John 9 Cleanse The Temple

“12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. 13 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15 and when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; 16 and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. 17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. 18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said” (John 2:12-22).

Prophets did strange things to teach people about God. Jesus continues this tradition when He enters the temple in John 2. Jesus entered Jerusalem because "the Passover of the Jews was near" (John 2:13).

This is the first of three Passovers (John 6:4; 11:55) in the Gospel of John, which is why it is said Jesus' ministry lasted three years.

In the other three gospels, sometimes referred to as the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus cleanses the temple also, but John's telling is unique. For instance, in the Synoptics, Jesus cleanses the temple as one of His final acts in Jerusalem, leading to His arrest and crucifixion. In John, however, He cleanses the temple right at the beginning.

This placement is theologically motivated. We think it's supposed to tell us something rather important about Jesus, something John wants you to know right from the start, to be kept in the reader's mind throughout the rest of the Gospel.

Another unique feature of John's account of Jesus cleansing the temple is the symbolic way Jesus interprets His actions. Right after Jesus drives everyone out of the temple, He is questioned about it. This also happens in the Synoptics (Mark 11:28; Matt 21:23; Luke 20:2).

In John, however, the interrogation is quite different. Both the question and His answer are different. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all portray the question as: "By what authority are you doing these things?" But John is all about signs, right? Notice how the question is asked: "What sign do you show us as your authority for doing these things?" (John 2:18).

That is the NASB translation. The word "authority" (or in Greek, exousia), while in the Synoptics, is not actually in John. The translators added that word, but it's not in the Greek. The question is simply: (In Greek it reads, ti semeion deiknueis emin oti tauta poieis?) "What sign do you show us because you do these things?"

Now that question could be taken one of two ways. First, as the NASB translators think, it could be: "What sign will you now show us to prove you had the authority to cleanse the temple?" Or, the question could be more like this: "What sign are we supposed to see from you cleansing the temple?"

When a prophet would do some extravagant demonstration like this, there is a meaning attached to it. What is the sign of cleaning the temple? What does it mean? To take the question this way means cleansing the temple was itself a prophetic sign. It was not a miracle, but like the foot washing in John 13, it was a symbolic physical demonstration meant to teach an important spiritual truth. Jesus is then going to explain the spiritual meaning of it.

Jesus answers: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19). The Jews respond in a typical manner. By the term typical, we mean the way everyone always responds to Jesus, they misunderstand Him. They miss the spiritual point and get lost in the physical details.

They snort back incredulously, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and You will raise it up in three days?" (John 2:20). This is when John lets the reader in on Jesus' true meaning. He clarifies the confusion for us, saying, "But He was speaking of the temple of His body" (John 2:21).

The Meaning of the Sign

So what does this all mean? Jesus cleansed the temple as a sign. When Jesus says, "Destroy this temple," He actually means, "destroy My body." When He says, "in three days I will raise it up," He is not talking about constructing a new temple, but His resurrection. In this way, the destruction of Jesus' body parallels the destruction of the temple (which took place in AD 70).

While Jesus was raised from the dead three days later, we think the implication may be that, to our surprise, the temple will be raised back also.

Perhaps the temple will live on, be raised, not as a brick-and-mortar building, but as the "body of Christ" or the church. The church as God's new living, breathing temple is a common New Testament picture (1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 2:19-22).

The resurrection of Jesus likely caused the disciples to look back on this event. They looked back and remembered this conversation and this sign, and it led them to believe. It's also fascinating that His disciples believed "the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken" (John 2:22). What Scripture did they believe? We think the answer is back in John 2:17, "His disciples remembered that it was written, 'Zeal for Your house will consume me'" (John 2:17; Psalm 69:9).

All of a sudden, after the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples believed Psalm 69:9 was about Jesus. Notice the entire verse: "For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me" (Psalm 69:9; Romans 15:3).

After the resurrection, this Psalm became a key Messianic Psalm. Romans 15:3 also applies this verse to Jesus. In fact, the entire Psalm came to be read about Jesus. Each of the following New Testament passages applies parts of Psalm 69 to Jesus: John 2:17; 15:25; 19:28-29; Matthew 27:34; Mark 15:36; Luke 23:36; Romans 11:9-10; 15:3; Acts 1:20. The cleansing of the temple is what opened this passage up to Messianic interpretation.

The cleansing of the temple, coupled with the death and resurrection of Jesus, was a sign the temple would live on as Jesus' body in the church. It also opened the disciples' eyes to believe and to see Jesus throughout Psalm 69 – to read it in a new light.

Perhaps it also caused the disciples to read other Old Testament passages about the temple differently since Jesus links His body to the temple. The temple was seen as God's dwelling on earth, but Jesus is the truest form of God, dwelling on earth.