John 2:13-22 Jesus Cleanses the Temple

In trying to apply this event in Jesus’ ministry to our current situation, I found myself wondering what the equivalent behavior to the selling of sheep, oxen and pigeons and exchanging of money would be.  If a youth group is selling brownies in the church lobby to raise money to build an orphanage in Africa, would that be similar?  What about Christian publishers who make loads of money off the sale of Christian books?

These merchants and moneychangers were facilitating the rituals prescribed by the law.  People needed to buy the animals in order to offer the sacrifices and evidently they needed to change money in order to buy the animals.  

I find it difficult to draw a direct parallel between the actions of the merchants in the temple and certain practices/activities in the church today.  In other words, on the basis of this passage, it’s difficult to make statements like, “it is wrong to make a profit on anything that derives from the church’s ministry and practice.”  Or, “it is wrong to transact any kind of commerce in a church building.”

Of course, the modern equivalent of the temple that Jesus cleansed is not our church buildings, but the Body of Christ, the spiritual temple.  So by analogy, could one say that it is wrong for a Christian publisher to make money on the sale of a book of theology that facilitates the religious practice of Christian people?

I don’t think the application is that cut and dry.  Jesus is correcting wrong heart attitudes here, and the passage only hints at what these were when Jesus refers to a “house of trade”.  This implies that for these people who are being disciplined, trade had become the most important reason for being in the temple.  For them, the temple was not a place to go to meet God in prayer and worship, but a place to go to make a buck.

If a Christian publisher is in the business primarily for the money–in other words if it is profit, pure and simple that drives the business–then that publisher is guilty of the same sin as these merchants.  If a church is only concerned about growth in numbers, status in the community, size of the budget, etc. then that church is also guilty of this sin.

But we should be careful not to miss the primary emphasis of this passage in our efforts to apply the sin of the merchants to our current situation.  The most important truth taught here is not that we as God’s people should avoid the sin of the merchants and moneychangers.  Rather, it is the authority of Jesus Christ. 

Jesus has authority to take up the whip of discipline in the church and purify it of any sin that may be distracting it from its purpose of glorifying and worshiping God.  Our response to this passage should be to ask the Lord Jesus to do this same purifying work in us as his people today, whether the sin is the same sin as these merchants or not is beside the point.  Jesus has authority to cleanse and purify the spiritual temple which is his church and we should desire this and seek it.

When Jesus is asked to give a sign showing his authority for this cleansing of the temple, he prophesies about the destruction of his body and his subsequent resurrection.  Because Jesus died and rose again he has authority over all temples, whether it be the temple of the old covenant, the new covenant spiritual temple which is his Body, the Church today, or the coming age in which the dwelling of God will be with man, and the entire new creation will be a temple in which Jesus will be worshiped and praised for all eternity.

So, yes, we should apply this passage by seeking to avoid repeating the sin that these merchants committed, but the way we will effectively do that is not only by identifying that sin and repenting of it, that’s only the first step.  The other side of that coin is worshiping the One who has authority over the temple–worshiping the One who is supreme over all and whose glory and greatness should be what motivates us in everything we do.  As we worship him, offering our lives to him as living sacrifices, we will not be guilty of making his house anything other than the house of worship that it is to be.