Have you ever seen somebody get really angry who normally doesn’t get angry? It’s a little like, “Oh! Never seen that side of you.” You realize it must be really bad if that person is upset. This is how we react to Unikitty from Cloud Cuckoo Land in the first Lego Movie. Unikitty is always talking about butterflies, bubblegums, cotton candy. But at the end of the movie, this white and purple unicorn-kitty gets really angry and turns into kind of a red, demon-possessed cat attacking everybody. And we’re like, “Oh!”
The Jesus of John 2 makes us say, “Oh!” He’s pretty intimidating. Because in John 2, gentle Jesus who welcomes the little children, feeds the hungry, heals the sick, and teaches parables is now swinging a whip, driving animals and people out of the temple. He’s dumping over tables and scattering coins all over the temple floor. “Oh!”
“When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, ‘Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!’” (John 2:13-16, NIV)
Jesus here is surprising because his reaction to the temple is so harsh and because it likely would have contradicted own reaction. If we could have visited the temple back then, our reaction would likely have been more “Wow!” than “Woe!”
“Jesus here is surprising because his reaction to the temple is so harsh and because it likely would have contradicted own reaction.”
Herod the Great may not have been a great person (see Matthew 1), but he was a great builder. The temple which Solomon had built a thousand or so years earlier had been torn down by the Babylonians. It was rebuilt during the Persian era, but it wasn’t until Herod expanded it that it became a breathtaking structure. Herod doubled it from the size of Solomon’s original temple.
doubled it from the size that the temple was under Solomon. Now, it could hold some 35 football fields. The walls were gold up to a certain point and then marble the rest of the way, with gold spikes on top of the roof.
We would have seen the temple and said, “Wow! This is amazing!” This was Jesus’ disciples’ natural reaction too (see Luke 21:5). But this wasn’t Jesus’ reaction. Why not?
What exactly was the problem Jesus had with the temple?
Clarifying the Problem
Oxen, sheep, and doves are all used for sacrifices. Sacrifices were commanded by God. Those tables with the coins were where the money changers set up a service for currency exchange. Basically every Jewish man was supposed to pay a temple tax, and the temple tax kept the temple going, which is a good thing. So, people would come with their currency they normally used, they’d exchange it for the right currency, and then they’d be able to pay the temple tax.
Taxes aren’t nice, but they’re sometimes necessary.
So, really, all these temple personnel were doing was providing a service and a convenience. You didn’t have to bring an animal from home—you could buy one here. And you could pay your temple tax here—we’ll just exchange the currency, and you’ll be in business.
Now, it’s true that there would have been an exchange rate for coinage. And it’s true that they might have overcharged for the animals for sacrifice. There may have been some shady deals going on. After all, on what was likely a later cleansing of the temple (shortly before His crucifixion), Jesus called what He saw in the temple a “den of robbers” (Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46). But was it the apparent shadiness of the business dealings that made Jesus so angry?
“So, really, all these temple personnel were doing was providing a service and a convenience.”
Here’s a question: Would Jesus be happy if the exchange rate was 5% instead of 12%? Or even 0%—would Jesus have been happy then? Would Jesus have been happy if they sold the animals for sacrifice at cost and made no profit on the animals?
I don’t think so. I may be wrong, but it seems from the text that Jesus is not angry so much at how they’re doing business but that they’re doing business. Again, verse 16:
“To those who sold doves he said, ‘Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!’” (John 2:16, NIV)
But . . . the temple services? The coin exchange? These are helpful, right?
The everyday priests, chief priests, and pious Jews walked in and out of the temple each day apparently without having a problem. What gave Jesus the right to say what’s supposed to go on in the temple and what’s not? What makes Jesus think He can just walk into the temple and start overturning everything?
What Jesus Knows About the Temple
What gave Jesus the right? It’s because, better than anybody else, Jesus knew the temple’s purpose. And so, anything that didn’t fuel the temple’s purpose needed to be overturned and thrown out.
How is it that Jesus knew the temple’s purpose? Again, we see the answer in verse 16:
“To those who sold doves he said, ‘Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!’” (John 2:16, NIV)
Jesus knew the temple’s purpose because it was His Father’s house.
So, what was the purpose of the temple? Why did God have Solomon construct a temple? We get some major clues as to the temple’s purpose when we read King Solomon’s prayer of dedication when the ark of the covenant was brought into the newly constructed temple. In the prayer, Solomon mentions that it was to be a place of
- Prayer – “Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place.” (1 Kings 8:30a, NIV)
- Judgment – “When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, then hear from heaven and act.” (1 Kings 8:31-32a, NIV)
- National Tragedy – “When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you . . . there is no rain . . . famine or plague . . . then hear from heaven, your dwelling place.” (1 Kings 8:33, 35, 37, 39, NIV)
Jesus clears the temple: “Better than anybody else, Jesus knew the temple’s purpose.”
What’s the purpose of the temple according to these verses? The temple is clearly a place for the Jewish people to meet with God. But it’s more than that. It’s wider than that. Again, from Solomon’s prayer of temple dedication:
“As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name—for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.” (1 Kings 8:41-43, NIV)
Why the temple? The biggest “so that” of all is “so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you.” It’s no exaggeration that the purpose of the temple was no less than worldwide evangelization. It was meant to be a place for people—all people—to meet with God.
Those for Whom the Temple Is Not Business as Usual
Again, why the temple? The temple was the place to connect with God—the living God. Now, to some people, it wouldn’t have been that big a deal. Maybe it used to be, on the first trip or two they got to take to the temple. But anymore? I’s just business as usual.
On the other hand, there would have been some who thought, This is a huge deal! I’m getting to go to the temple! This is the closest I’ll ever get to the presence of God!
For in the outermost ring, there was the Court of the Gentiles, where non-Jews were able to come. Then, a little farther in, there was the Court of Women, where Jewish women could enter.
A little farther in, there was the court for Jewish men to enter. Then, farther in, there was the court where only priests could enter. Still farther in, there was the Holy Place, and then, in the very innermost, behind a thick veil, was the Holy of Holies. This is where, only once a year, one man, the high priest could enter.
Jesus clears the temple: “The temple was the place to connect with God—the living God.”
Imagine you’re living in the First Century A.D., some two thousand years ago. You’re a Gentile, not a Jew, but you’ve heard about the Jewish God. He’s unlike the gods in Greek or Roman mythology. He was unlike the Roman emperors who died and then apparently become gods after death. No, you’ve heard about this God of the Jews—who actually acts in miraculous ways in history. He doesn’t sound like myth.
So, you’re curious about this God, who you’ve heard is a living God. He’s not just a god who supposedly sends the thunder or controls the sea. But He’s the God—who created it all, the heavens and the earth.
And let’s say you finally get the chance to go to Jerusalem, where you’ve heard they have this temple where you get to come close to this God. The sun reflecting off the gold and marble on the temple wall is blinding. It’s almost looking into the face of God. Your jaw drops as you enter the gates into the Court of the Gentiles. You’re taking in all the sights and sounds and smells.
And then you hear a very familiar sound—the clanking of coins. You hear, “That’ll be this many dollars.” You hear two guys over there haggling over a price. You see in the backdrop priests counting the money. You see over there a family has brought their sheep, and the priest is telling them that there’s something wrong with their sheep, so he’ll buy this worthless sheep off their hands for next to nothing and then sell this new sheep (which looks quite a bit the same as the other sheep) for triple the price.
Jesus clears the temple: “Then you hear a very familiar sound—the clanking of coins. You hear, ‘That’ll be this many dollars.'”
The money changers, the livestock selling—guess where that’s happening? That’s all happening in the Court of the Gentiles. That’s where they carry on their business. Business as usual.
Now, instead of your jaw dropping in amazement, your heart begins to sink in disappointment as you think to yourself, This is just like every other temple in the world.
And then you think something far more tragic: Just like the Roman gods and Greek gods of mythology, this God must be a fake too.
Maybe it’s now easier to see why Jesus is angry.
Burning Bridges to God
A lot of Jewish people in the First Century couldn’t care less about the Gentiles coming to know about God. But Jesus cared.
When we start drawing as kids, one of the first things we learn to draw is a circle. Then, we might start drawing a smiley face in the circle. As we get a little better, we might start drawing lines going out from the smiley face circle, and, then, guess what you’ve drawn? You’ve drawn the sun
At this stage, the sun looks to you like a very nice guy. A friendly face, someone it’d be fun to get to know. But, as you get older, you begin to realize two truths about the sun, which make the sun less fun:
- If you look at the sun long enough, it will burn you (i.e., your eyes)
- If you get close enough to the sun, it too will burn you
I think a lot of church people can be like the sun. They have a nice, happy face and look super friendly—until you look at them long enough, or until you get close enough to them. Then you can get burnt.
“They have a nice, happy face and look super friendly—until you look at them long enough, or until you get close enough to them. Then you can get burnt.”
The tragedy is that outsiders can think that God is a fake because they get burnt by church people. They get burnt by Christians who, instead of treating their faith as a relationship with the living God, treat their faith as if it’s just business as usual. Through such a “faith,” outsiders are not drawn to God; instead, they end up disappointed by a God they haven’t even gotten to meet.
What Jesus Might Very Well Do to You and Me
Swinging the whip, driving the money changers out, dumping the tables, scattering the coins—is Jesus overreacting just a bit?
The temple was meant to be a place where people were to meet with God. Yet the people who had access to this God were treating this precious meeting place as business as usual. Thus, an outsider looking in could no longer see past the clutter of this busyness that the religious people had set up. Because they couldn’t see God through the clutter, they would likely go on to reject the God they hadn’t gotten to meet. Jesus thought that was good reason to intervene.
So, what does Jesus’ clearing a temple back then mean for you and me today?
Herod’s temple ended up getting destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70. Yet that wasn’t the end of temples of the living God.
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NIV)
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”
As disciples of Jesus filled with God’s Spirit, we are temples of the living God. We are where God dwells. As temples of the living God, here are two questions to ask ourselves:
- When outsiders interact with me, do they come away figuring that God is alive or fake?
- In order for people to see God in me, what does Jesus need to overturn and clear out of my life?
As living temples who provide outsiders with access points to seeing God, it is worth asking what needs to happen in us in order to draw people to God instead of turn them away from Him. What needs to happen in us for them to figure that our God is a living God—because He’s living in us?
