John 2:12-25
Let’s look at the rest of John Chapter 2 today on God’s Dayimer:
John 2:12-25 (NIV)
12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. 13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. 23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25 He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.
Jesus cleanses the temple. The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) record Jesus cleansing the temple at the end of His ministry. Here John records a cleansing at the beginning of His ministry. The most likely answer is that there were two cleansings. This first cleansing is most likely a fulfillment of Malachi 3:1-3
Malachi 3:1-3 (NIV)
1 “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,
In verse 17 the disciples are reminded of Psalm 69:9 which says:
Psalms 69:9 (NIV)
9 for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
The authorities want proof of His authority to challenge the existing order, but He answers them by talking about His death and resurrection which they don’t understand. His disciples will connect the dots after the fact. Jesus does other miraculous sings while He was there in Jerusalem during the Passover feast, which John does not describe, but many people believed in His name. These people, believed He was doing miraculous signs from God, but they did not see Him as the Messiah and put their faith in Him the way the disciple had after He turned water into wine.
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