A Contextual Reflection from Preserving Bible Times
Reforming Worship in the Temple
Rediscovering John 2:12-17 Through the Lens of Context
What a Sequence !
Immediately after the miracle (sign) of turning water into wine at the marriage feast in
Cana, John records Jesus going to the Temple in Jerusalem and driving out the animal sellers and
moneychangers. What a contrast! What is John telling us in this narrative sequencing? To weave this scene
back together to answer that question, we need to know the contextual threads about the Temple and its
leadership, messianic expectation, coinage and money changing, animal sellers, as well as the “sin management”
system of observant Judaism.
Same or Different? Before delving into the text, the reader familiar with the Gospels will note that John
places this Temple cleansing at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry; whereas, the synoptic writers all place what
appears to be the same event at the end of Jesus’ ministry. As a result, there has been speculation about whether
this is the same event or whether John is recording another casting-out event that Matthew, Mark and Luke have
collectively chosen to omit from their respective narratives.
Westerners like to speculate on those kinds of issues. With our Hellenistic passion for analysis and desire for
chronological consistency, we forget that the Jewish mind of Jesus’ day isn’t necessarily wired that way. From
a Hebrew perspective, it is the flow of the narrative and the building of the story line that matters most. John is
deliberately crafting certain themes in his Gospel. Therefore, he is choosing and sequencing those events he will
draw upon to best highlight the themes he intends to develop. From this perspective, strict sequencing is not an
issue.
Messianic Expectations
In observant Judaism of the First Century, it was thought that when Messiah came
He would go straight to the Temple and establish His throne and reign in a political/military way that would
(finally) bring peace, prosperity and social justice to the land. At the wedding in Cana, Jesus revealed His
Messiahship to the disciples when he turned the water into wine. As a result, they believed in Him. Thus for
John, it would make thematic sense to next have Jesus going to the Temple in Jerusalem and establishing His
authority over His Father’s House (albeit for a very different purpose). The fact that this encounter coincides
with Passover just adds intrigue to the story.
Through the years there have always been those who see in Jesus’ casting out of
the animal sellers and the moneychangers a justification for violent social-political activism. Looking at this
Temple scene through their glasses, they tend to see Jesus in the same way they see the revolutionary Che
Guevara. In doing so, they conveniently overlook Jesus’ teaching that blesses peacemakers and emphasizes
loving your enemies. They also tend to forget that Jesus said to give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give
back to God what is God’s.1 The physical layout of the Temple may help us to further see the error in such
thinking.
Political Revolutionary?
Herod’s Second Temple was a magnificent structure and the epicenter of Judaism. Adjacent to this enormous
elevated platform was Rome’s Antonio Fortress (NW corner). This is where Rome garrisoned many of its
forces in the Jerusalem area to keep close watch over the Temple precincts. Rome exercised extreme control
over Temple activity, including posting troops around the portico edges of the outer court (The Court of the
Gentiles) during major festivals. To emphasize their control, Rome even required the High Priest to check out
his vestments from this Fortress!2
It is significant that John places this event in a Passover context. To a Jew Passover signifies independence, i.e.,
being freed from oppression, slavery and bondage. If Jesus was first and foremost a political revolutionary, it
would have made much more sense for Him to storm the Antonio Fortress adjacent to Temple Mount and start
casting out the Roman soldiers garrisoned there. But He didn’t. Instead He went to His Father’s House and cast
out two prominent symbols of Temple corruption. Contextually that makes Jesus much more of a worship
reformer than a political revolutionary in this scene.
Temple, Inc. Herod’s Second Temple was not only a magnificent structure; it was also an astonishing cash
generating enterprise. During the time of Jesus, the Temple might as well have been known as Temple, Inc. It
was the Wall Street of its day and was a wondrous “cash cow” money machine designed to profit from
“worship.” Two of the businesses being conducted in the Temple included animal selling and money changing.
Both were very lucrative activities because they were deliberately designed to cheat those coming to worship.
The Sadducees, religious rulers from a few elite Jerusalem families, were in charge of overseeing this Temple
money machine. They also controlled the Sanhedrin (Jewish Supreme Court) and functioned as Temple judges
as well as the Chief and High Priests.3 This Temple leadership was known by all to be utterly corrupt.4 The High
Priest’s position was a “franchise” secured from Rome which rotated between a few Sadducean families rather
than following the long-established lines of the priesthood (The legitimate priesthood left the land long ago and
is resident in Egypt.5) Such is the state of the religious figureheads of Israel! The High Priesthood was indeed a
charade, a spiritual vacuum, and everyone knew it! (This helps explain why John the Baptist became so
popular. His ministry was a protest of food, venue and dress against the corruption of the Temple leadership
and their extravagant lifestyle. In fact for many the Baptist became the defacto High Priest of the land.6)
There is no eternal life in the worldview of the Sadducees7 so whatever you are going to get out of this life you
have to get it in the here and now. They conveniently subscribed only to the Torah, not to the Writings,
Prophets and Oral Tradition, avoiding those perspectives that would conflict with their way of doing things. 8
Furthermore, they saw God as unconcerned with how people acted.9 Thus, in their “theology” and resultant
“doctrine,” there were no limits or boundaries on how you accumulated your wealth. God was indifferent to it.
Theology Matters
The history of the Sadducees is Exhibit A to why understanding theology and doctrine
not only matters, but is absolutely crucial. Flawed theology leads to a flawed faith, and flawed doctrine easily
justifies taking advantage of others. Hence, there is nothing more practical than theology when it comes to being
properly ground in the journey of faith. Those who dismiss theology and doctrine as unimportant (and therefore
optional) will ultimately pay a price. Their ethical and moral compasses will fail them. As Tozer reminds us,
“The most important thing about any of us is what comes to our mind when we think about God.”10 It is vitally
important to have an accurate view of God - “Who He is and how He Does things.”11 Parenthetically, my vote
for the most important (and most practical course) a church can teach its flock is a yearlong “Knowing God”
course. One that starts with many weeks devoted to Holiness and Sovereignty, the two attributes that give
definition and meaning to all of God’s other attributes.
Creative Corruption The leaders of the Temple were as creative as they were corrupt. The Tyrian (from
Tyre) coins contained the highest silver content of all the coins being used by pilgrims throughout the Jewish
Diaspora of that time. Craftily, the Sadducean “Board of Directors” of Temple, Inc. decided that the only halfshekel coin they would permit to be used to pay each Jew’s annual Temple tax (for a month prior to Passover
and twenty days thereafter) would be Tyrian half-sheckels.12 So all those pilgrims that brought other coins, such
as bronze and low-silver content coins from other parts of the world, were required to exchange their coinage for
these high silver content Tyrian coins coveted by Temple leadership. This gave rise to a very lucrative money
changing enterprise.
Anyone who has traveled to European countries before the standardization of the Euro can envision this moneychanging scene. Exchange rates for each country’s coinage would be “posted” and there was no assurance that
the posted rates were fair exchange rates. Furthermore, the moneychangers always charged a commission for
exchanging into Tyrian half-shekels. Add the two together, and you have creative exploitation of those who had
come to worship. As a result, this led to an accumulation of silver wealth by Temple leadership.
More Deception
When it came to animal selling for Temple sacrifices, the leadership of the Temple was
equally devious. If perchance a pilgrim brought his or her own animal to the Temple for sacrifice, the Temple
inspectors often found that the animal was blemished (surprise!). Of course they also charged a fee for this
“unbiased” inspection. This “blemished” condition then forced a pilgrim to buy a “non-blemished” animal from
Temple flocks at inflated prices. What a racket!
Outrage from Jesus Now we can appreciate and understand some of why Jesus was so enraged (no gentle
Jesus, meek and mild here!) by the corrupted mercantile scene He beholds as He enters the expansive outer
court of the Temple. He knows everything about it violates God’s original intent for worship. The transactions
He observes put unnecessary “hindrances in the way of devout worshipers.”13 Thus, this scene needs to be
remade (purified). When God’s Holiness is the measuring rod, Jesus provides the “perfect response!”14 James
Montgomery Boice makes an apt comment when he observes, “Jesus did not seek to eliminate temple worship.
He sought to reform it. In other words, with the sphere of his influence he worked to transform what was into
what it always should have been.”15 Therein lies a continual challenge for our churches today as well.
Missing Pieces During Passover the nation’s hopes for another “Exodus” type of deliverance was at its peak.
Thus, the Roman governor was particularly attuned for any signs of a disturbance and had Roman legionnaires
stationed in the Royal Stoa at the southern edge of Temple Mount where this scene takes place. So when Jesus
fashions a whip, most likely made from the cords used to control the animals (no sticks or weapons were
allowed on Temple Mount),16 and starts driving the animals and the animal sellers away, imagine what these
soldiers must have been thinking as they watched this chaotic scene of bellowing animals scattering in all
directions. It’s fascinating that none of the soldiers moved to squelch this chaotic scene, even when Jesus then
redirects His anger toward the moneychangers and starts to overthrow their tables.
What might Jesus’ disciples have been thinking as He wove His whip together from whatever source material
He used? On their six-day journey south from Capernaum to Jerusalem, the disciples would have had
considerable time to reflect on what had just happened at the marriage feast in Cana. They were likely
beginning to get used to the idea that Jesus was God’s Messiah although it would take considerable time for
them to fathom what that was going to mean. These new disciples were very much aware of the Hebrew
tradition that held that when Messiah came He would go straight to the Temple, establish His throne there and
rule. Given this historical expectation, might they have wondered if this was the moment Jesus had chosen to
establish His reign? What might that mean for them? And what does establishing His reign have to do with the
need for a whip? And why did He start with the animal sellers and moneychangers?
Continuity with Cana Now let’s take a step back for a moment and consider why John might have placed
this Temple cleansing narrative back-to-back with the miracle of Cana. A helpful backdrop is to remember how
“righteousness” was achieved in observant Judaism. In their three-fold sin management system, being “right
with God” came from: 1) exercising scrupulous behavior, 2) going to the ritual purification baths when
ceremonially unclean, and 3) participating in the prescribed Temple offerings and sacrifices. It was the religious
“system” that imputed “righteousness” to you and having done those three things, you had no need to repent.
You were “right with God” by definition.
John shows us with the first two encounters in his second “chapter” that Jesus has already replaced all three legs
of this “righteousness” stool. As previously developed in last month’s Reflection, by converting the water in
the purification jars into wine Jesus was defining purity and signaling the end of the need for ritual purification.
Furthermore, by driving out the animal sellers Jesus is signaling the end of the need for animal sacrifices. And
as to scrupulous behavior, His perfect righteousness would transcend it.
For more continuity, notice how John develops the theme of messianic authority in these two passages. In the
first sign, Jesus establishes His authority as Messiah and in the very next encounter, He exercises that authority
in the Temple. Note how some of the Temple leaders respond when Jesus casts out the animal sellers and
moneychangers by asking By whose authority do you do these things?17 Fascinatingly, they do not assert their
innocence nor contend that what Jesus did was wrong.
A Remez?
For those of you who have been sensitized to remez, this John 2 scene of Jesus in the Temple is
an action remez18 most likely harkening back to Zechariah 14:21. John is inviting us to remember that the
prophet Zechariah promised that there will come a time (the day of the Lord) when no longer will there be a
trader (ESV)/ merchant (NEB) in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day.
Implications for Today I have often wondered what would happen if Jesus walked into a representative
sampling of our worship services today. Might He quickly fashion a whip out of the cords we use to rope off
certain aisles and rows and drive out some things from our worship services that would equally enrage Him?
Would He find sound theology taught about “who God is and how God does things?” How might Jesus react to
our increasingly entertainment oriented, consumerism (what’s in it for me) worship services? How might He
respond to those spiritually narcissistic, “feel good,” “you-too-can-be-a-success” Sunday morning messages?
How might He act in response to our (often) prayer-anemic worship services (what percentage of a 60-75
minute worship service is actually spent in prayer)? The reader is invited to add to this list. One thing is clear
from Jesus’ reaction to this John 2 Temple scene; He is not willing to be complacent when it comes to barriers
and impediments to authentic worship – another challenge for church leadership today.
Reflections
This passage is both sobering and challenging. It causes us to reflect upon how we worship and
are we worshiping the Father in the Spirit and in truth.19
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Shalom
Do we acknowledge Jesus’ authority over all aspects of our worship? And what might that mean?
Do we get enraged over that which enrages Our Father?
When it comes to corporate worship, are we too content with the status quo or are we always
looking for where we can reform our worship?
How much has the world forced us into its consumerism, entertain-me, make-me-feel-good mold
when it comes to the way we approach and design our worship services?
Do we need to rediscover what constitutes authentic biblical corporate worship? How can we even
get outside our current worship paradigms to objectively answer that question?
Are we praying to be sensitized to how God would have us change (purify) our notions of worship?
Have we lost the balance between Grace and Truth20 in our worship (and messages)?
Are we intentionally nurturing an accurate view of God?
Doug Greenwold
PBT Teaching Fellow
Reflection #209
© Doug Greenwold 2009
Doing what we do because context always matters.
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Sources and Notes
1
Matthew 22:21
Josephus, Antiquities 20:6
3
“The Passion of Jesus in Context” DVD, track 2 “Temple Authority,” (Preserving Bible Times: Gaithersburg, Maryland,
2003).
4
James C. Martin, Exploring Bible Times: The Gospels in Context, Third Edition (Bible World Seminars: Amarillo, Texas,
2003), p. 147-148. (Available from PBT’s online bookstore)
5
James C. Martin, Exploring Bible Times: The Gospels in Context, p. 166.
6
For a fuller contextual treatment of John the Baptist, see Doug Greenwold’s “John the Baptist and Repentance,” see
Reflection, Number 608, June 2008, Preserving Bible Times. (Viewable on the Preserving Bible Times’ website).
7
James C. Martin, Exploring Bible Times: The Gospels in Context, p. 131.
8
James C. Martin, Exploring Bible Times: The Gospels in Context, p. 129.
9
James C. Martin, Exploring Bible Times: The Gospels in Context, p. 133.
10
A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (Harper and Row, New York, 1961), p. 9.
11
A favorite phrase of Dr. James C. Martin, Co-Founder of Preserving Bible Times.
12
Anchor Bible Dictionary, Volume 1 (Doubleday: New York, 1992), p. 1086.
13
The Interpreters Bible (Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1952), p. 498.
2
14
Ibid.
James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expository Commentary, Volume 1 (Baker: Grand Rapids, Michigan,
1999), p. 17.
16
Raymond E. Brown, The Anchor Bible: The Gospel According to John I-XII, (Doubleday & Company: Garden City,
New York, 1966), p. 115.
17
John 2:18
18
For a fuller treatment of remez, see Doug Greenwold, Encounters with Jesus: The Rest of Their Stories, “Remez: A
Helpful Interpretive Tool,” (Bible-in-Context Ministries: Columbia, Maryland, 2007), pp. 9-11.
19
John 4:23
20
For a fuller contextual treatment of this “Grace and Truth” theme, see Doug Greenwold, Making Disciples Jesus’ Way:
Wisdom We Have Missed, Chapter 6, “Grace Before Truth” (Bible-in-Context Ministries: Columbia, Maryland, 2007),
pp. 69-80.
15