The cleaning & meaning of the Temple

John 2:13-22 ESV

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade."  His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." So the Jews said to him, "What sign do you show us for doing these things?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Jesus is not Mister Rogers. Some of us are not comfortable with this. We may be tempted to gloss over this passage, but this is wrong. We cannot just accept the parts of Jesus that we like. We need to be confronted by the Jesus of the bible.

The cleaning of the temple

Passover was one of the holidays where all the jews had to come to Jerusalem. They were required to come to meet God.

Not only were they required to come, they also had to bring animals for sacrifice. So imagine bringing animals to the capital from hundreds of miles. So someone had the bright idea to sell animals to the pilgrims... And eventually, animals were being sold in the temple of God. Not only that but money changers came to work in the temple, these were because the temple officials required specific coinage.

There is dispute over why Jesus was so angry. I [Dwight] think that the anger was not about the practice of selling sacrificial animals and money exchanges. But rather the practice of worshiping God. How can one worship in the presence of animals and money exchanging hands? Worship is distracted, distorted, and demeaned. God's relationship with his people is minimized. This is why Jesus is so angry. His father is left out of the picture, ignored. Convenience is prioritized over God. This probably did not happen overnight... it was probably a gradual change. It is a reflection of our hearts. We want things good for us, rather than glorifying to God.

The meaning of the temple

The temple is meant as a place of worship and to bring glory to god. Jesus was to be consumed by his zeal for God. He was concerned with His father. The temple officials were only concerned with their selves. That put Jesus and them on a collision course. So they questioned Jesus' authority. But Jesus replies cryptically. He replies that the temple would be rebuilt in three days. The temple of His body would rise again after death. We no longer need to visit a temple in Jerusalem to worship.

Worship and meeting God requires a sacrifice.

This is why Jesus is called the lamb of God. He is consumed and killed for us. So then we can meet and worship God.

The more you internalize what Jesus did to make true worship possible, the more true worship becomes possible.

Not only does Jesus abolish the need for a temple; he sends out the holy spirit. We are the temple of God. We are where worship happens. Coram Deo.