In this incident of Jesus cleansing the temple, Dr. Sproul points out that the activities being performed were legitimate, in that people needed sacrifices, a tax had to be paid and currency exchanged. The problem was the location of the activities. At stake was the proper worship at God's house. Dr. Sproul then looks at the phrase "destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

Our Scripture today is taken from the gospel according to Saint John. We are presently in the second chapter, and we are going to read John 2:12–25:

After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”

So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”

But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

He who has ears to hear the Word of God, let him hear it. Let us pray.

Our Father, as we look to this text of Scripture, we ask that the same Spirit who inspired its writing in the first place would illumine its meaning for us and cause its truths to pierce and penetrate between bone and marrow into the core of our lives. For we ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Duplicate Lesson

We have already seen that John approaches the life of Jesus somewhat differently than the other gospel writers, who wrote the Synoptic Gospels. Jesus is shown to us more through theological reflection in John’s gospel than through a strictly chronological, biographical portrait.

The text I have just read to you has been the focal point of much critical theory in biblical scholarship. This is because, in this case, John speaks of Jesus’ cleansing the temple as something very early in His ministry. After His first miracle is done in Cana, He goes from Cana to Capernaum. Then, after a few days, He goes on to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover, and this is the occasion on which He cleanses the temple.

All three of the Synoptic Gospels also record Christ’s cleansing of the temple, but they describe the event as taking place in the last week of Jesus’ life. So, the question is, Who has it right in terms of the historical chronology?

Some critics are quick to point out that the biblical writers were not always as concerned for chronology as we are, but rather, they would arrange their material thematically or topically and set it forth in that manner. John may have taken an incident that occurred later and put it at the early part of the ministry, because in this section of his gospel, he is giving us a series of contrasts: between the water and the wine, between the physical temple in Jerusalem and Jesus’ own body as the new temple, and so on.

I am frankly not satisfied with those explanations, because John seems to take extra concern here to locate specifically when this event took place in Jesus’ ministry. I think it did occur in the early part of His ministry, and I join many others in church history who believe that Jesus cleansed the temple twice.

That may seem like special pleading to certain people who do not like duplicates. I think for example of Rudolf Bultmann, the king of the negative critics in twentieth-century New Testament scholarship, who would have no time for an explanation that this event occurred twice. What I find ironic is that I have read several volumes of Rudolf Bultmann’s theology, and have found certain teachings that appear in almost every one of them. The mark of a teacher is that he repeats himself. If you know anything about ministers, you know that they will give basically the same message more than once.

I do not think it is a stretch to assume that when Jesus comes to this Passover, which is the first Passover feast during His public ministry, and sees what is going on in the temple—we will look at what He does in a moment—He cleanses the temple. He drives out the moneychangers and the livestock, turns over the tables, and so on.

I ask you this: How long do you think it took before those tables were right side up and the moneychangers back in business? Do you really think that when He cleansed the temple on the first occasion, that was the end of it? I do not for a minute. I think it is perfectly consistent that when Jesus comes to Jerusalem for the Passover before His death and sees the same thing going on, He goes back to the temple and cleanses it again.

Moneychangers in the Temple

Let us look at what our Lord does in this episode that John has recorded for us. We read in verse 13: “Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple”—let us pause there for a minute. That is the critical phrase here, that He found in the temple all this livestock—sheep, bulls, and goats—plus people engaged in the business of changing money.

The first question that we have to ask is this: Why were the livestock there, and why were the moneychangers there? The answer is simple. At the Passover, there was a requirement that every pilgrim sacrifice an animal. It was very difficult for the people who came from the outer villages of Israel to bring their livestock with them to Jerusalem. It was much easier for them to fulfill their obligations by purchasing the animals necessary for the sacrifices in Jerusalem.

Secondly, at this time, a temple tax was required, and the temple authorities were very particular about what kind of coinage was acceptable. This was because in the nation, there were competing types of currency and coins, some of which were very impure. The church authorities wanted the purest silver that could be found. So, the requirement was that the tax be paid in this particular coinage. Moneychangers were set up to exchange local currency for the official currency required for the tax. Of course, the moneychangers who did this got a commission. Some say that it was as high as 12 percent.

Jesus was not complaining that people were selling animals to the pilgrims, nor was He complaining that people were able to trade in their currency for the prescribed currency. In a very real sense, this enterprise was a service to the people who were coming. The problem Jesus had was with where these things were taking place.

We know that prior to this time, the booths for the sale of animals and the exchange of money were set up across the Valley of Kidron, on the slopes of the Mount of Olives—significantly removed from the temple complex itself. But now, for convenience’s sake, the outer court, the court of the gentiles, was transformed from a place of worship and prayer to a place of merchandise.

When Jesus comes into the house of God and sees that it is being used for something other than what it had been consecrated for, He fashions a whip and drives out the livestock. Some people see Jesus in a fit of fury and rage, acting like the old western movie star Lash LaRue and hitting people with a whip. No, the purpose of the whip was to get the animals out, and He drives them out of the temple complex.

Then Jesus goes to the moneychangers. I do not know how the accountants were in those days. I do not know if any of you have ever played Tripoley. We play it, and we have this great big jar of pennies, hundreds of pennies. When we play Tripoley, we dispense the pennies to everyone in the game. We do not play for money, because at the end of the game, all the pennies go back in the jar. But while we are playing the game, we are keeping track of our pennies. It is like Monopoly. Some people have their pennies just piled chaotically in front of them. I establish mine in neat piles of ten pennies, so that I can easily count my money. I like to keep my accounts current while I am playing that game.

I think of the moneychangers, sitting there with their coins neatly arranged in rows, when Jesus turns over the tables. The money keeps jingling on the floor and spreading across it, and these men are scrambling everywhere, trying to recover their money. It is instant chaos. The people do not know what to make of it.

Zeal for Your House

We are given a hint in this text as to why Jesus did what He did. That hint is found in verse 17, where John says, “Then His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.’” This is fascinating because that Old Testament text is not found in what is usually considered a Messianic psalm, a psalm that is prophesying the coming Messiah. Instead, it is found in one of David’s psalms, where David is talking, in the first instance, about himself.

Let us take a moment to look back at the Old Testament location of this text. We find it in Psalm 69, and I will quickly read for you the relevant portions. It begins this way, as David writes:

Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.
I am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
My eyes fail while I wait for my God. (Ps. 69:1–3)

David is in deep distress, and he says:

Those who hate me without a cause
Are more than the hairs of my head;
They are mighty who would destroy me,
Being my enemies wrongfully;
Though I have stolen nothing,
I still must restore it.

O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.
Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me;
Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.
Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Shame has covered my face.
I have become a stranger to my brothers,
And an alien to my mother’s children;
Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. (Ps. 69:4–9)

Do you understand what David is saying? “Because I have proclaimed Your Word, O God, I have become a reproach to my own family. Because of my zeal for Your house, a zeal that consumes me, a passion that eats me up, I’m despised.” The disciples are saying, “Yes, David’s greater Son comes centuries later, who has this in common with David.” Remember, Christ is the son of David. They saw in Jesus the same thing that David experienced in his life—this zeal for the house of God, the house that God had established for worship.

We have a practical thing that we do here at Saint Andrew’s Chapel. It is a wonderful thing to enjoy fellowship with one another, but after the lights are turned down, and the strings begin to play the prelude, that is the signal for us to prepare our hearts for worship by entering into silence. Why? Because noise is not conducive to worship.

Imagine if you came to church on Sunday morning to pray, and all you could hear was, “Baa, baa”—lambs, sheep, and goats bleating loudly. That is what was going on in the temple. The sacred grounds that had been reserved for a posture of worship became chaotic. People’s needs were being met. I am sure the temple authorities were saying: “We’re just trying to be helpful to those who are bringing in their lambs and need their money exchanged.”

The point I want us to get is something that has almost completely vanished from the landscape of contemporary Christianity. God is very particular about how He is worshipped, about how He is approached in the sanctuary. Jesus is saying to His contemporaries: “This is holy ground. This is a place for prayer. This is a place for adoration and worship. Take your animals and your money for exchange and go across the street. This is My Father’s house.”

The Eternal Temple

The Jews come to Jesus and ask: “Why should we listen to You? What sign do You give us that You’re Your Father’s Son?” He replies, “You tear this building down, and in three days I’ll build it up again.” They had no idea what He was talking about.

John has to insert some editorial help for us, saying that the disciples themselves did not understand what Jesus was talking about. Later on, they understood that He was not talking about the physical temple built by Herod, which had been under construction for forty-six years and still was not finished. This was the building destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. Jesus said, “That building is going to be torn down, but tear down this building, and in three days I’ll build it up again.” What was His meaning?

Before I answer that question, let me say this: People read the paper every day about what is going on in Israel, and there is a whole theology of restoration in which they are gleefully waiting for the Jews to rebuild the temple. Do you not realize that the temple has already been rebuilt? Christ is the temple, and the rebuilding of the temple took place on the day of His resurrection. He is the living presence of God in the midst of His people.

That is what Jesus is saying to them: “You people who are desecrating this temple, you can destroy it. And you’re going to destroy this temple, but three days after you do it, you will see the new, eternal temple. That’s the sign.”

The Supreme Sign of Resurrection

People were constantly asking for a sign. People today ask for signs. People say: “I’m from Missouri. Show me a miracle, and I will believe.” You may say: “I read this stuff in the Bible, but I wasn’t there, I didn’t see it with my eyes. This is the testimony of other people, and I’m not going to believe in Christ until I see it with my own eyes, or hear Him with my ears, or see a miracle done in His name today.”

You may know what Paul said when he went to Athens, stood before the Athenians, and debated with the philosophers on Mars Hill in Acts 17. He said, “The former days of ignorance God has overlooked, but now He commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day in which He will judge the whole world”—by what? “By that man that He has appointed to be the judge, whom He has proven through the resurrection of the dead.”

Here is what I get from that: God said, “Look, Jesus did numerous signs, but the supreme sign is the resurrection.” God is only going to do it once. He is not going to have Christ come and die and be raised every week. But the way in which God establishes His new church is through raising Christ from the dead. He is the temple. John already introduced Him as the tabernacle, as you recall, in the prologue at the beginning of this gospel.

Beloved, as we continue this study of John’s gospel, let us remember the zeal that our Lord has for the house of God and for worship, that it may indeed be that which pleases God. You will see this theme again and again throughout this gospel: Worship is not something that He just gives to us and says, “Do whatever you want,” lest He should come to us with a whip made of cords and drive us from His sanctuary. Let us pray.

O Father, give us a portion of that zeal for Your house that first characterized David, and then Jesus Himself. Help us to have a sense of holy awe, of reverence, and of respect for the place in which we assemble to offer You the sacrifice of our praise. Give us the capacity to leave our business concerns outside of the sanctuary. We thank You for the temple we have today that was rebuilt in three days and is indestructible forever. For we thank You in the name of Jesus. Amen.

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.