John 2:12-25

The Temple

John tells us things the other gospel writers omit. We know that Jesus cleansed the temple after He made His entry on Passion Week. John records another time when Jesus cleansed the temple at the start of His ministry. As we mentioned before this “market” activity was really a racquet. It may have started out as an attempt to help the people who had to travel a great distance to come to the temple but by Jesus’ day it was a pure rip off. Jesus seemingly put a stop to it at the beginning of His ministry but by the end of His ministry it needed doing again.

How long do you think it took for everything to be back to normal after the second time Jesus chased the money changers? I’d say not more than a year. They refused to accept God’s correction. Since they refused to deal with God He let them deal with man. Less than 40 years later the legions of Titus took the city, destroyed the temple, and there has never been a market and money changers for the temple since. There has been no temple. At least this one has not been rebuilt.

John also is the only one to record the words of Jesus out of which the charge against Him was fabricated. “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” He was talking about His body which had multiple meanings. It of course meant His body which in fact was raised in three days. It also meant His Body, the Church, about which Peter says, (1 Peter 2:5) “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” A living temple which exists to this day and will exist forever.

One last note. Jesus is the Living Word and the Bible is the written Word. Hebrews 4:12 tells us several things about the Word of God and one is that “it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” What is true of the written Word is often also true of the Living Word. So, John tells us here, “He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.”