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Cleansing of the Temple (Jn. 2:13-25)

Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there. 15 He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, 16 and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” 17 His disciples recalled the words of scripture, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken. 23 While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, many began to believe in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. 24 But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, 25 and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.

John’s account of the story is different from the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, & Luke) which indicates that John used a different tradition as a source and had a different theological motive.  John placed this story at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry while the Synoptics placed it near the end of Jesus’ life.  

During religious feasts, pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts would have foreign currency which they would need to exchange for the currency accepted for paying the temple tax and for purchasing animals for sacrifice in accordance with OT Law (Ex. 30:11-16).  Coins with engraved images were prohibited from the Temple and silver Tyrian shekels (coins of Tyre) were the only official coin.

Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.  He took objection to the house of God, the holy space, being used for commerce and drove the people out of the temple area (vv. 15-16).  Having challenged established religious practices, the Jews asked Jesus for a sign that supports his authority to act as he did (v. 18).  They could not have understood Jesus’ prophet answer about his death and resurrection (v. 21).  They thought he was speaking about the ongoing renovation of the Temple.  Jesus, the incarnate word of God, is the new Temple, the dwelling place of God.

God of mercy and love, help us be worthy of the promises of Christ who paid for our salvation not with silver and gold but by his blood, the blood of a spotless, unblemished lamb.  We hold in our hearts the firm hope of eternal life in your kingdom.  This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.

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