When Jesus Flips Tables Series

When Jesus Flips Tables  

John 2:13–25

Introduction

Today we will spend some time with a familiar but stunning story that is told in all four gospels. John tells us, “So [Jesus] made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts… and overturned their tables.” Jesus is consumed with zeal—passion—for one thing: his Father’s mission to save the world, a mission that will lead him to the cross and resurrection.

This story takes place at Passover. Josephus estimated that the crowd in Jerusalem swelled to 3 million people. Jews over 19 paid a temple tax of about two days’ wages, so moneychangers exchanged “unclean” foreign coins for acceptable ones, and animals could be bought on site for sacrifice. But some problems had developed over time.?

So what led Jesus to such a dramatic demonstration at the temple—and what happens when he flips tables in our lives?

John 2:13-25, NIV

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 

He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

Jesus chose this moment to demonstrate his passion for His Father’s presence and mission. What happens when Jesus flips tables, and what does that mean for us?

1. Tear Down the Marketplace

The moneychangers provided a great service, but they did so at an exorbitant rate. It was already a burden for the tax to be paid, but they charged highly for the service of exchanging the unclean coins for acceptable coins. You could bring your own livestock for sacrifice, but it had to pass a Temple inspection. Guess what? Your livestock almost never passed inspection! All of this extortion took place in the court of the Gentiles—the only place where non-Jews like the Ethiopian eunuch could come and worship Israel’s God—now crowded with livestock and coins and the roar of a marketplace. Charles Swindoll says the temple had become “a shrine to greed and a sanctuary for thieves,” a vivid picture of how far God’s house had drifted from its purpose.

Jesus is confronting a temple turned marketplace—a house of prayer turned into a house of profit, noise, and religious business.

This presents a danger for us today. For them, money stood in the way of worshipers and their desire to serve God. Is there anything in our church life that may be a barrier to the seeking stranger? Remove all Barriers by Speaking to newcomers and guests, being aware that guests do not know where everything is located. We want everyone to feel welcome, no matter how they’re dressed or how little they know about our customs. Ask God to show us anything—habits, attitudes, church customs—that turn his house of prayer into a house of profit, noise, or distraction, and begin clearing those away.

2. Align Your Zeal!

Jesus is not merely angry and violent here. His actions were prophetic, anticipated in Malachi and Psalm 69, and his zeal—his love on fire for God’s kingdom—drives a righteous anger at how God’s house is being abused. Jesus is acting like an Old Testament prophet performing a symbolic act of judgment and cleansing, a living parable that announces both purification and coming destruction.

Zeal is love on fire—intense concern that moves you to act. This is not a random outburst or loss of temper. He takes time to make a whip of cords, and it’s most naturally used to drive out the animals, not to beat people. His anger is real, but it is self-controlled, purposeful, protective, and holy—aligned with the Father’s will, not with wounded pride.

What am I fired up about that Jesus isn’t—and what is Jesus fired up about that I ignore? Line up your passions with His!