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John 2:13-25

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

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

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

Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

The previous section ends with Jesus going from Cana to Capernaum.  No special events are recorded in the book of John wile they are there, but notice that he goes there with his mother, brothers and disciples.  Jesus is already traveling with an entourage.  They stay there for a few days, then since it is almost time for the Passover, Jesus goes to Jerusalem.  The trip to Cana to Capernaum is about 20 miles and would have taken 1-2 days.  The trip from Capernaum to Jerusalem would be about 120 miles and would take 6 to 12 days on foot.

See the map of Israel below.

 

Now the reason that Jesus went to Jerusalem was because it was almost time for the Passover celebration.  

The Passover celebration took place on the month of Nisan and went like this:

Nisan 10:  A one-year-old unblemished male lamb is chosen for the Passover by a member of the household.

Nisan 13: The Family Father led his family through the house by candlelight, looking in nooks and crannies for any leaven in the house. No leaven was supposed to be in the home at that time.

Nisan 14: Several events as follows:
FOOT WASHING: As guests and family members entered the home to celebrate Passover, a servant or slave would often be there to wash their feet.
NON-RITUAL WINE: Before we partake of the ritual wine, we are permitted to drink wine that has no religious significance.
FIRST HAND WASHING: Once all the guests arrive, we will perform the ritual hand-washing that Jews, from antiquity, have done before every meal.
Table setting: in front of each seat—four glasses for ritual wine, properly labeled.
RECLINING AT TABLE: Sprawling out in front of a low table about 18" off the ground, usually on pillows.
SEATING IS ASSIGNED:
FIRST CUP: Four ritual cups of wine are used for the Passover. Exodus 6:6-8 is recited. "6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”
DIPPING OF THE BITTER HERBS: Bitter herbs are dipped in vinegar and passed down for all to partake.
FOOD REMOVED: All food is removed from the table.
SECOND CUP: poured, but not yet drunk.
QUESTIONS: from the youngest son/least significant person:
Why is this night different from all other nights? On all other nights we eat leavened or unleavened bread, but this night only unleavened bread.
On all other nights we eat all kinds of herbs, but this night only bitter herbs. Why do we dip the herbs twice?
On all other nights we eat meat roasted, stewed, or boiled, but on this night why only roasted meat?
ANSWER BY THE FATHER: Recites Jewish history from Abraham to Moses, such as in Acts 7:2-53. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ACTS+7%3A2-53&version=NIV
FOOD RETURNED TO THE TABLE INCLUDING THE LAMB:
FATHER EXPLAINS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE LAMB, BITTER HERBS, AND UNLEAVENED BREAD.
SINGING: of the first half of the Hallel Psalms: Psalms 113-114.
PRAYER OVER THE SECOND CUP:
SECOND HAND WASHING:
SERVING: OF The Paschal Lamb, charoseth with vegetables, and two of the unleavened bread wafers.
PRAYER OVER THE BREAD:
BREAKING OF THE BREAD: The host breaks the guest of honor’s bread and they dip it together in the charoseth and bitter herbs. The guest in turn breaks his neighbor’s bread and they dip it together, and so on down the line.
EATING THE MEAL AND DRINKING THE SECOND CUP: More wine may be drunk after the 2nd cup, non-ritually.
THIRD CUP: Prayer and consumption.
FOURTH CUP: and the final Hallel Psalms ARE SUNG Psalms 115-118.

So, Jesus was going to Jerusalem expecting a week of solemn worship, but as it says in verse 14, "In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money."

The temple courts were not meant for buying and selling.  

What were the temple courts meant for?

As you can see in the following diagram, the original tabernacle had just one courtyard.  When one first walked into it they would see the altar of sacrifice where the unblemished lamb would be sacrificed for sins.  Then they would encounter the laver where they would have to be washed before entering the tabernacle where God dwelt.  

 

An outer courtyard was added by Solomon.  As you can see in the picture below.

During the captivity, the prophet Ezekiel envisioned a larger outer court as shown below:

Then, when Herod rebuilt the temple, he expanded it over Solomon's temple as shown in the diagram below.

Now, we also have a good model of the Temple at the time of Jesus below.

The outer court was called the Court of Gentiles.  Notice the colonnades all around.  This is where the Rabbis were teaching people, and it provided a good opportunity for Rabbis to explain to Gentiles what was going on in the inner courts and proselytize them.  This is also where Jesus taught, for instance in Mark 12:35, Matthew 21:23, and in Luke 2:39-52.

So here we were during the Passover, when there would be an excellent opportunity for the Jewish leaders to further their religion by showing what was going on and teaching.  But "In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money."  Notice first that this was going on in the courts - plural!  This means that this activity was going on, not only in the court of the Gentiles, but in the inner court.  The affairs of the day were crowding out the space that was meant for God.

Do you ever get so caught up with the affairs of the day that you do not leave room for God?  I know I do.  Twitter, social media, hobbies, fishing and hunting trips, earning money.  

Now it was typical for the priests to sell animals to make them available for people who traveled there who wanted to make sacrifices to fulfill their obligations of the law.  It was also important for them to Not allow any coins with images of kings or pagan gods in the temple.  This is why they had money changers.  But now the money changers were right in the temple courts, and the images of pagan gods were right in the temple.  The typical fee for money changing was 12 percent.  It has been estimated that these changers would reap a profit of from forty to forty-five thousand dollars.  Ancient historian Josephus calls Annas the high priest “a great hoarder up of money.” The sons of Annas had bazaars set up in the Court of the Gentiles for the purpose of money changing and the purchase of sacrificial animals.  It was the combination of their greed, the fact that they brought in foreign coins, and that they carried out these activities in a sacred area that aroused the zeal of Jesus.

"So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”" This is a fulfillment of Psalm 69:9.

Some have postulated that the act of Jesus driving out the money changers and animal merchants was a sin.  First of all, it was the animal merchants and the money changers that were sinning, more so those that put them there.  As a Rabbi, Jesus had an obligation to teach about God, and to ensure that the temple space was reserved for teaching about God.  No one else was doing what they were supposed to be doing.  Jesus stepped forward to the task.  It is easy to go with the crowd.  It can be very difficult to go against the crowd and do what is right at times.  But that is what we should do.  Living for God is not about doing what is popular.  It is about doing what is right.

Some have postulated that Jesus was abusive by using a whip.  Notice that he made a whip of cords.  This means that the whip was made of some sort of fabric like rope, flax, or wool.  Without this being made with metal or bone or even leather, it is not something that could have done a lot of damage.  The first thing Jesus drives out is the sheep and the oxen, then the money changers.  Then he spills out their coins and overturned their tables.  This would be appropriate steps for evicting those that should not have been there.  Jesus was not abusive.

Then, "To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”"  This is exactly the point.  I wonder how many times people turn a church into a business.  Some people are running a Bingo business in their church.  Some churches own farms or businesses.  Some churches are making a profit selling books.  Some churches are renting their church rooms and auditorium out for profit.  Some churches are taking up donations for political causes.  Some churches are renting their steeples out for cell phone antennas.  Some churches are making money by being in the refugee resettlement business.  It is my hope that every time and space in my church should be used for Bible study, prayer, or charity.

Then "His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”" This is a fulfillment of Psalm 69:9.  Verse 8 in this Psalm says, "I am a foreigner to my own family."  Can you imagine being God and giving the Israelites the design of the temple to represent some spiritual truths, and then to show up in person only to be found it is being used for profit making instead?  So Jesus shows up to the temple and he is a foreigner to his own family.  The second part of verse 9 in Psalm 69 says, "and the insults of those who insult you fall on me."  The money changers and the animal merchants were insulting God with their presence in the temple courts.  Those same insults fell on Jesus.  Jesus bore the burden of those insults.  Let's not insult Jesus with our use of our church.  

Now notice what happens next.  

"The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

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

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

Jesus is just beginning his ministry and already he is alluding to his death and resurrection.  How many people predicted their own death and resurrection?  Just One.  Notice that the disciples didn't catch on to this at first, but remembered the significance of this after he was raised from the dead.  This caused the disciples to believe in the Scriptures and the words that Jesus spoke.  Notice that the Scriptures only make sense with Jesus.  God promised Adam that He would send a savior that would crush the head of Satan.  God gave the Israelites a temple full of symbolism, a temple that shows you must accept the sacrifice for sins and be washed before you go into the dwelling with God.  The Old Testament only makes sense with the New Testament.  The Old Testament points to the sacrifice of Jesus for sins and His baptism of the Holy Spirit.  

How did the rest of the Passover Festival go? You might think that not so well with the Jews angry at him.  Actually, he did much more.  

"Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person."

Notice that Jesus performed signs - plural.  It does not list them here, but we can assume that Jesus was healing people and such as was shown in the other gospels.  But Jesus did not entrust himself to those that were believing in him because of these signs.  Why would that be?  Isn't that what his goal is?  Perhaps they believed just because of novelty of these signs.  Perhaps they believed because for the healings they received.  There was much more to Jesus than just the signs.  Jesus gave us 7 major parts of salvation.

1) Jesus performed signs to prove he is God. This is important to know this because only a perfect, infinite being could pay for the sins of the world.  Only God could show us the way to God.
2) Jesus lived a perfect life.  This is important for 2 reasons.   First, because if Jesus sinned, he could only pay for his own sins.  Second, because his life is the perfect example of how we should live.
3) Jesus taught us new laws to write on our hearts.  Jesus said that if we love him, we will obey his commands.  Jesus taught how we should apply all of the 10 commandments to our hearts, not as civil law, but as principles to live by.
4) Jesus died on the cross for our sins.  Even one sin would cost eternal death. Jesus took the penalty for us all.
5) Jesus rose from the dead.  Jesus rose from the dead with a supernatural incorruptible body.  This gives us assurance that Jesus can and will also raise us to a new life.
6) Jesus ascended to heaven to stand at the right hand of God and intercede for us as a high priest forgiving our sins.
7) Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us and guide us in our lives.

Salvation is all of these things.  Jesus was just beginning his ministry.  Just believing in his signs was just a start.  There is much more to believe in.  

Are you ready to start believing more?  


 

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