John • The passed-over passages 3 • Jesus "cleanses" the Temple

Steve Schott
Sep 23
10 min read

Updated: 7 days ago

► Previously in John we looked at the 7 signs recorded, and referenced in John 20:30-31, where it says

30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

► We also explored the 7 "I AM" statements that do not always correspond to the signs, but also add definition to the nature and purposes of Jesus.

► Links to all of these posts can be found at the end of this posting

► Now I'm going to turn my attention to what I call the "passed-over" passages, Those passages from chapter 1 to chapter 12 which I haven't previously dealt with.

► After that we'll deal with chapters 13 to 19, which I call "the end of it all". These chapters deal with a single 24-hour period, that starts with the last supper in the upper room, and takes us all the way to the cross and the tomb.

► And then we'll end with chapters 20 and 21 that I call "the new beginning".

► Today we are going to look at an event that occurred, at least within John's gospel, soon after Jesus turned the water into wine, at the wedding at Cana, in Galilee. Now Jesus is heading to Jerusalem, where He will "mix it up" with those who had turned the Temple into a place of business, rather than a place of worship.

The Cleansing of the Temple → John 2:13-25

► What do the words “righteous indignation” mean?

• Righteous – “acting in accord with divine or moral law : free from guilt or sin” (note1)

• Indignations – “anger aroused by something unjust, unworthy, or mean” (note2)

• So when we say “righteous indignation” we mean that we react to an unjust and/or unworthy offense with anger, yet within the bounds of divine or moral law; and without committing a sin by our attitudes and actions.

• What we are going to look at today is an example of “righteous indignation”.

► John 2:13 → ¹³ The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

• “The Passover of the Jews was near,…”

→ A spring festival

• “and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”

→ “went up” – we have a common misconception in the western way of thinking. Up is not necessarily north. We have been trained that “north” is always at the top of a map.

→ Jesus is currently in Galilee, specifically in Capernaum (based on John 2:12).

☼ He had just turned water into wine in Cana (John 2:1-11).

→ Elevation of Capernaum (on the north end of the Sea of Galilee) is between 686ft-705ft BELOW sea-level. The lowest freshwater lake on Earth.

→ Elevation of Jerusalem (Mount Zion) is 2,430ft ABOVE sea-level.

☼ That’s around 3,100 feet in elevation change. More than twice the height of the twin towers. Talk about going UP!!!

→ Jesus is constantly on the move…

☼ John 1:28 – Bethany beyond the Jordan (BTJ)

☼ John 2:1 – Cana of Galilee

☼ John 2:13 – Jerusalem

☼ John 3:22-23 – land of Judea, Aenon near Salim (probably across the river from Bethany BTJ)

☼ John 4:5 – Samaria

☼ John 4:46 – Cana (again)

☼ John 5:1 – Jerusalem (Bethesda)

☼ John 6:1 – other side (north?) of the Sea of Galilee

☼ John 6:24, 59 – Capernaum

☼ John 7:10 – Jerusalem

☼ John 10:40 – Bethany BTJ

☼ John 11:18 – Jerusalem/Bethany

☼ John 11:54 – Ephraim (about 13 miles north-east of Jerusalem)

☼ John 12:1 – Bethany (Jerusalem)

☼ John 12:12 – Jerusalem – triumphal entry

► John 2:14 → ¹⁴ And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.

• “those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves,”

→ “During the celebration of Passover, worshipers came from all over Israel and the Roman Empire to Jerusalem. Because many traveled large distances, it was inconvenient to bring their sacrificial animals with them. Opportunistic merchants, seeing a chance to provide a service and probably eyeing considerable profit during this time, set up areas in the outer courts of the temple in order for travelers to buy animals.” (note3)

→ “Temple (Gk. Hieron) denotes the area surrounding the temple, including the Court of the Gentiles, in distinction from the temple building proper (Gk. Naos), from which non-Jews were excluded. By selling oxen, sheep, and pigeons, the merchants, as well as the money-changers, rendered a service to those who had traveled to Jerusalem from afar, enabling them to buy the animals on-site rather than having to carry them for long distances. By conducting their business in the temple complex, however, these individuals disrupted the worship of non-Jewish God-fearers and thus obstructed the very purposed for which the temple existed.” (note4)

• “and the money changers seated at their tables.”

→ “The money changers were needed because the temple tax, paid annually by every conscientious Jewish male 20 years of age or older (Ex. 30:13, 14; Matt. 17:24–27), had to be in Jewish or Tyrian coinage (because of its high purity of silver). Those coming from foreign lands would need to exchange their money into the proper coinage for the tax. The money changers charged a high fee for the exchange. With such a large group of travelers and because of the seasonal nature of the celebration, both the animal dealers and money exchangers exploited the situation for monetary gain (“den of thieves”; Matt. 21:13). Religion had become crass and materialistic.” (note5)

• There is nothing inherently wrong with what they are doing, it’s mostly WHERE they are doing it, and their MOTIVATION that’s the problem.

► John 2:15-16 → ¹⁵ And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; ¹⁶ and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.”

• “scourge of cords” – a small whip with several lengths of rope or cord

• “Jesus viewed this commerce inside the temple complex as a sacrilege since it exploited the poor to gain funds to beautify the temple, and it disrupted Gentile worship in the court of the Gentiles, their only place to worship. So He drove the merchants all out of the temple, including the animals. He also overturned the tables of the money changers, symbolically cleansing the temple. This act fulfilled Malachi’s prophecy of the sudden entrance of the Messiah into the temple to purify the nation (Mal 3:1-3 see below). It also may have served as a symbolic act of judgment against the leaders who had allowed the corruption to go so far.” (note6)

→ Mal 3:1-3 → ¹ “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the LORD of hosts. ² “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. ³ “He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness.

• Notice that Jesus took ownership of the temple.

• Can you imagine the pandemonium? All that money laying on the ground? Everyone making a mad scramble to obtain some of it?

► John 2:17 → ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it was written, “ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.”

• John is quoting part of Psalm 69:9 → “For zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.”

• The idea that those who behave as the sellers and money-changers have been behaving are casting a reproach on God, and they are reproaching His Son by default also.

► John 2:18 →¹⁸ The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?”

• Not an unqualified request – “Who gave you the authority to do this?”

• They want to know who put Him in charge.

• The Greek word for “sign” (semeion) means a miracle. They weren’t just looking for his protest permit.

► John 2:19-22 → ¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰ The Jews then said, “It took 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 So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

• “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

→ “As God’s foremost Prophet, Jesus predicted His own death and the precise timing of His resurrection. The words “I will raise it up” present Jesus as the divine agent of His own resurrection. (note7)

• “His disciples remembered…”

→ Hindsight – “perception of the nature of an event after it has happened. In hindsight, it's clear there were alternatives. Hindsight is twenty-twenty.” (note8)

→ The disciples realization of Jesus’s fulfilled prophecy caused them to more fully believe both the Scriptures themselves, as well as the other words spoken by Jesus.

► John 2:23-25 → ²³ Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. ²⁴ But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, ²⁵ and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

• “Some understand “many believed in His name” to be inauthentic faith because (1) faith based on miracles (the “signs which He was doing”) is insufficient, and (2) Jesus “was not entrusting Himself to them” (v.24). But John declared that Jesus’ signs were intended to bring about faith (20:31-32). Also, the apostle used a Greek phrase “believed in His name” (Gr. pisteuo eis autos ho onoma) that clearly speaks of genuine faith (cf. Jn 1:12; 3:18; cf. 20:31). That Jesus “was not entrusting Himself to them” means that Jesus considered these new believers not yet prepared for further disclosures of spiritual truth. This begins John’s theme of the “secret disciple” (cf. 19:38-39 – Joseph of Arimathea). John’s declaration that “He Himself knew what was in man” (v. 25) underlines the Lord’s divine knowledge of people. To demonstrate that knowledge of humanity, three interviews follow, with Nicodemus, a Jewish leader, the Samaritan woman, and a Gentile nobleman. In each one, Jesus demonstrated His supernatural understanding of their inner thoughts and needs. (note9)

• This is also a reminder that John only recorded a few of the signs that Jesus performed. John has only recorded one sign at this point, yet the text tells us that their belief was based on their observation of “signs which He was doing”.

► So What?

• Do we have “righteous indignation” towards people and events that bring dishonor to God?

→ The implication being we shouldn’t express indignation unless we can do it and maintain righteousness at the same time.

• Do we have “righteous indignation” toward our own disrespectful behavior?

• Are we sensitive in regards to how our behavior can be a distraction to another person’s worship?

• Are we amazed and lead to belief as we examine the Scriptures?

The Signs

► Sign 1, Water to Wine, Jesus is the master of the ELEMENTS → John 2:1-12

► Sign 2, Nobleman's Son, Jesus is the master over DISTANCE → John 4:46-54

► Sign 3, Lame Man at Bethesda, Jesus is the master over TIME → John 5:1-18

► Sign 4, Feeding of 5,000+, Jesus is the master over DIMENSION → John 6:1-15

► Sign 5, Jesus walks on water, Jesus is the master over NATURE → John 6:15-21