John 2:12-16 After this {Jesus} went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. 13 And the Jews’ Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.

The first two words we see in our text today is “After this”. Last week we saw Jesus turn dirty wash water into wine. The wine He made was the very best wine anyone had ever tasted. Just as Jesus can take a dirty water and make it clean wine, He can take a broken life and make it complete. Jesus loves to fix the broken. If you’re broken, you need Jesus!

The Jewish Passover Shows The Love Of God

Tonight we’re going to see one of the times in Scripture “when Jesus gets angry”. Jesus has just done His first miracle, and now He goes to Jerusalem for “the Jews’ Passover”. The “Passover” is a fantastic time in the life of the nation of Israel.

The first Passover was in Egypt in the Spring of 1446 BC.

Israel had been enslaved by Egypt for many years, and they cried out to God to be released. God raised up a man named Moses, a man from the Tribe of Levi, to stand up for Israel. Moses went to Pharaoh and said, as God told him, “Let My people go” (Exodus 5:1; 7:16; 8:1; 8:20-21; 9:1, 13; 10:3-4). Each time the evil King Pharaoh refused to let Israel go. It was then that God told Israel:

“I am coming to strike down the enemy. Take a lamb without spot or blemish, bring it in your home for 4 days, then kill that lamb. Put it’s blood on the house where you are. Where I see the blood, I will not destroy in that family, but will PASS OVER that home” (author’s summary of Exodus 12:1-14, 21-27)

The home that did not have the blood of the lamb would experience death – God would kill the first born in that family. That night, God did as He said. He passed through Egypt, and where He did not see the blood of the lamb, He took the life of the firstborn child (Exodus 12:29).

Egypt let Israel go. God told His people:

Exodus 12:24-27 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. 25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. 26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? 27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshiped.

Israel was supposed to keep the Passover every year, FOREVER. The Passover was used to teach God’s Israel to celebrate the salvation they had through Him. It was to be a time of worship. Every Jew was required to celebrate the Passover, to go to the Temple and make a sacrifice to God, to worship the Lord for His salvation.

As Jews were scattered throughout the land, many were far away from the Temple during the time of Passover. The Jews did not have cars and trucks and planes like we have. They had to walk to Jerusalem, or else ride a donkey or a mule all that way. If you’re going a long way to the Temple, that makes it hard to bring a lamb with you. So over time those who worked in the Temple, the Priests, began to open up the courtyards to people who were selling animals for sacrifice.

John 2:12 … {Jesus} went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.

Jesus lived in Nazareth, but once He started preaching those in Nazareth did not believe He was the Son of God.

Jesus moved to Capernaum (Matthew 4:13-16), a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 9:1-3.

Capernaum became His home, which is why His “his mother, and his brethren” along with those who followed Him went to the same place. Capernaum is around a four day walk from Jerusalem, moving at normal speed and taking breaks as you go. Since Jesus is a Jew, He is required to go to the Passover, so He and His family take that trip.

When Jesus gets there, we read:

John 2:14 {Jesus} found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

What has Jesus found? Since people had to sacrifice animals on the Passover, shrewd businesses sold “oxen and sheep and doves”. Rich people would sacrifice OXEN, middle class people SHEEP, and the poorest people DOVES. These merchants were not selling these sacrificial animals at cost, but were marking the prices up. On top of this there were changers of money there. The Jewish Businesses that were selling sacrifices would not accept Roman money. So the money changers would convert your money from non-Jewish to Jewish currency (of course, at a mark up).

Now some have said that God is against making money, against capitalism. I don’t think that is what made Jesus upset. What has upset Jesus is these three words:

found in the temple

In the ancient world, most businesses operated in the gates of the city. The city of Jerusalem had eight gates, and business was often conducted outside those gates. The Temple itself had twelve gates. The gates (1) controlled access and provided defense. The gates also (2) marked the boundary, from the secular to the holy. And finally, (3) the gates were economic centers. A scholarly paper written by Talitha Hart notes:

“Like the city, the temple seems to have had a market in or near its gates where those seeking to offer sacrifice to Jehovah could purchase the animals they needed to offer. (E.P.) Sanders (in his book Judaism: Practice and Belief”, page 87)finds serious problems with the idea of animals being sold actually within the temple{emphasis mine}precincts, based on the requirements of holiness described in both Leviticus and Philo’s On the Special Laws”.

The merchants could have sold their sacrifices in the gates of the Temple, but instead carried the sacrifices into the Outer Court of the Gentiles. Here they sold their goods. How did Jesus respond?

Jesus Was Angered Because God’s Love Was Hidden

John 2:15-16 And when {Jesus} had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.

As animals were sold for sacrifice, their leads or ropes used to lead them into the Temple grounds were removed. I believe Jesus went toward the altar, where He found ropes and leads that had been removed and tossed on the ground. Using these ropes as a scourge or a small whip, the Bible says that Jesus:

Matthew 21:12 (ESV) Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.

Mark 11:15 (ESV) {Jesus} … entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.

Luke 19:45-46 {Jesus} entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”

Some have said that Jesus drove out only the animals from the market, but this isn’t what the Scripture says. Jesus drove out not just the sacrifices, but “those who sold and those who bought in the temple”. “Those who bought” probably refers to the money changers, as they were purchasing money for exchange rates. “Those who sold” refers to those who were selling sacrificial animals. Why was Jesus doing this?

Because they were at the Temple for the wrong reasons. Jesus said, “make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise”. The Temple existed to draw people closer to God. It was not there to make money on. Jesus said:

Luke 19:46 It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.

Our Lord was quoting from

Isaiah 56:5-7 (ESV) … I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. 6 “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant— 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

Jesus was angry because the Israelites – and in particular the priests – had forgotten that the purpose of the Temple was to bring people into a right relationship with God. By their actions they were hiding the love of God. They were hiding the Gospel of God.

The Temple itself stood for God reaching out to the lost in love. It was in the Temple that God promised:

Isaiah 56:5 I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off…

It is within the Temple that God will first reveal His Son Jesus to those who would worship Him. It is Jesus Christ that …

Philippians 2:9-11 …. God also hath highly exalted {Jesus}, and given Him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus Christ is the “Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, 36). Jesus Christ is the “Good Shepherd Who gives His life for His sheep” (John 10:11). It is Jesus Who will “give His life for the world” (John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus chased out those who would hide the love and mercy of God.

By What Right Do You Do This, Jesus?

After Jesus chases out the buyers and the sellers, we read:

John 2:17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

The followers of Christ remembered a Messianic Psalm, a prophecy of the Coming Messiah:

Psalm 69:9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

The Messiah when He came would be zealous – almost fanatical about honoring the House of God. Jesus Christ, a lone Man, chased people away from their money! But not only would the Messiah be zealous of God’s House, but “the reproaches of those who reproached God would fall on Him”. The Messiah would take the penalty of our sin against God on Himself.

The Pharisees were upset with Jesus for breaking up their business! We read:

John 2:18-19 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

Word Study: They wanted to know what Jesus’ authority was in breaking up their little enterprise. This is not the first time the Pharisees and Priests asked for a “sign” (Greek sēmeion), meaning “a miraculous or God ordained event, something supernatural”. If Jesus were the Messiah, they expected Him to manifest some Messianic “sign” to prove Who He was. Jesus told them:

Destroy this temple, and in three
days I will raise it up

They heard this, and thought that Jesus was speaking of the Temple of Herod. Herod’s Temple took 46 years to build. The Jews said:

John 2:20-21 … Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt Thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body.

Jesus was foretelling His death and resurrection. At the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus will be betrayed in to the hands of His enemies, crucified, and will die on the Cross of Calvary. Jesus will be buried in a borrowed Tomb – but will rise again on the third day. The death and resurrection of Christ are the only proofs He would give to the Pharisees and Priests that He is the Messiah. Though they repeatedly asked Jesus:

Matthew 12:38 … Master, we would see a SIGN {sēmeion} from Thee

Yet Jesus told them:

Matthew 12:39-40 … An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Matthew 16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Luke 11:29-30 And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonah. the prophet. 30 For as Jonah. was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.

Jesus Christ proved Himself by rising from the Grave. He died for our sins, and rose again for our salvation. We read:

John 2:22-25 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.

Though Jesus did many miracles in Jerusalem at this first Passover, the miracles themselves are not mentioned. Many believed Jesus to be a Prophet because of the miracles, but did not believe on Him unto salvation. Jesus knew their hearts – “he knew what was in man”. He did not trust those who followed Him, but knowing the human heart, placed all His trust in the Father.

May God draw us all closer to Jesus every day. Amen and Amen.