Page 57 - Advanced Life of Christ - Student Textbook

The eternal, invisible God will be visible to
all the redeemed in the glorified
God/Man Jesus Christ. In essence then,
this miracle proved more about the
Someone He was than the something He
did.

First Temple cleansing (John 2:13-25), Nicodemus (John
3:1-21), the Woman at the Well (John 4:4-26)

Jesus Cleanses the Temple. The Synoptics mention only
one visit of Jesus to Jerusalem during His ministry, but
John mentions two trips, and, in each case, Jesus cleansed
the temple. All four Gospel writers report Jesus’ prophetic demonstration, which provoked direct
challenges to His authority from the religious leadership in Jerusalem. John records four Passovers
within the ministry of Christ (John 2:13; John 6:4; John 12:1, John 5:1) and this first Passover marks
Christ’s visit to the temple.

Jesus cleansed the temple of
the money changers and
sellers of merchandise
because of His disgust at what
they had made of God’s house
of prayer, and because of His
zeal to purify it from the abuse
of ungodly men. Judea was
under the rule of the Romans,
and the money in current use
was Roman coin. However,
the Jewish law required that
every man should pay a
tribute to the service of the
sanctuary of “half a shekel”
(Exodus 30:11–16), a Jewish
A model of the Temple of Herod the Great and Court of the Gentiles on Mt. Moriah
coin. It became, therefore, a
matter of convenience to have a place where the Roman coin could be exchanged for the Jewish half
shekel. The moneychangers provided this convenience but would demand a small sum for the exchange
of between 4 to 8 percent of the amount of the exchange. Because so many thousands of people came
up to the great feasts, changing money was a very profitable business and one that resulted in fraud and
oppression of the poor. Many people traveled to Jerusalem from great distances and would bring their
money in large denominations rather than in cumbersome small coins. The money changers also served
as bankers and would also deposit foreign money in the Temple treasury for safe keeping. Of course,
there was also a charge for this benefit. Of course, this activity violated the biblical prohibition against
taking interest from a fellow Jew.

Note that Jesus specifically concentrated on two groups in the Temple: the moneychangers and those
who sold doves. Normally lambs were the usual sacrifice offered, but according to the Law, two doves
or pigeons could be offered in place of a lamb in the case of those who could not afford a lamb.

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