Jesus Clears
the Temple
John
2:12-25
Key
verse 2:15-16
So he made a whip out of
cords, and drove all from the temple area, 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! How dare you turn my
father’s house into a market!”
In
John 1:14, we learned that Jesus came from the father, full of grace and
truth. Last week we saw an example of
Jesus’ grace. In turning the water into
wine, he saved a wedding celebration.
Everyone enjoyed this best wine they had ever tasted. It demonstrated Jesus’ power to change the
tasteless and common into the best tasting and most extraordinary. We are no more deserving of salvation than
anyone else is. But it was Jesus’ grace
to change us, the sinful and common, into sons of God (1:12). Jesus is full of grace.
But
now, in the very next passage, we do not see Jesus, full of grace. We see Jesus, full of truth. He makes a whip out of cords and upturns
tables. Today, we want to think about
what made graceful Jesus so angry. We
will think about Jesus’ zeal for his father’s house and the spiritual meaning
of the temple.
Lets
read the key verses, 15 and 16
So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from
the temple area, 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! How dare you turn my father’s house into a
market!”
Pray
Part
1 “How dare you turn my father’s house into a market?”
Look
at verses 13 and 14. “When it was time for the Passover, Jesus
went up to Jerusalem. In the temple
courts, he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at
tables exchanging money.” It was
the time of the Passover. During the
Passover, the population of Jerusalem swelled.
Jews from all over the world returned to celebrate the Passover at the
temple, as the law required (Dt 16:2).
They came on camels; they came on ships; they could not bring Passover
lambs with them. They would have to
exchange their foreign money and buy animals.
So Jerusalem became a bustling marketplace during the
Passover. But the problem was where the market was. In
the spirit of competition, location was key to brisk business. And the best place to sell animals was right
where they were needed, in the temple itself.
From a business point of view, it makes perfect sense. But from a spiritual point of view it was
exceedingly wicked. Let’s see why.
First,
look at what Jesus did. Let’s read
verse 15. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area,
both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and
overturned their tables. Jesus
always seems so peaceful, but this misuse of the temple made him very
angry. He made a whip and drove out the
animals. A money changer had all of the
different foreign coins neatly stacked on a table. Jesus lifted up the table and flipped it over, scattering the
coins. Jesus seems so different here
than when he graciously turned water into wine. But we must recall that Jesus came from the father, full of grace
and truth (1:14). Usually in the
Bible, we see Jesus grace and forgiveness.
So whenever we see Jesus angry, we want to take note and pay careful attention
to find out what made him angry, so that we do not ourselves make him angry.
What
was it about the selling of animals that made him so angry? Lets read verse 16. To
those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my father’s house into a market!”
Jesus
was angry because the temple was his father’s house; it should not be a
market. Who could call the temple “my
father’s house”? But Jesus is the Son
of God. As the Son, zeal for his
father’s house consumed him. When he saw
his father’s name being blasphemed, he was filled with righteous anger.
Before
we continue, lets pause for a few moments to lay a foundation of understanding
about why selling in the temple is wrong.
Since there is no temple today, some of us may not be very familiar with
how important the temple was to ancient Israel. It symbolized the presence of God with his people. It was the center of their faith, the place
they were to go to make sacrifices, the place they were to go for their
festivals, the place they were to go to to pray. After it was destroyed, Daniel still prayed toward its ruins in
Jerusalem. He mourned for the state of
God’s temple, which brought dishonor to God’s name. He longed for the temple to be restored, for the glory of
God. The temple was so central to
Jewish life that the entire book of Ezra focuses on the rebuilding of the
temple, because without the temple Israel was not a nation.
So
what is wrong with selling in the temple?
There are two basic problems: it blasphemes God and it destroys the
spiritual environment.
First,
God is not worshipped in the temple, but blasphemed. The temple was a special place to God. At the dedication of the first temple, God said to Solomon, “Now my eyes will be open and my ears
attentative to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be
there forever. My eyes and my heart
will always be there.”( 2Ch 7:15-16) God’s
eyes, ears, heart, and even Name were there.
Consider
that God’s ears were there. This means
that while God hears everyone’s prayers, wherever we are, but he was especially
attentative to prayers offered in the temple. It was like using a microphone to
make your voice louder. Yet, at the
temple, the sounds of prayer were drowned out by the sounds of the market. God paid careful attention to what was said,
but day in and day out, he heard the sounds of barter. “1 denarius for that sheep.” “Oi vey!
Your killing me! Two denari,
final offer!”
Consider
that God’s Name was there. Therefore it
was a scared and Holy place, set apart for Holy things. People could not enter the temple if they
were ceremonially unclean – for instance if they had a rash. What then made them think that they could
set up a street market inside the temple?
Greed blinded them. Money is
neither good nor evil, but 1Ti 6:10 says, “For the love of money is a root
of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the
faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” No one can serve both God
and money. (Mt 6:24) To see money
worshipped in the very presence of God at his temple was terrible. “[The temple] had a wall around it to separate the holy from the common.”(Ez
42:20) Do you know why the first temple was destroyed? Ez 43:8 says, “When they placed their threshold next to my threshold and their
doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them, they
defiled my name by their detestable practices.
So I destroyed them in my anger.” God is angry when his name is
defiled by detestable practices. But
now in the rebuilt temple of Jesus’ day,
money is king -- not just next to the temple, but even inside of it.
The
second problem with a market is that it makes a bad environment for those who
sincerely wished to worship and pray.
The temple was to be a house of prayer for all peoples. Isaiah 56:6-7 reads, “And foreigners who
bind themselves to the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath
without desecrating it and hold fast to my covenant – these will I bring to my
holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be
accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all
nations.” In all the world, there
was only one temple of the true God. It
was in Jerusalem, but that did not mean that Gentiles were not welcome. They too were welcome to come there and pray
in the court of the Gentiles; the temple was a house of prayer for all
nations.” But now the court of the
Gentiles was a bustling market! Did you
ever try to pray in a bustling market?
No I don’t think so. When you
want to pray you to your closet, or to the church or somewhere quiet. You do not pray next to a cash
register. By turning the Gentile’s
court into a market, the Jews were inconsiderate of the Gentiles. They did not welcome the Gentiles. Perhaps there was a man from Spain. He feared God and converted to become one of
God’s people. He made a long trip to
Jerusalem to pray at the temple for his family. But when he got there, he had to pray with cows mooing in one ear
and money clanking in the other.
So
the point is, what is happening in the temple is blasphemous. How dare they turn the house of God into a
market. How dare they, don’t they fear
God? It’s not a small problem, but
severe. If you can see that, then you
can see why Jesus reacts so severely to it.
A serious problem calls for a serious response. If Jesus were only full of grace, then he
would shrug it off. But Jesus is also
full of truth. Jesus does get angry.
Consider Mark 3:4-5a, Then Jesus asked
them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life
or to kill?” But they remained silent.
He looked around at them in anger, and deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts,…” Then when does Jesus’ truth and when his
grace? It is simple: when there is sin, there is truth; when
there is repentance, there is grace.
Full of truth, Jesus pronounces 7 woes on the Pharisees who refused to
acknowledge their sin. But full of
grace, Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners – after they repented.
There is no temple today.
Hebrews 8&9 explains why.
But we can apply the teaching of the holiness of the temple. 1Cor 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your body is a temple
of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not
your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” What about you? Is your heart a place of worship to God or a marketplace? Our culture is materialistic. One man’s heart is a marketplace, consumed
with money making schemes; he constantly checks his stocks. What room is left in his heart is consumed
with money spending schemes; coveting the best things and the latest gadgets. But God says, “Love the LORD your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Dt
6:5)
How can we expect Jesus to feel about such a man? Can he expect to meet Jesus full of grace or
Jesus full of truth? He should expect
Jesus to be angry. If he is fortunate,
Jesus will take a whip and drive the love of money from his heart. Many go through life assuming that God loves
them and God loves America and God loves everyone. But wouldn’t Jesus be angry with America? We ask ourselves, “Does zeal for the Lord
consume me, or does money consume me?”
Is my body a sacred temple of the Holy Spirit? If our bodies do not honor God, his holy name blasphemed by us. Clear out your heart and worship God in
spirit and truth. It is a sobering and
healthy thought to wake us up from complacency, that Jesus is full of truth.
There
is an application here of Jesus’ zeal for the Lord, which caused his holy
anger. Generally speaking, anger is
wrong (Mt 5:22), because the reasons for our anger are selfish or judgmental. But on rare occasions there is such a thing
as righteous anger, by which we may rebuke others. This anger must not be judgmental. But there is a place for
it. We should learn from Jesus to be
full of grace and truth. In rebuking
the Corinthians’ many sins Paul warns, “What do you prefer? Shall I come with a whip, or in love and
with a gentle spirit?” ( 1Cor 4:21)
His words remind us of the whip of cords that Jesus made, and show that
he had both grace and truth.
For
example, I had a Bible student. His
heart was a marketplace. Therefore, he
said many wrong things. I tried to bear
with him and be gracious. Even when
what he said made me angry for the LORD’s sake, I kept a smile on my face. Though I corrected the student, he never
listened, and my correction made no impression. Then one time he said something very wrong, and I blew up and got
angry. Then what happened? Suddenly he paid attention to what I was
saying! There is a place for
theatrics. Jesus shocking behavior of
overturning tables may be able to wake some people up from their complacency
about what they are doing.
How
will the disciples react to this truthful side of Jesus? They could be shocked. He’s gone to far. Or they could be afraid.
What if the temple guards come to arrest them for making a
disturbance. But the disciples had the
sense to interpret Jesus actions as a spiritual lesson. They found the answer in scripture. Let’s read verse 17. His
disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
These
words come from Psalm 69:9, one of the most famous Psalms about Jesus. Jesus was zealous for God.
The
disciples had a scripture-based faith.
They did not react with their emotions to Jesus’ actions. Rather they went to the scripture to find
out why he was doing so. They knew
their Bibles well. Their faith was from
the Bible. Verse 22 says, “After he was raised from the dead his
disciples recalled what he had said.
Then they believed the scriptures and the words that Jesus had spoken.”
When
we see people acting in ways we do not expect, we are like to react
emotionally. For instance, I attended a
wedding at a different church. I saw
that they did some things differently, and I thought, “It’s not right.” But the right response is to go back to the
Bible, and see if it is in agreement with the Bible or not.
Therefore,
Bible study is very important. Without
a knowledge of the scriptures, we cannot interpret what we see.
But
now look at verse 18. Then the Jews
demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority
to do all this?” The Jews reacted
very differently than the disciples.
Though they should know the Bible, they reacted with emotion and a
demand for a sign, which comes from unbelief.
The temple priests feel threatened, challenged. They were in charge of what went on in the
temple, who was Jesus to tell them how to run their own temple. They had sanctioned the selling of the
animals in the temple, who was Jesus to undermine their authority and tell them
they were wrong? They had likely
charged fees to those merchants lucky enough to sell in the temple. Who was Jesus to threaten their revenue?
One
thing we notice is that they did not repent.
They did not consider the case on its merits. Regardless of who Jesus is, it is plain to anyone who thinks
about it that Jesus is correct. But
they do not accept the rebuke. Did you
ever know you were wrong but were too proud to admit it? Instead they react defensively and challenge
Jesus’ authority. Sign-seeking is a
common error of people. Today, many
people in many churches are looking for signs.
Actually, Jesus performed many miraculous signs, as we see in verse
23. But to those who seek signs, no amount
of signs is ever enough, they always want more.
In
a similar event in Mt12:39, Jesus replies, “a
wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be
given except the sign of Jonah.”
Verse
23-25 also deal with sign-seeking.
Now while he was in
Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was
doing and believed in his name. But
Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man,
for he knew what was in a man.
The
people saw the signs and believed in his name.
But Jesus knew their hearts. He
knew that he could not entrust himself to them, because their faith was
shallow, based only on miracles. Unless
they put down a deeper root, they will not last.
We
should not be sign seekers but faith seekers.
None-the-less, God has provided one sign that we might believe. If people do not believe this one sign, no
number of additional signs will help.
That sign is Jesus resurrection on the third day.
Part
3 “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days.”
Let’s
read verse 19-21 Jesus answered them,
“Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days.”
The Jews replied, “It has
taken us forty-six years to build the temple, and you are going to raise it in
three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
The
Jews understood Jesus to be talking about the temple which was begun to be
built in 20BC, but Jesus was talking about his own body. If they would destroy his body, he would
raise it on the third day. Verse 19
became the source of the charge that would later convict Jesus of
blasphemy. They accused Jesus of
threatening to destroy the temple. But
when we look at what Jesus actually said in verse 19, he would not destroy the
temple. It was they who would kill
him.
Jesus’
is here also looking to the destruction of the old temple, and the building of
a new temple, his own body at the resurrection.
The
temple was a symbol pointing to Jesus.
Everything about the temple pointed to Jesus. The sacrifices that were offered there. The priests that officiated there. The festivals that were celebrated there. The very building itself. The symbolism of God dwelling among his
people. All of these things find their
fulfillment in Christ. For this reason,
Jesus declares in Jn 4:21-24 that we are no longer to worship at the temple,
but in spirit and truth. For this
reason, the curtain temple was torn at Jesus’ death, and the temple itself was
destroyed within that generation. Heb
8:13 shows that the earthly temple was obsolete.
Jesus
proclaimed of himself in Mt 12:6, “One greater than the temple is here.”
Verse 19 shows that Jesus is our new temple.
Rev 21:22 says that there is no temple in heaven because “the Lord God
Almighty and the lamb are its temple.”
Rather than having to go to Jerusalem, we all have access to the father
through Jesus. Rather than bring the
blood of sheep and bulls, Jesus’ own blood atones for us once for all.
In
conclusion, only John’s gospel records a clearing of the temple at the
beginning of Jesus’ ministry. In this
way, John emphasizes how Jesus came from the father full of grace and
truth. Let us learn of Jesus’ zeal for
the Lord, and truthful spirit. May we
accept the one sign given for all time, the resurrection of Jesus, and believe
in his name.