John 2:13-22

John 2:13–17 “13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.””

John 2:18–22 “18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then 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 about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”

Cleansing of the Temple

Introduction

I. Cleansing of the Temple:

A. 13: Expectation

B. 14:Reality

C. 15: Action

D. 16:Reason

E. 17: Motivation

II. The Deeper Layer

A. 18: Jews Respond

B. 19:Jesus points to anti-type (bigger picture)

C. 20: Jews misunderstand (disbelieve)

D. 21: John clarifies

Conclusion

A. 22: The Disciples believe

B. Do you believe?

1. Jesus is zealous for proper worship?

2. His zealousness is matched by your dullness for proper worship?

3. Therefore he has done the work to enable you to be a temple of proper worship?

4. That he is working that even now in his people?

5.. That you need Jesus now for purity?

I.A & B Expectation and Reality

John 2:13–14 “13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.”

This was the most exciting time to be a Jew at this time. The atmosphere in Jerusalem during Passover was festive and lively. In fact this is probably a major reason why the Hebrew Christians during the time that the letter to the Hebrews was written was tempted to go back, because they went from such wonderfully vibrant worship that gratified the senses, to a worship that was much more tame that was meant to gratify the spirit.

It reminds me of the atmosphere around July 4th—a time we celebrate the beginning of this great nation. Passover, was when the Jews celebrated the start of their nation, being miraculously saved out of Egypt, and miraculously brought to the promise land. Thus, unlike our time of celebrating the start of our nation, there was explicit worship to God in the temple as a lamb was sacrificed to celebrate the fact that God’s wrath passed over Israel and struck Egypt, even as God’s wrath continued to pass over them as they enjoyed life in the promise land.

And so imagine the setting, and imagine Jesus, the one who has a perfect relationship with the Father, and a perfect will to worship him and enjoy the festivities as they pointed to God and his work of redeeming Israel. He came up from Capernaum, a town in the north of Israel hundreds of feet below sea level, to Jerusalem, a place in the south of Israel thousands of feet above sea level. Jesus would have passed by the residential area of Jerusalem where the population of Jerusalem would have swelled since this was a feast that all adult males had to go to. He would hear much chatter, and children playing. He would have went by the marketplace where commerce was happening, bargaining, coins clinging together as transactions were done.

Finally, he would have approached the temple walls, where within those walls it would be expected worship to God. Within the walls would be the first and largest section called the court of the gentiles, the only place non Jews were allowed to worship God. And what Jesus witness angered him to his core. A place meant to be a house of prayer and worship for Israel, and the place where Gentiles were welcomed to be and peer into the true worship of the true God, was a spill over of the marketplace he just left behind.

Instead of prayers, he heard bargaining.

Instead of singing he heard haggling.

Instead of love and charity for neighbor, he saw robbery and extortion

Instead of seeing people use material wealth to worship God—he saw people use God to worship material wealth.

Everyone who came to the feast had to bring a lamb to be sacrifice, and they would eat of it to kick off the feast for the week. You could bring one from home, but would be sorely disappointed if the priest rejected it on the grounds of a defect they see. There are some who say Annas, the current high priest, made a habit of declining most animals while stating on the grounds of ceremonial uncleanliness, but in reality it was rather so they would have to buy a pure lamb from his supply.

Indeed, the law allowed for people to bring money with them, instead of an animal, to buy one at Jerusalem. And so it seems likely that this lawful practice was abused by the religious leaders, who loved money, to make a further profit.

Furthermore, you had the money changers nearby. These were the people that exchanged the coin of the gentile, to the Jews, since you could not use gentile money for these purchases for temple worship. And of course, fees were attached for their services of transferring currency. So between the money needed to buy the sacrifices for you and your family, and to also pay the yearly temple tax, the exchange made great money.

And so, instead of having a heart eager to worship God for the good things he has done for the people of Israel and also to anticipate a future fuller deliverance, the people used these spiritual truths to make more money.

On the way to the temple to worship God, Jesus was surrounded by people who used religion as a facade for their pursuit of their god—money.

In a way that is a taste of the fury Jesus will reveal when he returns to judge the wicked, Jesus uses his righteous anger to rectify the wickedness in the temple. I.C Action

John 2:15 “15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.”

There would be plenty of cords around since it was used to keep the animals bound up and caged. Jesus grabs some cords and makes a weapon out of them and drives out all the vendors and their animals.

He then turned his attention to the people seeking profit in exchanging money and overturns their tables.

Tables is not just a table you eat dinner at. It stands for the table at the bank where money is exchanged.

This is what it means that the apostles wanted deacons to serve tables in Acts 6; not so much serve food as serve the money that the widows needed.

What we see from Jesus here is perfect anger:

Kindled by true unrighteousness

Which leads to action that is appropriate to who he is as Son of God at the start of his ministry.

And Jesus tells those who sold the pigeons the reason for his action:

D. 16:Reason

John 2:16 “16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.””

You have two different worlds, or houses here: trade and the Father’s house.

Trade, making money and being industrious is not an ungodly thing:

It is a wise and godly thing to produce wealth:

Proverbs 10:4 “4 A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.”

Deuteronomy 8:18 “18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”

The woman who fears the Lord in proverbs 31 is industrious and trades well:

Proverbs 31:13 “13 She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.”

Proverbs 31:14 “14 She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar.”

Proverbs 31:16 “16 She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.”

Proverbs 31:18–19 “18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. 19 She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.”

Proverbs 31:24 “24 She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant.”

The problem is when the world or house of trade begins to encroach on the Father’s house.

The Father’s house was a place where explicit desire and worship to God was to take place, instead it is replaced by a desire for wealth.

This is a sure sign that there is a love for money that is the root of all sorts of evil; when it is replacing worship to God in the temple.

So the reason for Jesus’ aggression here is that a false idol has been set up right in the temple of God.

There is another angle to this problem when you look at Jesus’ words in the other gospels:

Matthew 21:13 “13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.””

Jesus is quoting Isaiah 56 which is all about how even the gentile nations will be welcome to the temple to pray or worship to God.

And instead, as Jesus walks though the court of the gentiles, an idol has been set up.

So a place where Gentiles could come and peer into the worship of the true God, is instead hindered by the god of lucre.

And notice how Jesus calls it a den of robbers...you can be sure that when God is replaced by commerce, sinful commerce is sure to follow.

And so the reason Jesus acted with such aggression is that he saw in the temple an encroachment of commerce shrouded in piety:

People need their animals to sacrifice in the temple

People need proper currency to give to the temple

And with perfect anger, Jesus expelled the house of trade, or den of robbers, from the Father’s house, or house of prayer for the nations.

What was the motivation of Jesus?

E. 17: Motivation

John 2:17 “17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.””

Putin’s motivation for kicking out Satanist

There countless times where proper action is performed, but with wayward motivation.

Here, the disciples remember a psalm of David, Psalm 69 in which David locates his hardship with his zeal for God and his worship.

David revealed in the pages of Scripture his zeal for the house of God—from his endeavor to make it, to his careful planning of it for the next generation when it was denied him to make it.

And as they see Jesus’ action of clearing the temple of this idol, they are reminded of the psalm that spoke of David’s zeal that David spoke and prophesied of.

Jesus was motivated by zeal for God’s house.

Zeal is an intense or excessive fervor to accomplish something.

What laid in Jesus’ soul was an intense desire for the glory of God revealed on earth—and when he saw that effaced with an idol, that zeal spilled into action to end the sin.

Jesus, motivated with a zeal for God’s glory revealed in his temple, ended the pollution of a false idol of commerce under the deception of aiding proper worship in God’s temple.

Now, if you remember last week, we talked about the different layers of the story of Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding. To leave it just with the first layer is to miss the point of the other layers which brings out the full meaning and is rich with meaning for us today.

The lack of wine has a deeper layer of our lack of joy and blessing in sin.

Jesus miraculously providing wine to the couple is like how he miraculously brings us salvation and blessing by his ministry.

And the pushback Jesus gets for clearing the temple and stopping the flow of wealth gets us to that deeper layer, and the deeper meaning for us here today:

II. The deeper layer

A. 18: Jews Respond

John 2:18 “18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?””

B. 19:Jesus points to anti-type (deeper layer)

John 2:19 “19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.””

C. 20: Jews misunderstand (disbelieve)

John 2:20 “20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?””

D. 21: John clarifies

John 2:21 “21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body.”

Conclusion

A. 22: The Disciples believe

John 2:22 “22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”

B. Do you believe?

1. Jesus is zealous for proper worship?

2. His zealousness is matched by your dullness for proper worship?

3. That Jesus was the true temple of God while he walked this earth?

4. And driven by zeal for God’s glory on earth he has done the work to make you the temple of God on earth?

5. And that he has the same zeal at the right hand of God the Father to work you into the temple of God in practice today?

Jesus’ work is not just to keep the marketplace out of the temple, but to bring the temple into the marketplace

John 2:14 “14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.”

The people were allowed to bring their own animals for sacrifice but Anna’s goons would hardly every allow it, determining them to be unclean. Thus to save disappointment, people would just buy the animals made available from the religious authorities.

John 2:15–16 “15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.””

Cords were not hard to come by with all the animals tied up.

John 2:18 “18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?””

This question was stupid and wicked.

Stupid because the clearing itself was a sign.

Malachi 3:1–3 “1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare 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 refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.”

Psalm 69:9 “9 For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.”

Wicked because they should have responded to the actions of Jesus with repentance.

Also, the sign is this cleansing because Jesus was able to terrify so many men holding on to money and possessions! Not an easy task!

John 2:19 “19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.””

John 2:21 “21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body.”

Jesus is essentially saying, I am the fulfillment, or the temple has always pointed to me.

The wickedness of the Jews would lead to the destroying of Jesus and is the reason for the physical destruction of the temple. They destroyed both. Jesus, by this destruction, would institute a new and fulfilled temple in himself and his people.

John 2:20 “20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?””

The Jews, with unbelief take him woodenly literal. If they would have read the scriptures with a believing heart they would have the ability to see the spiritual and the physical right

Psalm 40:6–7 “6 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. 7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me:”

Jeremiah 3:16 “16 And when you have multiplied and been fruitful in the land, in those days, declares the Lord, they shall no more say, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again.”

It had been in the process of being built by Herod the Great around 20 BC. It would be completed just a few years before 70AD.

John 2:22 “22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”

Because this saying of Jesus was in the form of a mashal (veiled saying) it banged around in their heads until Jesus rose again and they were no longer encumbered with a hard hear to the death of their master.

—————-

The setting up of the market in the temple stands in direct contrast of what it was supposed to be:

Zechariah 14:20–21 “20 And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the Lord.” And the pots in the house of the Lord shall be as the bowls before the altar. 21 And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day.”

Micah 6:6–13 “6 “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” 8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? 9 The voice of the Lord cries to the city— and it is sound wisdom to fear your name: “Hear of the rod and of him who appointed it! 10 Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed? 11 Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights? 12 Your rich men are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. 13 Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you…”

Jeremiah 7:4 “4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’”

Money exchangers exchanged the gentile money for the approved Jewish money. Especially for the yearly temple tax:

Exodus 30:13 “13 Each one who is numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the Lord.”

Also, money was needed to buy an animal when you didn’t bring one:

Deuteronomy 14:25 “25 then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the Lord your God chooses”

Jesus’ reaction to this is similar to God’s anger at Sinai

Exodus 32:10 “10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.””

Deuteronomy 9:14 “14 Let me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’”

John 2:15 “15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.”

Tables refers to the table at a bank where financial transactions happened. This is the correct understanding of Acts 6:2 with the tables being served in the financial way, not eating.