John

There is a curious sense of timing to this action. It is just before Passover. The devout Jew would, for seven days before Passover, have no yeast in his house. Indeed, he was required to make a thorough search of the house to make sure of this. The symbolic meaning is clear: before the angel of the Lord (the pre-incarnate Christ) will pass over you in delivering death, you must clean the house. We shall see that this symbolism underlies the actions described by John.

¹²After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

¹³When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵So 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. ¹⁶To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”

¹⁷His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”^£

¹⁸Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

¹⁹Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

²⁰The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ²²After 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.

²³Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.^{£ 24}But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. ²⁵He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.

John 2:12 through John 2:25 (NIV)

Why?

At first glance the actions of Jesus seem puzzling, especially to the modern eye. We no longer have the temple described here, and we transpose the actions in our minds to a modern church building. It seems incongruous. Let’s take it step by step.

Why the anger?

The modern mind seeks an explanation. Jesus is ordinarily a mild-mannered sort; when you are God in the flesh, you don’t need to go about airing your wrath. Kindness in miracles is sufficient. So why, then, is Jesus so angry?

·         Some writers see it this way. The money-changers and sellers were, in fact, extorting the people who came to worship. You couldn’t pay your temple tax in Roman or Greek coin; it had to be a special Hebrew coin. Your sacrifices had to be unblemished; the priests who inspected them were in cahoots with those who sold acceptable sacrifices. As some see it, the extortion was the problem. No doubt they were extorting; but that really doesn’t seem to be the reason.

·         Perhaps it’s not the extortion; it’s the buying and selling at all in God’s temple. This is a little less comfortable answer for modern Christians, who are used to buying everything from bake sale goods to Alaskan cruises in the church. We prefer to think that the Tupperware lady who delivers her orders on Sunday at church is just doing someone a favor. It seems so innocent. But is this a sign of the decline in the church? I leave that one to you.

·         There is one thing certain: his anger concerned the Temple. We must remember that this is the one spot on earth in which God said his Name would dwell. It is holy in a way that no church building can be.

But there is a parallel here. The Temple no longer exists. But we know where God puts his name: it is in us. We are told that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and – surprise – we bear the Name of Christ, for we are Christians. Note, please, that the Jews do not. If He took a whip to drive out the wicked from his Temple of stone, how much more will he drive out wickedness from the temples of the Holy Spirit?

Why didn’t he explain the prophecy?

The answer is plainly given: they weren’t ready to understand the answer yet. It is only after the Holy Spirit comes that they remember these words and understand.

The Jews, on the other hand, were unwilling. There is a difference between the two. God will often bring to mind and repentance something which did not seem a problem a month ago. You were not ready; so he waited patiently until you were. But if you are unwilling, then things become cryptic and you do not understand what he is doing. “A broken and contrite heart you will not despise.”

Why did He not simply cite righteousness?

After all, to clean up an extortionist’s racket does not require a miraculous sign of authority. It is clear from the text that all accepted his authority to do this; so why didn’t he make everyone happy with some spectacular miracle?

·         First, so that the Jews would have no opportunity to justify themselves. Jesus was simply not interested in their excuses, and that’s what he would have received.

·         More than that, He is the Christ, the Son of God. That’s the key point – necessary for salvation – and he wanted the focus to be on Him, not them. In essence, he puts himself on trial so that all will ask, “Who is this Man?”

The Nature of Moral Authority

I’ve told the story before, but it bears the repetition. In the 1930s a riot erupted in a west Texas oil town. The riot soon turned into looting, and the sheriff and mayor appealed to the governor for help. The governor wired back that help would arrive by special train the next morning.

The next morning the train arrived. The sheriff was amazed to see that the governor sent only one man: Henry M. T. “Lone Wolf” Gonzualles. The sheriff blurted out, “You mean they only sent one man?”

“There’s only one riot, ain’t there?”

Over the headquarters of the Texas Rangers to this day is the motto: “One riot, one man.” There is a moral authority in this world. We seldom use it; indeed, “when what is vile is honored among men, how the wicked strut!” But here we see such authority displayed.

Unity with the Father

The first essential in moral authority is unity with God. When your purposes are his purposes, his authority goes with you. Note, this is not “when God comes around to my point of view.” You’re the one who must agree with Him.

In this instance, Jesus uses that moral authority to begin his teaching. The one who cleanses the Temple will soon welcome sinners and drunkards, tax collectors and political zealots. The one who claims this authority will soon heal on the Sabbath. It is important for one and all to know that he is not opposed to the Law. He is superior to it.

This zeal, this passion for the Name of God and the House of God, is characteristic of Christ. It is also characteristic of the true Christian. It is well written, “He who would save his life shall lose it; he who loses his life for my sake shall save it.” This total commitment is the mark of the true Christian.

The reaction of the Jews

Confronted with their own sins by one with moral authority, the Jews do something unusual. The normal method is to dismiss Jesus as being a lunatic, or one who is demon possessed. At the very least they can spread some nasty comments around.

But they don’t. Confronted with true authority, they try to push the question back on him. Just whose authority is this? Jesus does not give them the satisfaction of a rabbinical answer. His fingers are not in the cookie jar. So it is we see the reaction to moral authority: legal wrangling.

He knows what is in a man

The Scripture makes it plain that God can read your thoughts. He knows what you’ve been up to. It is also clear that to be a man is to be a sinner. Knowing this, Christ does not completely reveal himself to anyone at this time. He knows how fickle they can be.

We’re like that too, and perhaps we can understand this from our own point of view. With whom do you trust your inmost thoughts? Do you hand them out to casual acquaintances, or are they reserved for friends of several years standing? So it is with Christ. We have the mind of Christ as we have the Spirit, and only those who are his good friends and family can know it.

Importance to sinners today

At first we see a paradox in this passage. How is it that the gentle Jesus of Nazareth becomes this firebrand who cleanses the Temple?

·         When you come to God, do you think he will leave you in your sins? Will he not cleanse you?

·         And this process of cleansing, will it be more effective or less effective as you grow in Christ?

·         Now, if your bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and he cleanses you (the temple) would he not also cleanse the physical temple as well?

Seek and save the lost

What really bothers us about this passage is simply this: we spend much time and effort telling the world that Jesus saves; we proclaim that “softly and tenderly Jesus is calling.” So what’s with this fury?

Joni Morse, a missionary to Thailand, tells a story which might help us here. One of the things he does to win the trust of the various tribes in Thailand is to offer to put in a system of plastic pipes with which to bring in clean water. At one particular village, the elders were offered this. There was great debate. Joni was puzzled; the women of the village walked several miles each way to get dlean water; what possible objection could there be? Finally the elders announced their decision. Yes, they would accept the piping system – but only if Joni and his colleagues would first help them level and build a soccer field!

Paul told us that he became all things to all men so that by all means he might win some. Joni did the same thing here. He helped build the soccer field, then put in the plumbing. Jesus, likewise, is doing the same thing. For those who thought they had no sin, he is pointing out the hypocrisy of their ways – with a level of anger reminiscent of an Old Testament prophet.

You see the point:

·         To those who know they are sinners, Jesus offers the light yoke, repentance for sins, and “go and sin no more.”

·         To those who don’t he must first open their eyes. That’s one reason he brings catastrophe on some. We shall see how he uses paradox on one such person, Nicodemus, in the next lesson.

For those who bear his name, he cleanses us. That’s why he emphasizes repentance so much. Indeed, it is necessary. In cleansing us he is preparing a fit temple for the Holy Spirit. If you are his child, he will do this. You will bear his Name, be in his Family – and rejoice at his Return.