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Sermon

Jesus Confronts Corrupted Worship, Part 1

Speaker
David Capoccia
Scripture
John 2:12-25

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In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia begins examining John 2:12-25 and Jesus’ first visit to Jerusalem during Passover in his public ministry. The apostle John presents Jesus’ cleansing visit so that you will not present God with corrupted worship but instead believe in Jesus. In Part 1, Pastor Dave looks at John 2:12-17 and how Jesus demonstrates zeal for God’s house.

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

The cleansing of the temple in John 2:12-17 reveals that Jesus, as the true Messiah and Son of God, is zealous for pure worship of the Father and will not tolerate its corruption. We are reminded that while most human anger is sinful, God’s anger is holy—directed at sin, injustice, and corrupted worship. Jesus’ dramatic act of driving merchants from the temple was not a loss of temper but a righteous display of messianic authority, fulfilling Old Testament expectations.

Key Lessons:

  1. Not all anger is sinful—God designed us to reflect holy anger over what truly dishonors Him, including corrupted worship and injustice.
  2. Jesus’ cleansing of the temple proves His messiahship and deity, as He claimed the temple as “my Father’s house” and acted with divine authority.
  3. God’s expectation of pure worship has not changed—Jesus is just as zealous for holiness in His church today as He was in the physical temple.
  4. We have a corporate responsibility to help fellow believers deal with sin, not just tend to our own spiritual lives in isolation.

Application: We are called to examine our own lives for areas of corrupted worship—hidden sin, unresolved relational conflict, or worldliness brought into God’s presence. Rather than hiding these things, we must repent openly before God, seek help from fellow believers, and also lovingly confront brothers and sisters we see going astray. We must not use grace as a license for sin but pursue holiness with the same zeal Jesus displayed.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Are there areas in your life where you are bringing “merchants into the temple”—tolerating sin while continuing to worship as if nothing is wrong?
  2. How do you distinguish between sinful human anger and the kind of righteous, holy anger that God calls us to have over injustice and corrupted worship?
  3. What holds you back from lovingly confronting a brother or sister about sin, and how can you overcome that reluctance in a way that reflects Jesus’ zeal for God’s house?

Scripture Focus: John 2:12-17 records Jesus’ first temple cleansing, demonstrating His messianic authority and zeal for pure worship. Psalm 69:9 is quoted by the disciples as fulfilled in Jesus’ actions. Psalm 7:11 reveals God’s daily indignation against sin. Malachi 3:1-3 and Zechariah 14:21 prophesy the Messiah purifying the temple.

Outline

Introduction

Thank you once again, musicians. Let’s pray.

God, as Moses prayed, we pray again now. As we look to your word, show us your glory. Show us even the beauty of your holiness, even in the zeal of your son. And show us the beauty of the Gospel and God saving us from the anger of God in Jesus’ name. Amen.

When Anger Is Wrong—and When It’s Right

As you can maybe tell from my prayer in preparation for the message this week, I have been thinking a little bit about anger. We all probably recognize times when we shouldn’t have gotten angry over something. It wasn’t worthy of our anger.

For example, we shouldn’t get angry when a piece of technology suddenly stops working. I’m sure you’ve experienced this. Maybe the printer jams right before you need to turn in your assignment, or your phone won’t connect to the internet right when you need to give that person at the counter your information. There’s a temptation to get angry when technology doesn’t work the way we want, even to believe that piece of tech is evil and it’s trying to spite us.

But in our sober moments, we realize these things are inanimate. They don’t have intelligence. They don’t will to hurt us. Actually, they often malfunction because we are not using them properly. It’s really our fault.

But even when that’s not the case, imperfections in technology and imperfections in this world should be expected. Anger over inconvenient technology is really just a manifestation of pride, of valuing your own way and desires too much, and of a lack of faith in God who is actually caring for you, even through the trials, and is teaching you through the trials of technology.

“Anger over inconvenient technology is really just a manifestation of pride, of valuing your own way and desires too much.”

Or another example—I think we all know this—but you shouldn’t get angry when you suffer inconveniences while driving. If you ever unexpectedly hit traffic and you’ve got somewhere important to be, or maybe that person you’re driving behind doesn’t know how to use turn signals, or that person pulls out onto the road at an extremely slow pace so that if you don’t brake hard you’re going to hit that person, there’s a temptation to get angry, even to rage against all those bad drivers.

But what we need to realize, what we really know, is that we aren’t perfect drivers ourselves. We’re causing inconveniences to other people on the road. Remember, you’re never stuck in traffic. You are the traffic. You’re contributing to the problem.

And as naive or reckless or sinful someone might be on the road, whatever others might do, you have done far worse to Jesus Christ, and he has forgiven you. He has been patient with you. So rather than getting angry with others, you are to be humble. You are to be forgiving, as you trust God and drive.

These are just two examples. We can multiply examples like these—situations where our passions get aroused, we become angrily zealous, really for ourselves or for things that are not worthy of such passion.

God’s Holy Anger

But have you ever recognized situations of the opposite problem? Where you should have become zealously angry over something, but you did not?

We are probably used to the idea that anger is always sinful. And that makes sense, because in the vast majority of cases, anger is sinful. The Bible says the anger of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God.

But we should realize at the same time that not all anger is sinful. Because really, who is the most angry person in the Bible? Who is said to be angry the most often? It’s God himself.

“Not all anger is sinful. Who is the most angry person in the Bible? It’s God himself.”

Psalm 7:11 says, “God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day.” Indignation is another word for anger. God is a god of love. This is not contradicting that. But at the same time, God is a god of anger.

Psalm 7:11: “God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day.”

And certainly, God is not sinful. He who is the light cannot have any darkness in him at all. So that means that God’s anger is holy. God gets angry over the right things, and he gets angry in the right way. His anger is holy.

In making us in his image, God designed us to reflect the kind of holy anger that he has—that anger even motivating us to take right action, to rectify or to fix that which is truly wrong.

What is it that makes God angry also ought to make us angry, even motivated to change it? Injustice, oppression, abuse, the mistreatment of those who are made in God’s image, even the killing of those persons—sin of any kind makes God angry, in order to move us as well.

Even the great evils of our day that are often in the headlines—abortion, immorality, greed—we are not to just shrug our shoulders at these things. We are to care. We’re to be even moved to respond, because that reflects the heart of God.

God’s Jealousy for True Worship

But more specifically, there is something that makes God angry that ought to arouse our zeal, related to our text today. And that is corrupted worship.

Many times in the Old Testament, God tells Israel that he is a jealous God. And not jealous in a petty or needy way, but jealous to receive the glory, receive the worship, receive the honor that he is due as the only true God, as the Creator.

“God is jealous to receive the glory, the worship, the honor that he is due as the only true God.”

God gets angry when people worship other gods instead of him and worship the things of the world. God gets angry when people attempt to worship him in a way that he did not command, that goes against his Bible. And God gets angry when people pretend to worship him when they are actually walking in sin.

What that means is that God even gets angry when you and I don’t get angry as we should. When there is ongoing sin, idolatry, or worldliness in our lives, and we’re not zealous to repent or change, we think to ourselves, “I’ve got this thing. It’s not right, but nobody else knows. God doesn’t seem to care. I’ll just keep worshiping God like everything’s fine.”

Really, this sin is no big deal. I’m not even sure it’s a sin. I don’t want to parade it in front of people, but there’s no need to get upset about this. If anything, it’s only slightly corrupted worship.

In our next passage in the Gospel of John, we will see afresh how God feels about corrupted worship. And this revelation will come by the speech and deeds of the Word made flesh, of the God-man Jesus.

We will not only see again that Jesus really is the Christ, but we’re also going to see that God—Jesus, as God—is zealous for true worship, true belief in him. And he will not accept anything less.

“Jesus, as God, is zealous for true worship, true belief in him. And he will not accept anything less.”

Setting the Scene: John 2:12-25

Please take your Bibles and open to John 2:12-25.

That’s page 1016 in the Pew Bible. The title of the message today is “Jesus Confronts Corrupted Worship, Part One”—a little different from the bulletin, but similar.

We’re really just going to focus on verses 12 to 17 today, because there’s a lot of background that I want to give to you. I don’t think we can get through the whole section, but I do want to read the whole section to give you the context.

John 2:12-25. Please follow along as I read the word of God.

“After this, he—that’s Jesus—went down to Capernaum, he and his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days. The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And he found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.

And he made a scourge of cords and drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. And to those who are selling the doves, he said, ‘Take these things away. Stop making my father’s house a place of business.’

His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’

The Jews then said to him, ‘What sign do you show us as your authority for doing these things?’

Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’

The Jews then said, ‘It took 46 years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?’

But he was speaking of the temple of his body. So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast, many believed in his name, observing his signs which he was doing. But Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them, for he knew all men. And because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for he himself knew what was in man.”

Two Temple Cleansings, Not One

In this passage, we see Jesus cleansing the temple in Jerusalem at Passover. If you are familiar with the other gospels, this text will remind you of accounts in Matthew 21, Mark 11, and Luke 19, where Jesus also cleanses the temple at Passover.

There are differences between those accounts and this one. The biggest difference is when they occur. Those other gospels—what are often called the synoptics—record Jesus cleansing the temple at the end of his three-and-a-half-year ministry, at the Passover before his crucifixion.

But here, John presents the cleansing of the temple at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.

Why this difference? Many Bible scholars think that there must have been only one temple cleansing. So either John or the other gospel writers moved it—whenever it actually occurred—to a different spot in their gospel because it served a thematic purpose.

However, as reasonable as that might sound, in each of the accounts—both here and in the other gospels—there are time details around the explanation of Jesus cleansing the temple that are clear enough to show that these events have not been moved around. Rather, the only acceptable conclusion for someone who actually believes the Bible is that there were two cleansings of the temple.

“The only acceptable conclusion for someone who actually believes the Bible is that there were two cleansings of the temple.”

There was a temple cleansing at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and at the end. This partly explains the different reactions that Jesus receives. In the first temple cleansing, Jesus is not yet well known, and the Jewish leaders don’t quite know how to react to him.

But in the second temple cleansing, Jesus has already been heralded as Messiah. The Jewish leaders conclude that they must kill him.

It is therefore a sad testimony—though not altogether surprising, considering Israel’s history—that even two dramatic, full cleansings of Israel’s central worship site does not result in lasting change. He cleanses it at the beginning and has to do it at the end. When he does it at the end, it doesn’t result in change.

This shows why the nation of Israel was ripe for judgment, why God even destroyed the temple in a permanent way so that it has not been rebuilt even to this day. It’s also an indication of why something better than the old covenant needed to arrive, which is really what Jesus brings.

Main Idea: Jesus Demonstrates Zeal for God’s House

Now, our passage—verses 12 to 25—divides into three parts, each having something to do with Jesus confronting corrupted worship.

Here’s the main idea of the whole section in John 2:12-25: John presents Jesus’ cleansing visit to Jerusalem on Passover so that you will not present God with corrupted worship, but instead believe in Jesus. John presents Jesus’ cleansing visit to Jerusalem on Passover so that you will not present God with corrupted worship, but instead believe truly—believe in Jesus.

“John presents Jesus’ cleansing visit so that you will not present God with corrupted worship, but instead believe in Jesus.”

Now, as I said, today we’re just focusing on the first part of the passage. Here’s the heading for verses 12 to 17.

Number one: Jesus Demonstrates Zeal for God’s House.

Transition to Capernaum

And let’s start by looking at verse 12.

“After this, he went down to Capernaum, he and his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days.”

Now, this verse provides a transition between the previous account and the one that we’re about to look at. It starts with “after this”—that’s a reference to what we looked at previously, the beginning of Jesus’ signs, that is, his sign miracles, and that took place at the little town of Cana in Galilee.

Jesus turned water miraculously into good wine at a wedding. And that miracle, symbolizing what Jesus’ messiahship really represents in the calendar of God’s dealings with the world and sending his son—God saved the best grace for last, just like the good wine was saved for last.

Well, after that event, we read here that Jesus went down to Capernaum. Now, Capernaum was a bustling town on the northwestern coast of the Sea of Galilee. And it sat on a major trade route. This is very different from where Jesus was living before—Nazareth, kind of a backwater, nobody goes there.

Now, this is a happening place, at least in Galilee. It’s more cosmopolitan. This would be east of Cana. But it says he went down because Capernaum is by the sea. It’s lower in elevation. That’s why we have that description.

Capernaum will later become Jesus’ primary residence, his base of operations as he does his ministry in and around the Galilee area. It doesn’t look like he’s setting up shop there just yet. We read here that he’s just stopping there for a few days, in route to another city.

“Capernaum will later become Jesus’ primary residence, his base of operations as he does his ministry.”

Notice what comes with Jesus to Capernaum: we have his mother, his brothers, and his disciples. Now, this is the first time that Jesus’ brothers are mentioned. These would be Jesus’ half-brothers that Mary bore to Joseph after Jesus was born.

Joseph has very likely passed away by this point. But the brothers are still there. And Jesus also had some half-sisters, according to Matthew 13:56. So he does have some siblings.

Not much to say about these brothers right now, except that we are going to see them again in the Gospel of John. But anyways, they go down with him to Capernaum.

The Passover of the Jews

Now, why does the group only stay there a few days? Well, because there’s a big event that’s about to take place somewhere else that all those brothers and Jesus are going to want to go to. And we learn about that event in verse 13.

Verse 13: “The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”

All right, so it’s the Passover—one of the three great yearly feasts in Israel—and to which, according to the law of Moses, all Jewish males 12 years and older were required to travel to Jerusalem so that they could celebrate the feasts there.

“All Jewish males 12 years and older were required to travel to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts there.”

The Meaning and Origin of Passover

Now, you remember what the Passover commemorates? We’re going all the way back to the Book of Exodus for that. During the tenth and final plague that God unleashed on Egypt—in which God slew the firstborn of every family in Egypt—God passed over the Israelites. And why?

Well, he had commanded them: “You were going to kill a lamb, and you’re going to put its blood on the door frames of your houses. And when my angel sees that, he will not strike down your firstborn. The plague will pass over you.”

Israel did that. And it was also on that night that Israel had to eat a certain meal in haste, because once Pharaoh had seen the effect of this last plague, he immediately sent to Moses and he said, “Get out! All of you, get out of the land!”

The Israelites were previously enslaved and oppressed. They were finally set free on the night of this last plague. God wanted Israel to commemorate not only the passing over of judgment on them, but also their rescue from Egypt—this double deliverance.

“God wanted Israel to commemorate not only the passing over of judgment on them, but also their rescue from Egypt—this double deliverance.”

Israel was commanded on a certain date each year to celebrate a Passover meal—a meal that was commemorative, that was reflective of the original meal that they had to eat quickly. This would include a slain lamb and unleavened bread, because there was no time to have yeast work in the bread to make it rise.

Passover was really the first day of a seven-day feast—the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And Passover was one of the most important, if not the most important, feast for Israel.

Our author John is very keen to mention the Passover in his gospels. Three times he specifically refers to Jesus going up to Jerusalem for the Passover. There’s another reference where he just talks about a feast, which could have been a fourth Passover. Jesus’ three-and-a-half-year ministry could have been four or just three Passovers.

John wants us to be thinking about the Passover. And this first one, he definitely wants us to pay attention to, because something really significant happened when Jesus went up to Jerusalem for Passover.

Why ‘The Passover of the Jews’?

Now, notice specifically in verse 13, it says not just “the Passover,” but “the Passover of the Jews.” Why the next descriptor, “of the Jews”?

Well, some think that phrase is an indicator of John’s audience being Gentiles. They don’t really know about the Passover. They’re not familiar with this holiday. John has to explain, “Oh, this is the Passover of the Jews.”

But I’ve presented with you before, with evidence, that John’s primary audience are actually Jews—Hellenistic Jews, Greek-speaking, Greek-culture Jews who don’t live in Palestine. I don’t think that’s the reason for this.

More likely, the inclusion of this phrase is part of that overall purpose of John—to those Jews—to show that they really need to cross over from the old to the new. The Passover was part of the old system, now fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus is our Passover Lamb.

“The Passover was part of the old system, now fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus is our Passover Lamb.”

This Passover is not really a Christian holiday anymore. It’s of the Jews. And believing in Jesus means standing with your Messiah, which can result—probably will result—in the same kind of rejection in your life as a Jew as Jesus experienced himself.

The Jews rejected their Messiah. If you stand with Jesus, they’re going to reject you too. But don’t be afraid of that. John is indicating throughout his gospel: a true Jew, a true lover of God, he will cross over all the way to stand with Jesus. He will suffer the misunderstanding and rejection of his own kin if need be.

So there is a difference. The old way, even the holidays associated with it, is of the Jews. Jesus is the completion of that way.

I think that’s why that phrase is there. But regardless, verse 13 tells us that the Passover was near. Jesus, who must perfectly fulfill all righteousness, must totally keep the law as given to Israel. He makes his way to Jerusalem.

Every Jewish male has to go. Like a good Jew, Jesus shows up to Jerusalem for the feast.

Now, “going up to Jerusalem” is the proper phrasing, because even though it’s south of Galilee, it’s much higher in elevation. It’s the capital city. They always talked about going up to Jerusalem, regardless of where they’re coming from.

What Jesus Found in the Temple

Now, Jesus is going to encounter something in Jerusalem on this Passover which is really going to fire him up—but not in a happy way. And we see it in verse 14.

“And he found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.”

We’re going to need a fair amount of historical background to fully appreciate this verse. Let me try to provide that for you.

A necessary part of the Passover feast was going up to the temple to offer an unblemished male, year-old lamb or goat as a sacrifice. The meat of this slain animal was to form a key part of the Passover meal, in commemoration and in obedience to the law.

In addition to this prescribed sacrifice for Passover, Jewish pilgrims may have needed or wanted to present other animal sacrifices—perhaps bulls, perhaps birds like doves or pigeons. This is part of worshiping God, and they would do this at the temple.

However, by this point in history, the Jews have really spread out in terms of where they live. They’re not just all over Palestine, but they are also all over the Roman Empire and even beyond—Babylon and such.

If the Jew is seeking to be obedient to law, he still has to make his way all the way to Jerusalem. But bringing an acceptable animal all that way just wasn’t practical. It’s very expensive, and there’s no guarantee the animal would survive such a journey.

“Bringing an acceptable animal all that way just wasn’t practical. There’s no guarantee the animal would survive such a journey.”

A business develops—or a service, if you want to call it that—in which pilgrims could simply bring money with them to Jerusalem from wherever they were coming from. And they could just buy an acceptable animal once they got there.

The Temple Tax and Money Changers

And not only this: the Passover was one of the accepted times for Jews to pay the temple tax for Jewish males specifically.

Now, where does temple tax come from? Well, drawing on the census tax that God originally commanded Moses to conduct in Exodus 30:11-16—this is when God was separating the Levites and the line of Aaron from the rest of the tribes for priestly, tabernacle service. He originally commanded that there be a tax based on the census.

Well, it became customary in Israel after that time that, as part of doing what God commanded—supporting the priests, the Levites, and his house, the tabernacle, later temple—that every male 20 years old and older would pay a yearly money amount, specifically a half-shekel tax.

So every Jewish male 20 years old and older had to pay a half-shekel tax to support the temple and its ministry.

But there were two challenges to paying this tax. One: there are many different coinages in the world at this time, made of different materials, made of different levels of purity of that material. So whose shekel were you supposed to use?

And the other problem is: not every culture had a half-shekel coin. So how do you pay a half-shekel if there’s only whole-shekel coins?

Well, the latter problem was usually dealt with by the Jews by two Jews paying the tax together. They kind of go in together: “We’re going to pay the tax together by presenting one coin.” Which is why, by the way, in Matthew 17:27, when Peter magically catches a fish with a coin in its mouth, what does Jesus tell him? “Go take that coin and pay your tax and mine.” It’s the way the Jews did it. Two males, they paired up to pay the tax. And it just so happened to be a shekel—the coin amount that was needed for the tax.

Now, as for the first problem—whose shekel do you use?—the Jewish religious leaders eventually decided that they would only accept one coin type for the temple tax. And that is the Tyrian shekel, or the shekel that comes from the city of Tyre, that was minted from the city of Tyre.

Now, why they chose that coin is not abundantly clear, because after all, Tyre was a pagan city. And they even featured images of their gods on the coins. You think that would kind of wrinkle the Jews a little bit.

But likely the reason they went for that is that these Tyrian coins were especially pure in silver—94 percent or higher purity of silver. That’s good for using that money.

“These Tyrian coins were especially pure in silver—94 percent or higher purity.”

But settling that coin problem resulted in a new problem. And that is: well, we’ve got Jews living all over the world. They’ve got all kinds of coins. How do those Jews get their hands specifically on the required Tyrian shekel?

Well, this is where another business or service developed: that of money changing. During the feasts of Jerusalem—the different feasts, Passover and others—there would be those who, for a fee, would exchange whatever coins you had from wherever you’re coming from for the specifically required coin to pay the temple tax.

It’s kind of like the currency exchanges you see today when you’re traveling to another country. You say, “Oh, I need euros or I need yen or whatever kind of currency you need.” There were money changers back then who would do the same thing, so that you could pay the temple tax.

The Problem: Commerce in the Court of Worship

Now, is there anything wrong with having these businesses, with having these services—people to provide animals who are coming from far away, or people to help you exchange the coins that you can pay for the temple tax? Is there anything wrong with that in and of itself?

Not at all. In fact, that seems like a very necessary service. How on earth are these Jews going to be able to fulfill the law without these sellers and these money changers to help them do so? This was actually a great benefit.

Except that two problems emerged with these services. One is price gouging. As those offering these services pretty much have a monopoly on it, they’re able—if they want to—to take advantage of the people coming from far away. They have to get an animal for this Passover sacrifice. They have to exchange their money to pay the temple tax. So who’s to say you can’t rack up the price for that animal or for that money exchange?

The other problem is where these services end up being offered. According to the ancient Jewish Roman historian Josephus, originally, animal selling—these acceptable animals for offering—and money-changing services were not set up in Jerusalem itself. They were set up just outside of Jerusalem, specifically east, across the Kidron Valley, towards the Mount of Olives.

Many pilgrims will be coming over the Mount of Olives, down into the Kidron Valley, and then into Jerusalem as they came into the feast. So it’s kind of like, on the way into Jerusalem, there’s the people who can offer you the animals or the money-exchanging services if you need it. That’s where they originally set up.

But over time, these businesses got closer and closer to where they would be needed—to the temple itself. By the time of Jesus, by the time of this first Passover of his public ministry, where are these services? They are in the temple itself.

“By the time of Jesus, these services are in the temple itself.”

The Temple Complex and the Court of the Gentiles

When you read that phrase “in the temple,” you should understand it as “in the temple complex.” We’re not talking about in the Holy Place, in the Holy of Holies, or the actual building. This would be the whole area, the whole court area around that special building. It would all be referred to as the temple.

When it says “in the temple,” we’re probably talking about the outer court of the temple.

I understand that by Jesus’ time, the temple area has grown considerably since the time that Solomon originally constructed the temple on a portion of Mount Moriah. Mount Moriah is the eastern hill of the ancient city of Jerusalem.

Originally, that’s all it covered. But it was expanded into Hezekiah. It was destroyed and then rebuilt. And then when the Maccabees took over, they wanted to expand the area. And then when Herod the Great took over, he really wanted to expand the area.

So now the temple really covers almost the entirety of Mount Moriah. And if you visit Israel today, that Temple Mount area—that raised platform on which Herod constructed, or rather beautified, the reconstructed temple—it still exists. And it’s a huge area.

My professor who led us on the Israel trip told us one statistic: the temple complex area is the equivalent to 25 to 30 American football fields. So it’s large. And I’ve stood on the Temple Mount, and you can walk around it. It is quite large.

It was designed by Herod and others to not just feature the temple building itself, but have a whole bunch of auxiliary buildings and porticos and beautification pieces that are meant to point to the glory of God, to honor God by the majesty of these buildings, and also to serve practical functions to assist in the needs of the worshipers.

It was really supposed to be a worshipful expansion of this temple area. And you’ve got thousands of people coming in each feast to do these sacrifices. It’s helpful to have a big area.

Now, the outer court was also known as the Court of the Gentiles, because it was as far as non-Jews could go in getting close to God’s dwelling place or offering him worship. Which it’s a little rough, right? You would, as a Gentile, want to go as far as the Jews could go. But hey, you’ll take what you can get.

God has chosen the Jews as a special people. But you can still go to the outer court. You can still pray. You can still praise. You can still have an amazing experience of worshiping the Lord right at the place of his special dwelling.

“The outer court was as far as non-Jews could go in getting close to God’s dwelling place or offering him worship.”

That was the design of this outer court. And Herod and others have provided for that. That’s wonderful, right?

Well, verse 14 again tells us that in this outer court area—which should be the main worship site of the Gentiles, in fulfillment of Isaiah 56:7, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations”—this outer court is now filled with animals and animal sellers and money changers. And they are conducting their business, and perhaps even ripping off thousands of worshipers of God.

With tens of thousands of Jews in total coming to Jerusalem for this one feast, they’re all trying to get to the temple. They all need to get animals to offer a sacrifice and present worship to God. Just how crowded and maybe even chaotic did this court area become?

You can just imagine the sound of it. Rather than prayer and praise being heard throughout this temple complex, what you hear is bleating and mooing and shouting and haggling.

This is what Jesus sees. This is what Jesus hears when he comes up to the temple. You’ve got all these merchants. They’ve specifically rented out space from the chief priests for their little stalls. And they’re applying their trade of animals—selling these animals or offering these money-changing services to people right in the temple.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

Now, Jesus surely has seen this before. He’s been going up to the Jerusalem feasts throughout his approximately 30 years of life. But it’s now, once Jesus’ public ministry has officially begun, that he’s going to do something. And we see what he does in verses 15 to 16.

“And he—as Jesus made a scourge of cords and drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. And to those who were selling the doves, he said, ‘Take these things away. Stop making my father’s house a place of business.’”

This is amazing. This is very different than the popular conception of Jesus that we sometimes hear. Jesus is not meek and mild—he’s never upset anybody. That’s not the Jesus we see in scripture.

Notice verse 15 says that Jesus made a scourge of cords—that is, a whip of rope—and he starts driving out the merchandisers from the temple area. All the sellers, all the animals. That whip, no doubt, was primarily intended for the animals so that they can get a move on and get out of the area.

It’s not just about clearing the space of animals. Notice Jesus also flips over the tables of the money changers. He pours out their coins, which is going to make it kind of hard for them to recover those coins.

Interestingly, Jesus does not release the birds—doves or pigeons—so they just fly away. But he does directly address the sellers of those birds and says, “Take these things away. Get your birds out of here.”

And then Jesus gives the reason that’s driving all his action at the end of verse 16.

“Stop making my father’s house a place of business.”

“Stop making my father’s house a place of business.”

See, this is the main problem that is so galling to Jesus. It’s not that there are these businesses, or even that these businesses are charging high prices—though later on, when he cleanses the temple a second time, he will say that the Jews have made it a robber’s den, which probably does point to the price-gouging problem.

But the main problem here is the fact that these merchants have brought their businesses right into God’s chosen area of worship. And they’ve carried on like there’s no issue at all.

There’s a problem. What problem? Jesus has to confront them. He has to say to them: “Don’t—what is this place? Don’t—what complex are you sitting in as you are applying your trades? This is God’s house. This is the place he’s chosen to put his special presence. How dare you think so lowly of God’s holiness that you’re going to take his house and turn it into a market house?”

‘My Father’s House’—A Claim of Deity

Literally, “house of business” is the Greek. You notice the particular way that Jesus identifies this temple: not simply “God’s house,” but “my father’s house.”

That’s profound. Because that means Jesus is not representing himself just as a pious Jew concerned about the temple sanctity as a worship site. No, he is a son concerned about what belongs to his heavenly father.

“How dare you turn my father’s house into your business emporium?”

Now, no Jew, even in the Old Testament, ever addressed God in such a personal way. Sometimes Israelites or Jews might refer to God as “our father” when talking about God. But they would never address God as “our father.” And certainly not “my father.”

No Jew would talk about God as “my father” or speak to God as “my father.” Jesus does. Jesus calls God “my father” here.

His explanation for why those corrupting the temple area better get themselves and their goods out of the place—in other words, Jesus’ statement “my father’s house”—is a declaration of messiahship and even deity.

“Jesus’ statement ‘my father’s house’ is a declaration of messiahship and even deity.”

The Jews will remark about this eventually. He talks about, “I do whatever I see my father doing.” They will accuse him of blasphemy, because they know that is a claim of deity.

I think you can understand by this point that what we see Jesus doing is not some stone-faced, dispassionate display from the Son of God. This is Jesus clearly in passion. He is indignant. He is moved. He is raising his voice. He is disgusted. He is angry with this blatant disregard for his father’s honor, because he loves the father.

Jesus is passionate to set things right in the temple. This is righteous anger. This is holy anger on display in Jesus, our Lord.

Jesus’ disciples notice—which is why we read verse 17.

Verse 17 notes: “His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’”

This is intriguing. According to John, Jesus’ display of righteous anger and holy zeal on behalf of God caused the disciples—apparently right then and there—to remember a certain Old Testament song: Psalm 69.

We read this Psalm earlier in the service. I’m not going to go back and reread the whole thing now. But recall that Psalm 69 is a Psalm of David—a Psalm of King David—in which David laments to God about people persecuting him for his devotion to God and even his devotion to God’s house. He petitions God for personal deliverance. He also petitions God to bring judgment—angry judgment—on those persecutors.

In Psalm 69:9 specifically, it says: “For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who approach you have fallen on me.”

It makes sense why they would think of this Psalm, because it does specifically mention that phrase: “Zeal for God’s house.” David had that. Jesus has that too, as the disciples can see.

But is that the only connection? In this Psalm, Jesus just so happens to fulfill a particular phrase—just one phrase of the Psalm? Is that the only reason why the disciples think of it, and that John brings it up for us here in this passage?

I don’t think so. There’s definitely something more here. I believe the disciples are making a connection that many others who are watching Jesus are probably also making, or at least considering.

How Did Jesus Get Away with This?

Perhaps one of the questions that comes to your mind as you hear me talk about this passage, or as you think about these passages: How did Jesus get away with this?

Our brother Greg preached to this passage not too long ago. He raised this same question, and it’s a good question. How does one guy with a whip drive out scores of merchants from the temple grounds, along with their animals, while scattering the precious money of all the money changers?

Why didn’t anybody intervene to stop him? We don’t see any indication of that in the text. Why not?

Why didn’t any of the temple guards—there were guards around here. That was the chief function of the Levites at this time—why didn’t any of the temple guards intervene to stop what would have looked like a disruption of normal temple operations?

Why didn’t any of the Roman soldiers intervene? There was actually a fortress right next to, kind of attached to, the Temple Mount area—the Antonia Fortress. Roman legionaries could overlook the temple. They could keep a check on any sort of unrest that was brewing over there. Why didn’t any Roman soldiers start coming into the temple area once Jesus got going?

How Jesus got away with his zealous act is not an easy question to answer. But there are several possibilities.

One possibility is that Jesus was forceful but not disorderly in his removing the sellers from the temple. That is, he didn’t actually create chaos. The guards—whether Jewish or Roman—didn’t feel the need to intervene.

Perhaps the Jewish guards in particular, along with the merchants, felt conviction that somebody was finally doing what really should have been done long ago. They didn’t offer any real resistance. They knew that what they were doing was not right. Maybe that’s why.

Another possibility is that this is simply Jesus’ supernatural power at work. People didn’t intervene to stop Jesus because there was something about his zealous fury that stopped them in their tracks.

“There was something about his zealous fury that stopped them in their tracks.”

Even the Romans—we know Revelation describes Jesus as one whose eyes are a flame of fire. Perhaps those in the temple, when they saw Jesus doing what he was doing, glimpsed this kind of look from Jesus. They became afraid. “I don’t want to get in the way of that force.”

This would be consistent with what we see later on in the Book of John. In another instance, the Jewish leaders say, “What Jesus is preaching in the temple area—go arrest him.” They send the guards. But the guards come back without arresting Jesus. They’re asked, “Why didn’t you arrest him?” And they said, “Nobody talks like this man does.”

They recognize there’s something supernatural about him. They couldn’t stop him. When we get to Gethsemane, even when the mob is there with their weapons to arrest Jesus, John shows us that this whole group will draw back and fall to the ground when Jesus just says, “You’re looking for Jesus? I am he.” They just fall over at that declaration.

Again, that’s because of the supernatural power of Jesus. Maybe that’s what’s operating here.

A third possibility is that Jesus was not acting alone, but he actually gained popular support. If we just glance down to verse 23, we learn that Jesus was doing signs in Jerusalem—remember, “signs,” John uses that word to indicate sign miracles. He was doing miracles. These miracles were causing people even to believe in his name.

John doesn’t tell us when during the Passover Jesus was doing those miracles. Was he doing them before? Was he doing them after? Was he doing it during?

If before, then Jesus might have already accrued some supporters who were quite excited about this miracle worker. Perhaps they follow him into the temple. They are both cheering him on and assisting him as he clears out these sellers and their goods that don’t belong in the temple.

You can understand: if you’re a temple guard or you’re even a chief priest, and you see this popular surge to cleanse the temple, maybe you thought for yourself, “We don’t want to try and shut this down, because that might just provoke a riot. We’ll just let him get away with it.”

Maybe that is the reason why.

I think each of these is possible. I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive. It could be multiple of these things operating at the same time.

The Messianic Expectation Behind the Cleansing

But I believe the main reason that nobody moved to stop Jesus—at least as far as we know—is because they saw in the zeal that Jesus displayed the expected behavior of the long-awaited Messiah.

After all, who else would have the courage and conviction to just step up to the temple and, without consulting the chief priest or anyone, just start cleansing out the merchants who shouldn’t be there? That’s the action of someone who has power, zeal, authority. That’s a Messiah-type move.

“Who else would have the courage and conviction to just step up to the temple and start cleansing out the merchants? That’s a Messiah-type move.”

Remember, Israel was in a high state of messianic expectation at this time. You’ve got people waiting for the Messiah, looking for the Messiah. That’s even how Jesus gained some of his first disciples.

The onlookers were probably thinking to themselves, “Could this one who’s cleansing the temple be the one that we’ve been waiting for?”

Add to it certain verses of the scriptures that point to this kind of expectation. Malachi 3:1-3 talks about the Lord’s messenger of the covenant suddenly coming into his temple and purifying it and its personnel, so that there might be pure worship offered to God. That kind of sounds like what this guy is doing.

And Zechariah 14:21 further associates the Lord’s eschatological coming—his long-awaited coming to Israel—as being what clears out the Canaanites, or what could be translated, “clears out the merchants” from the house of the Lord of hosts. Again, that sounds like what Jesus is doing.

Psalm 69 and Messianic Fulfillment

Even Psalm 69—the remembrance of Psalm 69—points to the Messiah’s ship, because Psalm 69 is written by David. It articulates the attitude of Israel’s Messiah King—his ancient Messiah King. And if the Messiah is the son of David, shouldn’t we expect that the Messiah would have the same attitude as David? And even more so?

If zeal for the house of God consumed David, certainly that will be evident in the Messiah who comes from David.

“If zeal for the house of God consumed David, certainly that will be evident in the Messiah who comes from David.”

The Jews are thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who is doing something just like what the prophets foretold? Could he be the Messiah? And if he is, I don’t want to be the one to try and stop him and be found to be opposing God himself.”

For this reason, and maybe others, I think nobody moves to stop Jesus from cleansing the temple. Instead, the disciples note how appropriately Jesus fulfills scripture—even the specific messianic expectation from Psalm 69.

The Jewish leaders prepare to ask Jesus for a further confirmation. In verse 18, they’re going to ask Jesus for a monumental sign, a dramatic miracle. “Can you prove to us that you really are the Messiah? Because you sure are acting like one?”

They won’t be prepared for Jesus’ response, which is what we’ll explore together next time. I think we need to pause in our progress through the passage so we can give enough time to each.

Application: What This Means for Us Today

For now, though, let’s appreciate what we’re seeing just from this first part of Jesus’ confrontation of corrupted worship.

What Jesus’ cleansing of the temple means for us today—we first need to understand that Jesus’ cleansing of the temple is indeed proof of his messiahship, just as the people were suspecting at that time.

God’s true Messiah would indeed not only be concerned about the corruption of worship in God’s house, but would act in zeal to rectify the situation. Which is exactly what Jesus does.

And the way he did it—in his righteous anger, not sinning, but zealously acting on God’s behalf, and even declaring that the temple was his Father’s own house—this testifies. This is testimony that Jesus is the true Christ.

“Believing in him—and him alone—you find eternal life. Don’t stop short. Go all the way to Jesus as his true disciple.”

And then believing in him—and him alone—you find eternal life. Don’t stop short. This is again telling his audience and us: don’t stop short with anyone or anything else. Go all the way to Jesus as his true disciple.

He is the Messiah. He is the Son of God.

Jesus’ Zeal Has Not Changed

We wouldn’t appreciate that first of all. But second, we need to see that Jesus’ passion for holy worship of the Father—even to the point of zealous anger—is still true today.

I mean, after all, do you think that this was really just a one-time thing for Jesus? He just had to let off some steam. He saw this thing, kind of made him upset. But he dealt with it. And he’s like, “Okay, I’m good. Don’t worry. Back to my calm self. I’m not so concerned about that anymore.”

Obviously not. Jesus is God. And God declares about himself that he does not change. His expectations of holiness, his zeal for his own glory—they do not change. Not in the Father, not in the Son, and not in the Holy Spirit.

“God declares about himself that he does not change. His expectations of holiness, his zeal for his own glory—they do not change.”

Jesus is just as much committed to purity and worship today as when he unleashed the whip in the temple.

And Revelation gives further support of this. The Book of Revelation—if you ever look at the first three chapters, specifically chapters two and three—Jesus sends seven messages, basically seven letters, to seven churches that existed in that time. So we’re talking late first century. He sends them a message.

In five of those messages, he confronts sin in the churches. And he warns that if the people who are doing those sins do not repent, that he is going to chasten them, even to the point of ending their lives. That’s sobering. That’s proof that Jesus is still zealous for pure worship today.

Examine Your Own Worship

Consider what that means for you personally. Ask yourselves, even this morning: Are you in some way doing the equivalent of the Jews in this passage? Letting the merchants, letting the money changers into the temple area where they do not belong? And even carrying out further sin by taking advantage of the worshipers?

Is there something like that going on in your life? Does God need to confront you about corrupted worship?

Are you aware of sin—something you want to hide from other people—but somehow you don’t feel like it’s a big deal if only God knows? And you just keep on proceeding. You bring it right into our church gathering. And just people ask, “What’s going on? How can they pray for you?” You never mention it. You don’t want to look bad. You don’t want to burden other people. You’ll just pretend everything’s fine and carry on in corrupted worship before God.

You have problems in your relationships. You have people who have things against you. You have a broken relationship with your spouse or your kids or another member of this church. But you just keep on going, keep on praying to God, keep on praising God like no big deal.

Do you remember what Jesus says in Matthew 5:23-24? If you remember your brother has something against you—even if you’re right at the altar to give your animal and worship to God—and remember, we’re probably talking about one of the feasts. You got to wait a long time. You travel all that way. You’ve gotten in the big line. There are thousands of other people who want to offer a sacrifice. You get out of line—maybe a long time before you get back in line. He says, “Leave your offering there. Go be reconciled with your brother.”

Or think of that other verse in the New Testament that says specifically, when it comes to husbands and their wives, that the husbands are to treat their wives in an understanding way, because otherwise their prayers will be hindered.

The Psalm that says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, God will not hear.”

Do you think you can offer praise to God in this church? Do you think that you can pray to God in your own private space while you are regarding sin, while you are living a worldly life? And you think that God is okay with that?

Look at how God actually feels, as displayed in Jesus. What he would say to you about those things in your life. “Get these things out of here. Stop making my father’s house—stop trying to bring right into the presence of God that which is unclean.”

“Stop trying to bring right into the presence of God that which is unclean.”

Personally, we need to appreciate that God says, “I require pure worship. Don’t hide your sin from God. Don’t hide your sin from other people in the church. You’ll probably need them to gain the instruction and encouragement and accountability to overcome that sin. Don’t just hide from people, withdraw from people.”

God knows. God sees. So be open with him. And say, “God, I repent. God, all things.” I mean, that’s what he says in the end of this passage, right? Jesus knows what is in man. He doesn’t need somebody to testify about you to God. He already knows.

So be open with him. Confess your sin. Express your sorrow over it. And commit to turning from it, even by using the help of your brethren. That’s repentance.

Repent of your sin. And then you can be accepted in your worship to God.

Corporate Responsibility for Holiness

And that’s not just you personally. It’s true corporately as well.

Many interpreters of this passage see a parallel between Jesus’ zeal for the physical temple that existed at that time and Jesus’ zeal for the temple that is the church—the new dwelling place of God. I think that parallel is justified.

We see the same kind of excitation in other passages in the New Testament. Speaking to the Corinthians, Paul says, “Don’t you know that you are the temple of God? You, Corinthians. And that individually, your bodies are part of that temple. Therefore, don’t corrupt the temple of God. What do you think God will think of that?”

Individually, we have a responsibility. It should be our desire to live holy before the Lord and present pure worship before him.

But that also is a corporate responsibility. We are to be watching out for one another. If you see a brother or sister who’s struggling in sin—and maybe they ask you for help, maybe they don’t—you cannot pull a Cain and just say, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Or you can’t uphold what James talks about in chapter 2: you see a brother in need, you say, “Be warmed, be filled,” and then just move on and don’t actually help.

No, we are to display the same kind of zeal for God’s house that Jesus does here. We are to help that brother and sister, even if it costs us. It cost Jesus. We’ll talk about more about that when we come back to this passage. It consumed him. In a way, it’s going to consume you too. You might suffer in showing your zeal for the Lord. But God is pleased with that, and he will reward that.

“We are to display the same kind of zeal for God’s house that Jesus does here. We are to help that brother and sister, even if it costs us.”

Help your brother and sister. Don’t say, “Oh, I sure hope that somebody talks to him about that sin.” Maybe nobody else knows. Maybe God has arranged providentially so that you can address that brother privately or you can address that sister privately.

Say, “Hey, I’m concerned. See this thing. Am I really understanding the situation appropriately? Because I know that you testify you love Jesus. Jesus wouldn’t want you to walk this way. You’ve got to turn, brother. You’ve got to turn, sister. Can I help you do that?”

James encourages us at the end of his letter by saying, “No, that a person who sees one of his brothers going astray and brings him back—he covers a multitude of sins. He saves his soul from death.”

There might be people in this congregation who are carrying on a corrupted worship because they don’t really know God. By you reaching out to that person, you will save that person’s soul from death.

Don’t just wait around for somebody else to do it. Pray about it, and then do as Jesus commands. Love your brother. Love your sister enough to talk to them about their sin.

Deal with your own sin first. Don’t have the plank in your own eye when you’re trying to take a speck out of your brother’s eye. But help your brethren. Show zeal for God and for his house.

If you want to do that—not just individually, but corporately—today is a good day to be thinking about that, right? We’re looking at the Lord’s table. The Lord’s table is another avenue for us thinking about the purity of our worship, both individually and corporately.

But you shouldn’t have to wait until the Lord’s table to deal with that kind of thing. It should be every time you become aware of it, especially before you come to worship on any Sunday.

It’s a day to be thinking about it. Again, repenting and believing as God would actually have you to do.

Grace Does Not License Sin

Now, one last thing I want to address before we finish today. I’ve talked a lot about the anger of God, about impure worship. But perhaps some of you are thinking, “But I thought in Jesus I don’t have to worry about the anger of God anymore. I thought I’d been saved from God’s wrath—which is another word for anger—so that I only experience God’s love.”

Well, praise God that you have been saved from the eternal wrath of God if you are in Jesus Christ. Your corrupted worship has already been suffered by Jesus. The penalty of your corrupted worship has already been suffered by Jesus once and for all. You will not be punished. You will not be condemned, for the condemnation that Jesus has already suffered for you.

Praise the Lord for that, because I need that, and you need that.

But do not use the grace of the Lord as a license to sin. Because God loves you, he will still discipline you. You will arouse his fatherly displeasure when you continue in worldliness and unrepentant sin.

In a sense, that’s the anger of God now. It’s not going to destroy you, but paired with his love, it is going to result in your discipline.

Jesus says in Revelation 3:19, “He whom I love, I reprove and discipline. Therefore, be zealous and repent.”

Revelation 3:19: “He whom I love, I reprove and discipline. Therefore, be zealous and repent.”

That’s what we want to do—individually and as a congregation—because then where do we get to arrive? We get to arrive in that place of worship that God always meant for us to be: with joy, with a clean conscience, not trusting in our record, trusting in Christ, and yet having no hindrance, no barrier between us and God, beholding his beauty and enjoying his fellowship.

That’s what the Lord wants for you and for me.

May we remember the zeal of the Lord and respond with proper zeal in our own lives and in our church.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray.

God, you are holy. And your holiness is beautiful. If you were not holy, how could we worship you? If you were not just, if you were not good, if you were not brightness in all of your essence, how could we give you praise?

But we must recognize what that holiness means. Your word declares we are to be holy because you are holy. We cannot be holy in ourselves. There’s no way we could attain the record that is needed to be acceptable to you. But we have that in Jesus. And we praise you.

Yet, because we’ve received that salvation, we are to seek you in holiness. Your scriptures say, “Without holiness, no one will see the Lord.” Or that if we profess to have faith but we do not have works, we lie. Our faith is empty.

God, I pray: if there are any here who have been hiding from you their corrupted worship—which you already know about—that they would repent. They would repent truly and come to believe for real what they have previously professed: that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus is the Lord, Jesus is my Savior and my true treasure.

I will give up all for him, no matter what it costs me, because I want him. And I want eternal life.

For any who have never done that, I pray that they would repent and believe today.

And for those who have done that but have gone astray—Lord, who have been deceived by sin, who have been caught in the trespass and are not sure how to get out—Lord, I pray that they too would come to this place of fundamental repentance. And that they would get the help of their brethren.

Say, “Brother, sister, I need help. I don’t know how to get out of this sin. I don’t know how to stop this sin habit.”

God, you gave us the church for precisely that reason: it would help us not to be afraid to help one another in this, but to be bold for your sake, to be zealous for your sake. That is appropriate, based on the salvation that we have received.

Lord, as we go to your table now, I pray, Lord, that this would be a sober time, but truly joyful time, because you have saved us. You have made it so that we can come right into your Holy of Holies without hindrance. That is an astounding privilege.

May we enjoy worship with you as we seek you, obey you, love you. May we just enjoy you continually. May your joy be our strength, as the scripture says. And may we cling to you and don’t stray, don’t stray to idols.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

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