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John 2:14-16 - Lesson #19 |
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| Having spent time with His family at Capernaum, Jesus traveled to Jerusalem for "the Passover of the Jews" (John 2:13). This was the greatest of all Jewish feasts, and a requirement for any Jew living within a day's journey of Jerusalem. But all Jews desired to celebrate at least one Passover in Jerusalem. |
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| John 2:14-16 |
| "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!'" |
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| One Passover requirement was for all leaven (or yeast) to be removed from the home; "For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel" (Exodus 12:15). This would become a symbol for purity of worship. God has always called us to a pure heart devoted to Him, not to a system of outward rules which always leads to hypocrisy; "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy" (Luke 12:1). |
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| So with a celebration focused on purity Jesus entered the center of pure Jewish worship. But when He entered the very outer court of the temple, Jesus found something much less than pure worship. The court was full of greed, deceit and cheating - extortion in the name of religious worship. |
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| Every Jew over nineteen was required to pay a temple tax of one half-shekel, but it had to be paid in temple currency. No foreign coin with its imprint of an alien king was allowed to pollute the temple. This made a good business for the money changers who charged high commissions to exchange the currency. |
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| Many other visitors wished to make an animal sacrifice as a thank-offering to God; but, of course, the sacrifice had to be without blemish; "it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it" (Leviticus 22:21). This established the position of the Sacrifice Inspector, who would reject any animal purchased outside the temple court. But, not to fear, the temple staff made certain there were plenty of approved animals for sale...at a greatly increased price. |
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| After clearing the temple, Jesus boldly declares it to be His Father's house! This probably received more attention than the whip. No one - not Moses with the first tabernacle, Solomon with the first temple, nor Ezra with the rebuilt temple - would have dared make the statement "My Father's house." This could only be said by Jesus, the true Son of God! |
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| Our lives are to be lived as worshippers who give to God a pure heart, not as those who pervert the system for their own gain nor walk by a set of cold and lifeless rules; "These people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me" (Isaiah 29:13). Let's give Him a heart of uncompromising purity and boldly clear the temple. |
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| Steve Troxel |
| God's Daily Word Ministries |
