And the Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this sanctuary, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking about the sanctuary of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.
John 2:13-22
Introduction
It is easy to conflate this incident at first glance with, say, the events of Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-18, or Luke 19:45-46. And while all those accounts also occur during the week of Passover, it is a different Passover. This occurrence in John happens immediately after Jesus’ first public miracle, placing it at the beginning of His ministry, while the other three accounts find themselves in the final week of Jesus’ life before the crucifixion.
It is meaningful that on two separate occasions Jesus visited the house of God to inspect it, and found it lacking. John tells us the disciples remembered Psalm 69:9, that “zeal for Your house has consumed me.” The people had made a mockery of the house of God, turning what was supposed to be a house of prayer into a place of commerce and profit.
Returning to inspect the house
Besides the timing, there are some other differences between John’s account of the first cleansing of the Temple and the other gospel writers’ accounts of the second cleansing. In this first instance, Jesus “made a scourge of cords.” You might be familiar with some of the famous artwork that exists of Jesus doing this. It is a very dramatic event which lends itself to recreation. But it is all for a very real purpose.
In Leviticus 14, Moses hands the people of Israel rules for dealing with leprosy. In particular, he delivers the prescription for a leprous house. Starting in verse 36, “the priest shall then command that they empty the house before the priest goes in to look at the mark.” It is important, here, to remember that when we see “Temple” in the Old Testament, most of the time the word being translated is actually the word for “house.” That is because the Temple is meant to be the house of God. And during Jesus’ day, His house had an infection.
After the priest was tasked with inspecting a leprous house, he would seal it for a week. No one was allowed to come or go. And at the end of those seven days, the priest would do a final inspection. If he detected the leprous mark had grown, he would, “command them to tear out the stones with the mark in them and throw them away at an unclean place outside the city.” In fact, if they cleanse just this portion of the house but the mark returns and continues to spread, “he shall therefore tear down the house, its stones and its timbers and al the plaster of the house, and he shall take them outside the city to an unclean place.”
The entire house was to be destroyed.
The true Temple
When a house is destroyed, it is only fitting for a new house to be made. When Jesus returned to the Temple at the end of His ministry, He told His disciples, “As for these things which you are looking at, the days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down.” (Luke 21:6)
The Temple was destroyed. And it was torn down brick by brick, as the account from Josephus tells us that the Roman soldiers who destroyed it sought the gold inlay between the bricks, ensuring not a single stone was left upon another. But God did not leave His people without a house for Him to dwell with them.
In John’s account, Jesus predicts His own death and resurrection when He declares, “Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.” He is the Temple of the living God – the place where God’s Spirit dwells among His people. And as the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27), we are also His Temple (1 Corinthians 6:19). Where before, God’s presence could only be found in the locus of the Temple mount, now He indwells every believer. His house had become leprous and infected by greed and malice, but His bride the Church is made perfect by the precious blood He spilled on Calvary.
Because you are the place where God’s Spirit dwells, be sure to honor Him in everything you say and do. Do not allow your body to be a leprous Temple filled with greed and malice, but instead renew your mind to the things of God and pray that He grant you wisdom and grace in all things.
May the Lord bless you and conform you into the image of His Son.
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