Why did Jesus drive out the merchants and moneychangers from the temple? From his sermon series in the gospel of John, today R.C. Sproul speaks on the holy regard that the Lord has for sincere worship. Get R.C. Sproul’s commentary on the gospel of John for your donation of any amount: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/3732/john-commentary Meet Today’s Teacher: R.C. Sproul (1939–2017) was known for his ability to winsomely and clearly communicate deep, practical truths from God’s Word. He was founder of Ligonier Ministries, first minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew’s Chapel, first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine. Meet the Host: Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of ministry engagement for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, host of the Ask Ligonier podcast, and a graduate of Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne, Australia. Nathan joined Ligonier in 2012 and lives in Central Florida with his wife and four children. Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts
God is very, very particular about how he is worshiped. And Jesus is saying to his contemporaries, hey, this is holy ground. This is a place for prayer. This is a place for adoration and for worship. Take your animals, take your produce, go across the street. This is my Father's house.
One of the more dramatic moments in the ministry of Jesus is when He went up to Jerusalem, made a whip of cords, and drove the animals and money changers out of the temple. But why did Jesus do that? Stay with us as R.C. Sproul will explain on this Sunday edition of Renewing Your Mind. We're presently in a short series in John's Gospel.
With only a couple of sermons left, be sure to respond today while there's still time to request your copy of Dr. Sproul's line-by-line guide through the Gospel of John when you give a donation of any amount at renewingyourmind.org. If you have your Bible with you, open it to John chapter 2. Here's Dr. Sproul.
Our Scripture this morning, again, is taken from the gospel according to Saint John. We're presently in the second chapter, and we're going to begin at verse 12 and read through verse 25. John chapter 2, verses 12 through 25. After this, he went down to Capernaum. He, his mother, his brothers, and his disciples, and they did not stay there many days.
But now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 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, 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. And then his disciples remembered that it was written, zeal for your house has eaten me up. And so the Jews answered and said to Him, What sign do You show to us, since You do these things? And Jesus answered and said to them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
And then the Jews said, It has taken forty-six years to build this temple. Will you raise it up in three days? But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when he had risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this to them, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
And when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself to them because he knew all men. had no need that anyone should testify of man, for he knew what was in me. He who has ears to hear the Word of God, let them hear it.
We've seen already in John's gospel that John approaches the life of Jesus somewhat differently from the other gospel writers who are called the synoptic gospels. And Jesus is shown to us more from a theological reflection in John's gospel than from a strictly chronological, biographical portrait.
And the text that I've just read to you this morning is one of those texts that has been the focal point of much critical theory in biblical scholarship because
In this case, John speaks of Jesus cleansing the temple in the context of something very early in his ministry, where after his first miracle is done at Canaan, he goes from Canaan to Capernaum, and then from Capernaum after a few days, he goes on up to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover, and this is the occasion in which he cleanses the temple.
You realize that the Synoptic Gospels, all three of them, also record for us Christ's cleansing of the temple. But the setting in which they describe that event takes place in the last week of Jesus' life. And so the question is, who has it right here in terms of the historical chronology?
And some critics are quick to point out that the biblical writers were not always as concerned for chronology as we are, but rather they would arrange their material thematically or topically and set it forth in that manner.
And John may have taken an incident that occurred later on and put it at the early part of the ministry because in this section of his gospel he is telling us of different contrasts between the water and the wine, now between the physical temple in Jerusalem and his own body as the new temple, and so on.
I'm frankly not satisfied with those explanations of this because John seems to take an extra concern here to locate specifically when this event took place in Jesus' ministry. And so I think it did occur in the early part of His ministry, and I join many others in church history who believe that Jesus cleansed the temple twice.
And that sometimes seems like special pleading to certain people who don't like duplicates. I think, for example, of Rudolf Bultmann, the king of the negative critics of New Testament scholarship in the 20th century, who would have no time for an explanation that this event occurred twice.
And what I find ironic about that is that I've read several volumes of Rudolf Bultmann's theology, and I find certain teachings that he has appearing in almost every one of the volumes. This is a mark of the teacher is that he repeats himself, and if you know anything about ministers, you know that they'll give basically the same message more than one time.
And I don't think that it's a stretch to assume that when Jesus comes up to this Passover, which is the first Passover feast during His public ministry, and He sees what's going on in the temple, and we'll look at what He does in a moment, but He cleanses the temple He drives out the money changers, drives out the livestock, turns over the tables and so on.
And I ask you this, how long do you think after Jesus did that, that those tables were right side up and the money changers were back in business? Do you really think that when he goes through and cleans the temple on the first occasion, that that was the end of it? I don't for a minute.
And I think it's perfectly consistent that when Jesus comes to Jerusalem in the Passover right before His death, when He sees the same thing going on that He had cleansed once three years earlier, that He goes back to the temple and cleanses it again. But let's look at what our Lord does in this episode that John has recorded for us.
We read in verse 13, the Passover of the Jews was at hand and Jesus went to Jerusalem and He found in the temple. Let's just pause there for a minute. That's the critical phrase here, that He found in the temple. All this livestock, the sheep and the bulls and the goats and all of that sort of thing, plus people engaged in the business of changing money.
Now the first question we have to ask is why was the livestock there and why were the money changers there? Well, the answer to that is simple. At the Passover, there was the requirement of every pilgrim to sacrifice an animal. And it was very difficult for the people who came from all of the outer villages of Israel coming up to Jerusalem to bring their livestock with them.
It was much easier for them to fulfill their obligations to purchase the animals that were necessary for the sacrifices in Jerusalem. Secondly, a temple tax was required to be paid at this time, and the temple authorities were very particular about what kind of coinage was to be acceptable, because in the nation there were competing types of currency and coins, some of which were very impure.
And the church authorities wanted the purest silver that could be found here, and so the requirement was that the tax be paid in this particular coinage. And so, money changers were set up to exchange local currency for this official currency for the tax. And of course, the money changers who did this got a commission. Some say that it was as high as 12%.
Now, Jesus is not complaining that people are selling animals to the pilgrims. Nor is Jesus complaining that people are able to trade in their currency for the prescribed currency. The problem that Jesus has is where these things are taking place. Because in a very real sense, the enterprise that was going on here was a service to the people who were coming.
But you see, we know that prior to this time, sometime before that, the booths for the sale of the animals and the exchanging the money were set up across the Valley of Kidron, up on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, significantly removed from the temple complex itself. But now for convenience sake,
the outer court, the court of the Gentiles, was transformed from a place of worship and a place of prayer to the place of merchandise. And when Jesus comes into the house of God and sees that it is being used for something other than what it had been consecrated to be used for, He then fashions the whip and He drives out the livestock.
Now some people see Jesus in a fit of fury and rage acting like Lash-la-roo or somebody hitting people with a whip. Now the purpose of the whip was to get the animals out of there, and He drives the animals with the use of the whip out of the temple complex, and then He goes over. I don't know how the accountants were in those days. I don't know if any of you have ever played Tripoli.
But we play it, and we have this great big jar of pennies, hundreds of pennies. And when we play Tripoli, we dispense the pennies to everybody in the game. Now, we don't play for money, because at the end of the game, all the pennies go back in the jar. But while you're playing the game, you're keeping track of your pennies. It's like Monopoly.
And some people have their pennies just piled chaotically in front of them. I establish mine in neat piles of ten pennies in front of me so that I can easily count my money, you know. Time enough for counting after the deal is done, but I like to keep my accounts current while I'm playing that game. But I think of these money changers sitting there with their coins neatly arranged in rows.
And Jesus comes and kicks over the tables, and the money keeps jingling on the floor and running down the floor, and these guys are scrambling everywhere trying to recover their money. It's instant chaos. People don't know what to make of it. Well, we're given a hint in this text why Jesus did what He did.
And that hint is found in verse 17, where John says this, then His disciples remembered that it was written, zeal for your house has eaten me up. Now this is fascinating because that text from the Old Testament is not found in the context of what's usually considered to be a messianic psalm, a psalm that is prophetic about the coming Messiah.
Instead, it's found in one of David's psalms where David is talking in the first instance about himself. And let's take a moment, if we may, to look back at the Old Testament location for this text. We find it in Psalm 69. And I'll read it for you quickly, the relevant portions where it begins this way.
David is writing, "'Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck, and I am sinking in deep mire where there is no standing. I've come into deep waters where the floods overflow me. I'm weary with my crying. My throat is dry.' and my eyes fail while I wait for my God." Here David is in deep distress, and he says, those who hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head.
They are mighty who would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully. And though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it. O God, You know my foolishness. My sins are not hidden from You. Let not those who wait for you, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me. Let not those who seek you be confounded because of me, O God of Israel, because for your sake I have borne reproach.
And for your sake, shame has covered my face. And I've become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's children. Why? Because zeal for your house has eaten me up. And the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. Now, do you understand what David is saying here? Because I have proclaimed your word, O God, I've become a reproach in my own family.
Because of my zeal for your house, a zeal that consumes me, a passion that eats me up, I'm despised. And what the disciples are saying is, yes, David's greater son comes centuries later who has this in common with David. Remember, Christ is the son of David that they saw in Jesus, the same thing that David experiences in his life, this zeal for the house of God.
the house that God had established for worship. You know, we have this practical thing that we do here at St. Andrews that I harp on. I tell you, it's a wonderful thing to enjoy fellowship with one another, but I ask you that when the lights go down low, after the lights go down low, you know, and the strings begin to play, the prelude, that that's a signal that
for us to prepare our hearts for worship by entering into silence. Why? Beloved, because noise is not conducive to worship. Now imagine if you came to church on Sunday morning and you came in here to pray and And all you could hear was , lambs and sheep and goats bleeding all over the place. That's what was going on in the temple.
That the sacred grounds that had been reserved for a posture of worship became chaotic. Oh, people's needs were being met. I'm sure the temple authorities would say, well, we're just trying to be relevant. We're being seeker-sensitive today for those who are bringing up their lambs and who need their money exchanged.
And the point I want us to get at is a point that is almost completely vanished from the landscape of contemporary Christianity, that God is very, very particular about how He is worshiped. about how He is approached in the sanctuary. And Jesus is saying to His contemporaries, hey, this is holy ground. This is a place for prayer. This is a place for adoration and for worship.
Take your animals, take your produce, go across the street. This is My Father's house." So the Jews come to Him and sing. Why should we listen to you? What sign do you give us that you're your Father's Son, as it were? And He said, you tear this building down, and in three days, I'll build it up again." What? They had no idea what He was talking about.
70.
Jesus said, that thing is going to be torn down. When you tear down this building in three days, I'll build it up again. What is He saying? Before I answer that question, let me just say this. There's a whole theology of restoration, and people are gleefully awaiting for the Jews to rebuild the temple. Right? Don't you realize that the temple has already been rebuilt?
Christ is the temple, and the rebuilding of the temple took place on the day of resurrection. He is the living presence of God in the midst of His people. That's what He's saying to them. You people who are desecrating this temple, You can destroy it, and you're going to destroy this temple, but in three days after you do it, you will see the new eternal temple. That's the sign. It's quickly.
People were asking for a sign. They were constantly asking for a sign. People today are constantly asking for a sign. People say, I'm from Missouri. Show me. Show me a miracle, and I will believe. You say, well, I read this stuff here in the Bible, but I wasn't there. I didn't see it with my eyes.
This is the testimony of other people, and I'm not going to believe in Christ until I see Him with my eyes or hear Him with my ears and see a miracle done in His name today. You remember what Paul said when he went to Athens and he stood before the Athenians and he debated with the philosophers on Mars Hill?
He said, the former days of ignorance God has overlooked, but now He commands all men everywhere to repent because He has appointed a day in which He's going to judge the whole world by what? By that man whom He has appointed to be the judge. whom He has proven through the resurrection of the dead."
Here's what I get out of that, that God said, look, Jesus does all these signs, but the supreme sign is the resurrection. And God's only going to do it once. He's not going to have Christ come down and die every week and be raised every week. But the way in which God establishes his church, his new established church, is through raising Christ from the dead. He is the temple.
John already introduced him as the tabernacle, if you recall, in the prologue at the beginning of this gospel. And so, my beloved, as we continue this study of John's gospel, let us remember that the zeal that our Lord has for the house of God, for worship, that it may indeed be that which pleases God.
You will see that theme again and again and again throughout this gospel, that worship is not something that He just gives to us and say, do whatever you want, lest He should come to us with a whip made out of cords and drive us from his sanctuary.
You're listening to Renewing Your Mind, and that was R.C. Sproul from a sermon he preached at St. Andrew's Chapel in Sanford, Florida. Each Sunday we feature the preaching ministry of Dr. Sproul, and these sermons and all of his study form the basis of his expositional commentary series.
You can continue building your commentary library when you give a year-end donation of any amount at renewingyourmind.org. When you do, as our way of saying thank you, we'll send you the hardcover edition of his line-by-line commentary on John. This commentary is suited for both study and devotional reading, so be sure to request yours while there's still time.
Thank you.