“12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they remained there a few days. 13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace” John 2:12-16!
John has a different chronology of Jesus’ life than do Matthew, Mark, and Luke, who have Jesus going into Jerusalem only once, at the very end of His life. In John’s Gospel Jesus makes frequent visits into Jerusalem, as many as 9 times. This is really not a contradiction but a reflection of different points of view. Matthew, Mark, and Luke concentrate of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee while John focuses on Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem. What is noticeable is that John puts the cleansing of the temple at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, not at the end, like the other three evangelists, just before Jesus dies on the cross. It is quite likely that John does this because he remembers the incredible prophesy of the promised Messiah of God who would come to cleanse the worship of all people and to open the door to God. Such a prophesy comes from Malachi 3:1-4.
“1 See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, 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 descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years” Malachi 3:1-4.
John wants to put this story at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry to tell us all that Jesus is indeed the long-awaited Messiah of God who would come to cleanse the worship of all people and to open the door to God.
The date is not the issue for John; no, instead John wants to show that Jesus’ actions from the very beginning prove that He is the promised one of God. John wants to say that Jesus the Messiah was acting from the very beginning of His ministry.
The other challenging aspect of this story is the display of Jesus’ anger, the wrath of God. At Passover it was required that every Jew older than 19 years of age pay a temple tax equivalent to nearly two day’s wages. This temple tax accounted for great wealth in the temple in Jerusalem. The money changers at the temple were a problem for Jesus, money changers who changed larger coins into smaller coins, so that the pilgrims could pay the temple tax. Jesus became very angry because the money changers fleeced the pilgrims, especially Gentile pilgrims, by charging them huge rates of exchange — all in the name of religion. It was nothing short of extortion at the expense of the poor pilgrims, a social injustice in the name of religion. It was impossible for Jesus to stand by while poor people were being taken advantage of — and all in the name of religion. Jesus knew that God’s house was being desecrated, and Jesus also was objecting to the continuance of animal sacrifice, a practice that should end with His very own sacrifice on the cross. The money exchanged by money changers enabled pilgrims to purchase animals in the temple for sacrifice. In Mark’s Gospel Jesus said: “My house shall be called a house of Prayer for all the nations” Mark 11:17. Jesus was angered because the huge temple tax made it quite difficult — even impossible — for Gentiles to afford to come and offer worship because of the money changers who were exploiting the poor, especially the poor Gentiles. Jesus came to welcome all to worship Him, not to exclude outsiders from entering the temple because they were poor.
Dear friends this story challenges us in at least two areas of our life.
The first is our more than casual realization that Jesus is indeed the long-awaited Messiah. We often don’t pray or read and think deeply on the Scriptures thinking that Jesus really is who He says He is. Sometimes our choices and behavior reflect a casualness that suggests, when we think about it, that we treat God like a Divine Vending Machine — we throw a little in His direction and expect a lot in return. So I invite you to stop today and consider just who Jesus is — and then spend time in His Word and in prayer. Pray that ALL change.
We also need to consider the issue of organized religion, our denominational church we attend. We often create in it a culture that is next to impossible for the outsider to feel welcomed. Sometimes we are so in deep with our traditions that we push people away and we give God less time than we give to the maintenance of our blessed traditions.
We become Christians who create denominational, religious cultures that sometimes muddy up the waters.
So please bring this to your prayerful reflections today and ask God to open your heart to Him — not to anything else.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
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