluous to what he wanted to say, or even as taking attention away from what he saw as important.
But he does remember this early incident and describes it because it fits in well with his purpose, to indicate that the new has come. He is well aware that the later cleansing is already well known in the Christian church, whilst an action like this helps to explain why in the other Gospels the leaders are so antagonistic to Jesus at an early stage as we see in Mark 3.22. And this one provides an opportunity for him to hint at the coming death and resurrection of Jesus (‘destroy this Temple and I will raise it again in three days’).
14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.
Entering the Temple He found in the court of the Gentiles, set apart for Gentile worship, men who were selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others who were at tables exchanging currencies. This money exchanging was necessary because the Temple tax, which was required of every Jew, had to be paid in Tyrian coinage which had no idolatrous images on it, and many had come from afar bringing ‘tainted’ money. Jesus was not attacking the service provided, but the whereabouts of its taking place which was basically an insult to the Gentiles who worshipped there
Prior to Passover Jews were expected to ensure that they were ritually clean. Great efforts were made to prevent the possibility of uncleanness. Graves would be painted white in order to ensure that Jews did not come into contact with death just prior to the Passover, for if they were unclean Jews could not participate in the Passover. So there was a great emphasis on ritual purity. Thus Jesus may well have had this in mind when He saw what He considered to be a degrading of the Temple, especially when He saw ‘tainted money’ being brought into the Temple containing its idolatrous images, and the noise of cattle disturbing the peace, while their droppings also polluted the Temple. The hypocrisy of it seemingly came home to Him. Conscious of His new ministry He was thus angered at this use of His Father’s house, which He saw as a place for prayer and worship even for Gentiles.
15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. 16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”
Please take note that His emphasis here is on removing the offending animals from the Temple area. His whole emphasis is that of turning the court into a place of prayer. So He makes a small scourge (no weapon or stick was allowed in the Temple) and drives out the animals, tips over the tables of the moneychangers, and then says to those who were selling doves (for sacrificial purposes) ‘Get these out of here. Do not make my Father’s house a marketplace’. Also notice here that even in His prophetic anger His compassion and self-control are shown for He does not act in a way that will harm the doves, and He does not attack the men. His intent is to empty the Temple of the commotion resulting from the trading.
The whole picture is one of spontaneous action as a result of the impact that the scene has made on Him, quite unlike His studied purpose in Mark, where He first goes in and surveys the Temple (Mark 11.11) and then later carries out His planned action, concentrating solely on those involved and ignoring the cattle and sheep, and being concerned especially about the dishonest practices taking place. (It is one thing to accuse people of making a noise in church; it is another to accuse them of stealing the collection).
Theoretically the activities of the traders might have been seen as justified, as they made it convenient for worshippers, but to Jesus it meant that concentration was diverted from the main purpose of the Temple, that of meeting with God, and it showed disregard for the Gentiles who came to worship, and indeed for the Temple itself. It raises for us a question that we should ask ourselves. Do some of our church activities come under the same heading?
17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”
The words cited here by John come from Psalm 69.9 and there it is also in a context where insults are being offered to God, just as they were here. We are not told when the disciples remembered the words, probably it was at the time, but it confirms to them and the readers that here is One Who fulfils the Scriptures and takes worship seriously, and is willing to be unpopular in order to purify it.
18 So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”
Certain fervent Judaisers (men of religious dedication among the Jews) who had observed all this now came to Him, and they sought a sign from Him to justify what He had done. Let Him justify His prophetic act by giving a sign from God. This response in itself favors an early date at a time when they were still unsure about Jesus. As a reaction of some of the Jewish authorities it is interesting and significant. Those who were not directly affected by the act because it did not eat into their profits may well have thought like this, and have grudgingly admired what Jesus had done, because they also were not too happy about what was happening in the Temple. And we must remember that among the Jews it was a time of expectation. So they do not immediately react in hostile against what Jesus has done. As they had with John they rather question Him about Who He is. (This could not have happened at the end of His ministry when they were simply out to get Him).
After all, like others they eagerly awaited a unique figure who would aid their cause, for they too were sure that one day God would act as He had promised through such a unique figure, and the incident has done little harm. Indeed it is clear that they recognized that what He had done might well be a direct claim to having some kind of authority from God, and being aware that He already had some popularity, and was associated with miraculous events, they may well have been prepared at this stage to give Him a hearing. Thus rather than seeking His arrest they come to question Him. There was no love lost between the Pharisees and the Chief Priests. So if Jesus was amenable He could be useful. ‘What sign can you show us that demonstrate your right to do this?’ They are not sure how to view Him.
19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
Jesus’ reply is straight and simple, ‘Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up.’ This enigmatic reply brings them up short. They had not expected Him to tell them to destroy the Temple in order that He might give them a sign. They were not, of course, aware that within forty years the Temple would actually be destroyed as a result of their activities. Nor were they aware that for multitudes the crucified and risen Jesus would by then have replaced the Temple and its sacrifices. That the statement was generally remembered comes out in the fact that Jesus would later be charged with having said such things as, ‘I am able to destroy the Temple of God and rebuild it in three days’ (Matthew 26.61) and ‘I will destroy this Temple that is made with hands and in three days I will build another made without hands’ (Mark 14.58), both of which appear to be distorted repetitions of these words. Here is one example where the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke assume material contained in John’s Gospel.
We may also see in this an indication of Jesus’ sense of humor and total wisdom. We can almost see Him saying it, with tongue in cheek. They had asked for a sign so He would offer them one. ‘Let them but destroy the Temple and He would rebuild it within three days.’ And then waiting to observe what their reaction would be. If they took Him literally they would then have to destroy their Temple in order to prove whether He was genuine or not. If they did not He could point to their unwillingness to cooperate with Him as removing from Him any obligation to provide a sign. But it did mean that they could not accuse Him of refusing them a sign. On the other hand it also had a deeper meaning, and He knew exactly what He meant. He was referring to His own coming death and resurrection.
20 Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”
The religious men were naturally taken aback. Did He really mean that if they destroyed the Temple He would be able to rebuild it in three days? The building of Herod’s Temple had commenced around 20 BC and was still in process of being completed. Such completion would not occur until many years after, in 63 AD, just in time for its destruction seven years later in 70 AD. In view of the fact, therefore, that it had been in process of building most of their lives it is not surprising that they found His statement about its destruction difficult to comprehend - especially His claim to be able to rebuild it in three days. They were stunned.
21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
Here Jesus’ meaning is explained to the readers. He was aware already that at some stage they would be ready to destroy Him, as they had the prophets before Him. But His further point here is that by destroying Him they will in effect destroy the Temple, even though the actual destruction may be delayed, but that then within three days of their destroying Him He will rise again, replacing the Temple and its sacrifices. This reply demonstrates that He is already aware that His acceptance among these bigoted men will not be positive.
Here we have another of John’s double meanings. On the one hand Jesus offered them a sign, a great sign. If they wanted one He would give them one. Only let them destroy the Temple, this Temple that was so corrupt, thus by their act revealing their agreement with His verdict on it, and He would rebuild it for them within three days. Let them show by their actions that they were ready to follow Him in every respect, and then they would have their sign. It was a subtle reply for they could now no longer claim that He had refused a sign, nor was there any likelihood that they would take Him up on it. It prevented them from constantly pestering Him for signs, for they knew that if they did they would receive the same reply.
22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
Although the disciples did not understand the meaning at the time, once Jesus had risen from the dead they remembered what He had said and understood, and it confirmed their faith in both Him and the Scriptures.
23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. 24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.
Look at the statement ‘Jesus did not commit or trust Himself to them.’ This would then mean that He would not encourage them to become disciples until He had more evidence of their genuineness. He was never concerned about numbers and popularity, and was quite happy to limit their number
As you know some people believed in Him because they saw miracles. But Jesus knew how unreliable such faith was, and that the only faith worth having is that which is based on an inner certainty of Who Jesus Is and a full response to Him based on that certainty. That is what the ‘signs’ mentioned by John are meant to accomplish, the giving of understanding. These people did not understand.
It is interesting that John does not mention any specific miracles here. He just assumes them. They were important evidence of Jesus’ compassion, and of His status, but they were not seen by John as relevant to his purpose. He is not citing them as ‘evidence’. He is making clear that Jesus knew men and women through and through. ‘He knew what was in man’. For Jesus does not want those who merely respond to miracles. He wants only those who are genuine in seeking Him with all their hearts.
