Two Temples

The youth ministry at my church recently held a spaghetti dinner fundraiser. It was good to see this tradition return after a few years of COVID restrictions. For many years, I led a team of parents and teens in this type of fundraiser that helped pay for students to go to our youth conference. One time, a girl was about to serve a plate to a gentleman, but the spaghetti and meatballs slid right off the paper plate onto a customer. He handled it graciously, but I do not think there was much of a tip given. I remember that my mom did not like seeing things sold in the church as fundraisers. She pointed to Jesus’ reaction to the money changers in the temple. That story is mentioned in all four of the gospels. In her later years I think she softened her stance as she realized that there no connection between this angry event early in Jesus’ ministry and selling peanut butter eggs or beef sticks in the church lobby for a good cause.

Let us take a look at this interesting story found in John 2:12-24 and elsewhere. The other gospels place the cleansing of the temple near the end of Christ’s life. He probably did it twice. This event is kind of the “go to” story in the life of Jesus when people want to make clear that anger is not a sin in and of itself. Jesus was clearly a man of action who reacted strongly to what was taking place.

I recently heard a pastor state that Jesus was a tough guy. That may seem sacrilegious and conjure images of a leather jacket and motorcycle. The preacher was pointing out that for Jesus to be beaten, whipped and forced to carry a cross he had to be physically and emotionally strong. He was tough. Sometimes paintings show Jesus (the good shepherd) holding a lamb. He can sometimes be portrayed as mild and gentle. His interaction with moneychangers probably had them wish he actually was a milquetoast.

After Jesus turned water to wine, his brothers, mother and disciples then went with him to Capernaum. It would be the last mention of his family traveling with him. After a few days there, it was on to Jerusalem because it was Passover time. The Passover reminded Jewish people of God’s grace in delivering them from bondage. There, our Lord found men doing the wrong thing in the wrong place. What we do not know is whether or not Jesus had seen this happening in the temple courts in his younger days. In all likelihood it was nothing new. But now he no doubt had a heightened awareness of the sacred place that it was and that he would soon be the lamb who was slain. Maybe he was also realizing in new ways how “lost” and deceptive people were. They were the kind of people who needed delivery from the bondage of their slavery to sin.

The Quest Study Bible explains the context well: Everyone who worshipped in the temple at Jerusalem was required to present an unblemished sacrifice and to pay the annual head tax using temple currency. The priests refused to accept foreign currency so that they could exchange traveler’s money at exorbitant rates. They also regularly rejected any animal that wasn’t purchased at the temple (at inflated prices). Such exploitation under the guise of proper worship of God rightly made Jesus angry.

When angry, it is always good to not react quickly and without thought. Jesus made a whip out of cords. It must have taken at least a few minutes to do so. Maybe Jesus was talking to the Father as he fashioned the whip. Perhaps he was looking over the sellers as well. He set the animals free and the coins flying. The tables that held the wares and profits were turned over. The doves were to be set free as well. He said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” (John 2:16)

Men do not like to be told what to do. Corrupt men tend to like it even less. Jesus was displaying authority even as he was physically taking action that cut into their proceeds for the day. God is holy and Jesus wanted to preserve the holiness of the temple grounds and protect those who were coming to worship him with reverence. There is enough distraction as it is in life when we want to worship God. To add corruption to the act was appalling. Jesus was zealous for his Father’s house (2:17; Psalm 69:9). Oh, and Jesus referred to the temple as his Father’s house. It would be blasphemy if he had not been God himself.

Jesus was stern and forceful, but not cruel or antagonistic. Between those shysters and the Roman soldiers who would have been lurking, Jesus and his disciples would have been greatly outnumbered. That is assuming you do not factor in an angel army. They way that the people responded showed that they were not looking for a fight. However, they did want an answer to an important question. They “demanded” to know what miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this? (18)

Had word of the water being turned to wine spread that far so quickly? While it is possible, the more likely basis of the demand for a sign was that Old Testament prophets would sometimes perform a miracle to prove their authenticity. They figured if Jesus was some sort of a modern-day prophet, he could back up his actions and words with a display of power. Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days.” (19) Jesus may have been angry, but his response was brilliant. The temple building was a stone’s throw away. It was an enormous structure and quite the building project. Three days?! But the body is a temple too. And the strong body before them would hang on a cross. Death would not last long. In three days, Jesus would raise! 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 (22).