WWUTT 801 Jesus's First Temple Cleansing?

Jesus Cleanses the Temple in John’s Gospel

Matthew, Mark, and Luke record Jesus cleansing the temple just a few days before He was arrested and crucified, but John records a completely different temple cleansing when we understand the text.

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Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.

John’s Account of the First Temple Cleansing

Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of the Gospel of John, Chapter 2, and today's reading will be verses 13 through 22, where Jesus cleanses the temple. Starting in verse 13, the Passover of the Jews was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

In the temple, He found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons and the money changers sitting there 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.

And He told those who sold the pigeons, Take these things away. Do not make My Father's house a house of trade. His disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for your house will consume Me. So the Jews said to Him, What sign do You show us for doing these things?

Jesus answered them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said, It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days? But He was speaking about the temple of His body.

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. So we're reading here, of course, about Jesus cleansing the temple.

And John's account of this is much different than what we read in Matthew, Mark and Luke concerning Jesus' cleansing of the temple. For one, John puts this at the very start of Jesus' earthly ministry.

This is right after He had performed His first miracle, turning the water into wine at Cana, which we had read in chapter 2, verses 1 through 12, whereas Jesus cleansing the temple in Matthew, Mark and Luke happened right after the triumphal entry.

This is during what we commonly call Holy Week or Passion Week. It was that week leading up to Jesus being crucified and then His resurrection from the grave on Sunday. It begins with the triumphal entry or what we call Palm Sunday.

And that's, of course, happened on Sunday, the very next day Jesus cleanses the temple. So this is right at the end of His earthly ministry that we read about in the synoptic gospels here in John. It's right at the beginning.

This is two different temple cleansings. Jesus' earthly ministry was kind of marked by a cleansing of the temple. There was an occasion where He did this at the start, about three years before He was to be crucified, and then He does it again at the end of that ministry, right before He is about to be crucified.

And there are certain clues and things that we find here that seem to indicate that there is two different temple cleansings. I won't say that it seems to indicate. I think it does. This is what the scripture is showing us.

John is showing of a different occasion when Jesus had cleansed the temple. That is not like what we see in the other three gospels. As I said last week, when we went through the miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding feast, John is giving us something that the other three gospels don't mention.

Because some of John's miracles here or the miracles of Jesus that he mentions are not as public as the signs that we read about in the other three gospels. And so even here we have an account that isn't shared in Matthew, Mark, and Luke concerning Jesus cleansing the temple the first time.

We also have kind of a time marker that is given to us here in this account because John mentions that this happened at Passover. John 2 .13, the Passover of the Jews was at hand. Now John mentions three Passovers total in his gospel.

This is the first one. The next one comes up in John 6 with Jesus in Galilee. And then the last Passover is mentioned in chapters 11 and 12. And of course, this is where Jesus goes into the upper room with his disciples.

And we have the longest or the most detailed account of the conversation that Jesus had with his disciples in the upper room. We find it in the gospel of John. So because John mentions three Passovers, this is where we get the idea that Jesus earthly ministry lasted about three years.

And it's in the gospel of Luke where it is said that Jesus began this ministry at about the age of 30. Therefore, he was crucified at approximately the age of 33. This is where we come to that understanding.

So John 2 .13, once again, the Passover of the Jews was at hand. And this is the first distinction that makes John's account of the temple cleansing different than the other three gospels because the other three gospels don't mention that this cleansing happened at Passover.

And you think to yourself, well, wait a minute, it happened at the start of that week when Passover came later on in the week and Jesus had Passover with his disciples. That's correct. But but that began on a Thursday night with Jesus gathering with his disciples in the upper room for that Passover meal on a Thursday evening.

The temple cleansing itself was not on Passover. It was on Monday. Here Jesus is cleansing the temple on Passover. The Passover of the Jews was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem in the temple. He found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons and the money changers sitting there and making a whip of cords.

That's another way that this account of the temple cleansing is different than the other three because, well, the other one, the other one cleansing that is mentioned in Matthew, Mark and Luke, we'll put it that way, because John is mentioning here that he makes a whip of cords.

Now, this is the most popular depicted temple cleansing, because most of the time when you see a picture or a painting of Jesus cleansing the temple, what you see is what John depicted, because he's got Jesus with a whip of cords.

Matthew, Mark and Luke don't mention a whip of cords. It just mentions that he turned over the tables and he drove everyone out and he wouldn't allow anyone to carry anything into the temple. But here he's actually made a whip and drove them out with the sheep and the oxen using a whip and says that he made a whip of cords.

So he didn't just go over to one of the booths and grab somebody's whip and start swinging it around. Jesus sat down and he braided an actual whip of his own, which he would use to drive the animals and all of the merchants out of the temple.

So this was very meditated and thought out. It's not Jesus acting on a whim. It's not him becoming instantly furious and not being able to control his anger. And so he just lashes out quite literally at everybody by grabbing a whip and starting to swing it around at people.

Here he is. He is thinking about what it is that he is doing, and he knows precisely what it is that's going on. And he is attempting to contest here by making this whip. He sits down and he makes a whip, an instrument used to give a beating, which Jesus doesn't do.

But it's with this instrument that he cleanses the temple. It was an unholy practice that was going on there with the merchants and the and the exchange of money. And they would they would change one currency into another currency and there would be a fee that you would have to pay.

And there are animals that you would have to buy and you're paying the temple tax to purchase those animals. And people who come great distances to Jerusalem didn't want to have to travel with their animals.

So instead, you've got the priests there who are selling animals to make a buck and people are having to buy them to go with their sacrifices and to go with the the the practice and the exercise of Passover.

And all of this is being done for a profit. It's being done out of greed. It's not being done in worship to God and in reverence of his holiness. As a matter of fact, it's vanity and it's blasphemy what it is they're doing there.

And so Jesus cleanses the place because he's holy. He is sinless. And the priests understand that if Jesus is going to be there cleansing the temple, they ask him, and this is what we see in verse 18.

What sign do you show us for doing these things? What makes you so holy that you can be one who would cleanse the temple of that which you proclaim to be evil? Who gave you that authority? And we'll come back to that here in just a moment.

But once again, building the scene of Jesus braiding this whip and and he is in his mind, he's furious, but he has control over his anger. His anger doesn't control him. He is indeed angry at what is going on because God is not being revered here.

The people are trying to get a profit for themselves. And so we see being demonstrated here in Jesus braiding this whip that he is slow to anger, just as God describes himself described to Moses, to the Israelites.

He is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. So even this act that Jesus does here in the temple to cleanse it is done out of love. It is done out of love, first and foremost, for his father in heaven.

But then it is also out of love for the people, for where this is being done is is hindering and preventing the Gentiles from being able to enter into the temple and be a part of the sacrifices. We see this come out more so in the next temple cleansing, because it is there that Jesus says, is it not written, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations.

But you have made it a den of robbers. What is it that Jesus says here in John to 16? He told those who sold the pigeons, take these things away. Do not make my father's house a house of trade. So he mentions this is his father's house.

And then in the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, he says that it's my house. There's something different that's happened here. There's a transition that has taken place because, again, in the Synoptic Gospels, it's right after the triumphal entry, right after Jesus has proclaimed himself as king, the promised Messiah who was to come.

So that when he goes into the temple, it is as a king who has come into the city and he goes to his house and the temple is his house because he is God. And so he walks into that place and he says, my house shall be called a house of prayer because this is the time leading up to his crucifixion that he has announced his divinity, that he is the Messiah and he is the son of God.

Jesus announces that with the triumphal entry and all of those things that happened during that particular week. But here at the start of John's gospel, as those things are not yet ready to be revealed, he says that my father's house is what you are abusing here.

My father's house will not be a house of trade. And his disciples remembered that it had been written, zeal for your house will consume me. That's taken from Psalm 69. So it's like the disciples are putting this together.

That statement there in Psalm 69, 9 was prophetic, pointing toward Jesus Christ. Here's what we read in that particular psalm. Starting in verse 1, David sings unto God, save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.

And what he's asking God to save him from are his enemies who have come against him. Verse four, more in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause. And indeed, Jesus' enemies hated him without a reason to hate him.

Jesus cleansed the temple. He tossed over their tables. He scattered all of the money and drove out all of the animals. So wouldn't you think that's a pretty good reason for the people to be mad at him?

No, that's a good reason for Jesus to be mad at them, because Jesus is the holy one. He is the one who is righteous. He has done nothing wrong. They have no reason to hate him, but they indeed have sinned against God in what they have done here in the temple.

And so Jesus drives them out. It goes on to say in in verse seven, Psalm 69, verse seven, for it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that dishonor has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's sons, for zeal for your house has consumed me and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

What David is saying here is the reason why people hate me is because I desire God and your holiness. I want to to give praise and honor and glory to you. And that's the same thing Jesus wants. He wants to proclaim the honor and the glory of his father and in obedience to his father's will.

The people hate him, but they hate him without cause. They hate him because he has exposed the sinfulness of their ways. And that's what they're mad at him for, because they want they want their sin. They don't care about the holiness of God.

They're not even concerned with that. And so just as Cain was angry at his brother Abel, because Abel sacrificed with faith, he gave he gave his best unto God. And Cain hated him for it because of the righteousness of Abel.

So we see the people respond to Jesus the same way. They hate him because of his righteousness, but he has no reason that he has given to them for them to hate him. They hate him because he loves God.

Same way that David was hated. And again, the the disciples are kind of putting all of this together, that even these things that were spoken about in the songs were prophetic and pointing to Jesus Christ and who he is and how the the zealousness by which he went about obeying the father's will led ultimately to his death.

The people hated him for wanting to do the will of his father. And so Jesus told his disciples that people will hate you because of me. But remember, when they hate you, they hated me first. When they hate when people hate us for what it is that we do, the beliefs that we have, the things that we say, the the very fact that we're Christians, the Christ that we follow, they hate us not because of us.

They hate Jesus. And that is why we are hated. And so we should rejoice in that, for we are counted worthy to suffer for his name. So then we go on here in this story in John two with the Jews saying to Jesus, what sign do you show us for doing these things?

Who made you the authority here? Who gave you this position to be able to tell us what we're doing is wrong and that you have such a righteousness about you that you can cleanse this place? Because they understand if somebody is going to cleanse this place, well, they have to be cleansed themselves.

So who gave you this authority to do this? And Jesus answered to them, destroy this temple. And in three days, I will raise it up. Now, of course, as it goes on to explain, the disciples understood that what he was talking about was his own body, that Jesus would lay his own life down.

And three days later, three days after being in the tomb, he would take his life back up again. And this would be the sign that he would show to them the authority that he had, because he has authority over death itself.

He has authority over everyone and everything. The apostle Paul, when he was speaking at the Areopagus in Acts chapter 17, he said to the pagans there at Mars Hill, he said the times of ignorance God overlooked.

This is Acts 1730, the times of ignorance God overlooked. But now he commands all people everywhere to repent because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed.

And of this, he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. God will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. And he has shown who that man is by raising him from the dead.

So here Jesus has said basically that same thing. How will you know that I have authority to do this? Because I will lay my own life down and I will take it back up again, rising from the dead. That's how you know that I have this authority.

Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. And the Jews said, it has taken 46 years to build this temple and will you raise it up in three days? But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

When therefore he was raised from the dead. And John is presupposing the ending here. Again, he's written this possibly decades after Matthew, Mark and Luke. So John is assuming that the readers of this gospel already know this story.

They know that Jesus died on the cross, rose again from the grave. They know that that's what's been spoken about concerning Christ. So John is saying that when he was raised from the dead, when that comes about in the story, his disciples remembered that he had said this and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken, which was the very same as scripture itself, because Jesus fulfilled what the scripture said about him, that he would die and he would rise again from the grave.

And so Jesus fulfilled all that had been spoken about him and they knew he was the authority. He is the one to whom all authority in heaven and on earth had been given. And Jesus said that very thing in Matthew 28, 19, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

And then the great commission now therefore go and into all nations baptizing in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.

No one could commission that and have it be so successful as it has been over 2000 years now and be able to be with his disciples always to the very end of the age, unless he was God himself, Jesus, to whom all authority had been given to those who do not know Jesus, understanding that all authority has been given to him as the judge over every person should be a very frightening thing to the unbeliever.

But to those who do know Jesus, we have nothing to fear for. He is our advocate before the father who speaks favorably of us. And by his blood, we have been pardoned and have gained access before God and adoption into his family.

We will not suffer judgment on that day, but we'll enter into eternal life in his imperishable kingdom. Let us pray. Our great God, I pray that we would have a zeal for you as Christ had a zeal for his father, as we desire to be imitators of our savior.

Let us be zealous for your will and your work. Give us today a feeding in our spirits of this word that we have read. Forgive us our debts and help us to forgive those who have sinned against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Instead, lead us in paths of righteousness for your name's sake, that we may do your will and that we may be pleasing unto the Lord, a living sacrifice unto our God, that we would have a zealousness for the good works that Christ has commissioned us to do until the day of his coming.

Help us to rejoice in you all day today and everything that we put our hands to. Give us opportunity to obey you and even share your gospel with others. We pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen.