Study of John - Week 15

b. Verses 12-17
Jesus makes a whip of cords and goes through the temple clearing out all the money changers and animals, etc… Jesus shows us his anger and how it can be applied to bring about a cleansing. Sometimes we feel like anger is a bad emotion and we need to learn to suppress it. Jesus shows us how anger can be a good emotion when it is used for the Lord’s purposes.

This event is also detailed in the other three Gospels put either this same event or another clearing of the Temple toward the end of Jesus’ ministry. The explanations are: 1. He did this twice; 2. John is right and the others are wrong; 3. John died before he could get this Gospel in final form and someone misplaced this passage; 4. John placed it here and wasn’t interested about placing it in the correct place. This last possibility makes sense from one stand point. The author was careful about addressing certain issues in the beginning of his gospel. This could have been placed here immediately after Jesus’ first miracle to show how Jesus was the fulfillment of prophecy and is the Messiah and Son of God.

Why did Jesus become so angry? It was outright extortion of God’s children that drove him to do what He did. He did it out of compassion for His children. This occurred during Passover and during that time Jewish pilgrims came from all over the world to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem. It is estimated that as many as two and a half million Jews traveled to the temple to celebrate the Passover. Part of the celebration was a tax and a sacrifice. The tax was a couple of day’s wages at the time and the sacrifice had to be an animal that was without flaw. Where the extortion came in was the only currency accepted for the tax was a Jewish shekel. These pilgrims that had brought with them other currency had to change their money and get Jewish shekels and they were charged as much as another day’s wage for the exchange. Also, the inspection of the animals that were purchased outside of the temple (which were much cheaper) would almost always result in a rejection. This meant that the only animals that were accepted as flawless were those purchased inside the temple. Again, these were much more expensive than those purchased outside. Jesus was filled with anger at the thievery taking place in the temple by those in charge of doing the work of the Lord.

The Daily Study Bible – The Gospel of John by William Barclay talks about the displeasure of God with empty sacrifices and says that this was part of what drove Jesus to cleanse the Temple. He not only hated the extortion, but hated the empty sacrifices for the sake of tradition and not from the heart. He mentions several verses in the Old Testament where the prophets talk about God growing tired of empty offerings and sacrifices, but I thought about God as a Father and how that would feel. If my kids only gave me hugs and kisses out of habit or because they were supposed to before they went to bed but there was no feeling – it would be devastating. That is how God feels about empty worship. His loves His children and wants us to return that love.

Another interesting thing about this story is that in Mark, Jesus says “My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer”. This in interesting because the area where the money changers had set up shop is the Court of the Gentiles. This is the area where Gentiles were allowed to enter and pray. There was so much going on in this area that no one could get any prayer done. It is also interesting how Jesus emphasizes here that the Lord’s house is for all nations and cleanses the area specifically used by the Gentiles.

How is it that one man could single handedly clear all of this from the Temple? He must have had an awesome presence. I can’t imagine that I could go in somewhere with a whip and really clear a place out. Someone would grab me and call the cops. How is it that Jesus was able to do this and the people scattered so quickly?

The disciples immediately thought of Psalms 69:9, which referring to the Messiah says, that He will be burning with zeal for the house of the Lord. This was immediately obvious to the disciples, but it was also obvious to the Jews that wanted to know by what authority Jesus did what he did. They knew that this act was one that would be done by the Messiah.

Question: What is in our “Temple” that keeps us from being able to worship God in a way that is meaningful to us and to God? How can we “cleanse” our temple and reestablish the natural reverence that we should have in His presence?