Jesus Cleanses the Temple John 2:12-25

John 2:12-25

After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, and His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.

After the wedding at Cana, Jesus and his family and disciples decided to travel to Capernaum, and it is not really mentioned why. Along the way it is likely that Jesus did some teaching and some training of these disciples. We do not really have insight into what Jesus and his disciples did between towns, but we can speculate that Jesus spent quite a bit of time training his disciples because they were going to be the ones spreading the Gospel after He was gone. It is an interesting topographical feature of Israel that it is a very hilly and rocky country. When the scripture says that they go up and go down, it is literally going up and down.

13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

You always go up to Jerusalem, and always go down out of Jerusalem, and Jesus and His followers headed up to Jerusalem from Capernaum in order to attend the Passover festival. Now the Passover was the most important holiday for the Jewish people, commemorating God’s saving work in releasing the Jews from the slavery to the Egyptians. Specifically, the Passover points to the saving work of God in passing over the firstborn of Israel for death by the sign of spreading the blood of a lamb on their doorposts. This is significant because it is a foreshadowing of the work of Jesus Christ, by His blood covering us, we are passed over for judgment and we are spared the second death.

14 And He found in the Temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers doing business.

Apparently, the celebration of Passover in Jerusalem at the Temple had become quite commercialized. This can be compared to the commercialization of Christmas and Easter today, even in much of the modern church culture/buildings. What was really bad about this situation is that on one of the highest festivals and feasts of the Jewish calendar, people were looking to make a buck by commercializing it, and they brought it into the temple. The animals were being sold at higher prices because it was a time of sacrifice, and, like Christmas, the cost goes up significantly the closer to the date and according to the need for the items. This is in direct contradiction to the spirit of the law, taking advantage of those who failed to plan by not bringing their sacrifices. Also, there was something to be supposedly said by purchasing the sacrifice in the Temple. The other way that the pilgrims were ripped off was by these moneychangers, who sold special temple money at high rates so as to make a profit. Only temple money could be used in the temple for tithes, and these moneychangers would tax the money given them by the people, thus less was actually given for God. The difference between the temple then and the church building now is that God actually dwelt in the Temple at that time. This was the place where people made the sacrifices for their individual sins and the priests made the sacrifices for the sins of the nation. God presence was there, so it was a place where people could come in contact with God. Therefore, It was very inappropriate to make this a place of profit.

The temple today is each and every human being that has been converted; that is born again. The Spirit of God dwells in each one of us. Therefore, the same principles that governed the Temple in Jerusalem should carry over in that we should, for example, not allow the things of the world to pollute us and cut us off from a relationship with God. Our temple should be kept clean and holy and set apart because God dwells there. Also, people should recognize that God dwells in us; it is our way of being salt and light in the world. The church building of today is not the dwelling place of God unless Christians are gathered there. In my opinion, the sanctuary of the church building should be a set apart place for worship. It is not holy in and of itself, but when Christians gather there for the purpose of worshipping God, we sanctify it by our presence and our activity there. It should not be a place of entertainment or shenanigans, but a set apart place for worshipping God. That being said, Jesus taught in John 4 that we can worship anywhere, because it is not a matter of location as much as it is a matter of the heart.

15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the Temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. 16 and He said to those who sold doves “Take these things away! Do not make my Father’s house a house of merchandise!”

The presence of all this trade going on in the temple moved Jesus to righteous anger, which motivated Him to make a whip of cords and drive all the merchandise and the moneychangers out of the temple. You see, Jesus, as God, had a passion for the place where His presence had dwelt, and was there in human form communicating with men directly from God about his passion for His presence with men. Temple worship was a privilege to the chosen people, and it was place that was sanctified and set apart for the worship of God. Jesus was consumed with passion, not so much for the building, but the presence of God and the way that His presence made the building sacred and all of the activities that went on there were to be sacred as well. By bringing this merchandise into the temple, the people had developed a low view of God and His presence to the point where they had no problem profiting from it. This was but a small example of how far the Jewish leadership had fallen; temple worship for their personal profit.

Why did Jesus speak specifically to those selling doves? Historians tell us that the dove was the sacrifice of a poor person, one who could not afford a sheep for sacrifice. This idea, I believe, particularly disgusted Jesus. It was one thing to, certainly, to sell to those who could afford to pay higher prices for the perceived privilege of buying a temple sacrifice, but to go after the poor in a form of spiritual abuse like this was reprehensible. Everybody in the nation Israel should be able to celebrate in worship of Passover, they should not be made to think that they must bring a sacrifice so that those sellers of goods in the temple could profit. This is not what my Fathers house was built for, Jesus is saying- this is a place where all children of Israel should be able to worship- not a house of merchandise!

I fear that this attitude has come into many church services today. Why do we have church service? It is a set apart time during the week where we lift up and honor the name of God. This worship of God can be done anywhere, but the nature of the service of worship is to facilitate a corporate aspect, that is, where we do these things together. When did church become a place for you or me to be entertained? In the last fifty or so years, (it has accelerated over the last 20) church has become more people centered and less centered on the worship of God. Leaders take surveys finding out what people want in a church. People go to a service of worship for what they can get out of it, and judge the service of worship on whether or not they were blessed by it. The service of worship is for God, and the question that I pose at the close of each Sunday service was whether or not God was pleased with it. Is God pleased with your heart? Did you focus on Him and magnify Him today? Or is church just another exercise in self, and do you come so you can feel better about you? I fear that part of the reason that there is a coming apostasy where even the elect will be deceived is that Church has become so man-centered that we have neglected the worship of God and have marginalized His Word so that we can be easily deceived.


17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house has eaten me up.”
Jesus was consumed by passion for the Temple, because it was the representation of God on earth. He has that same passion for us today. We should have a passion for protecting our personal holiness and walking in a way that honors the Lord. We should be consumed also for the idea that we represent God on this earth, and the way that we do church is another testimony of the character and the nature of God, at least how we view God. Also, his disciples remembered scripture describing the Messiah, and used this memory for another confirmation in their mind to believe that Jesus was who He said He was. The prophesy was further fulfilled when Jesus was crucified, for this was one of many words that Jesus spoke that the Pharisees used to accuse him at trial, and mock Him on the cross, ~indeed the temple cleansing was an act that offended them to the point that they wanted Jesus killed. Literally, this zeal for God’s house did eat Jesus up!

18So the Jews answered and said to Him “What sign do you show to us, since you do these things?” 19 Jesus answered, and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 Then the Jews said “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days?” 21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that he had said this to them; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

As usual, there were a group of Jewish leaders standing around and protesting what Jesus was saying and doing. They were demanding in so many words “What gives you the authority to do these things?” “What give you the right?” “Show a sign that proves your authority” He, referring to Himself, said that when they took part in his chastisement, his crucifixion, his very death, destroying the temple of His body, that He would raise it up in three days. He was foretelling His own death and resurrection. Note the two different responses. The Pharisees, blinded by their own pride and ambition reflected by the way that they allowed this commercialization of the Passover, responded in the natural realm. They went right into the building and how long it took to build, and how it would be impossible to raze it and raise it back again in three days.

John, writing this Gospel again to assist in producing saving faith in those who would read it tells a different story. The disciples may not have understood totally what Jesus meant, but received at that time with the faith that they had. When Jesus was crucified and three days later rose from the dead, the seed of faith that was planted those years before sprang up and it produced another confirmation that Jesus was who He said He was, and that produced in them saving faith. They believed the scripture, which foretold the suffering servant and how He would reign forever and ever, and they remembered the words that Jesus spoke, and these together produced belief.

23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs which He did. 24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because HE knew all men. 25And He had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

John uses in these verses the same word for belief in these phrases, but uses it to illustrate belief vs. saving faith. Many people like a Jesus of their own understanding. These folks saw what Jesus did at the Passover, the signs that He did, and the believed in His name. When many people look at Jesus, and the stories about him, how He is so loving and forgiving and kind, and that he heals and provides…wow, that is so great! But when life gets hard, they abandon Him. Why? They believe in a false or incomplete Jesus. Jesus promised his followers trials that would come, that they would be persecuted for His name. Jesus looked into their hearts, and did not entrust or commit to them himself. Why? Because He knew their hearts. They had a mental ascent that they liked what they saw of Jesus. Jesus looks for a genuine conversion rather than just a belief in the spectacular. We have covered it before, but saving faith has three aspects that are so important as we consider the Gospel of John, and examine our own personal faith. There is the mental aspect; knowing the historical Jesus, who the Word of God says He is and trusting in that portrait. Then there is the emotional; knowing God and Jesus in truth allows us to see our sin as horrible, placing Jesus on the cross, and we sorrow over that sin and that sorrow leads to repentance. Finally, saving faith is volitional, we submit our wills to Jesus, and we do what He tells us to do.

As we enter the Third chapter of John, I want to challenge you to consider: have you been born again? This last passage is all telling. Many people say they have accepted Christ; indeed, these people here had accepted Christ at a level of they like what He did. But the Bible clearly states here that He did not accept them. He did not entrust Himself to them because HE knew what was in their hearts! He knows what is in my heart, and He knows what is in your heart. As we will learn next week, being born again is something that is accomplished from above, so I challenge you to examine yourself and see if Jesus Christ has accepted you. Here is the key: A broken and contrite heart God will not despise.