Cleansing the Temple

by Jeff Curtis

   In John 2:13-3:21, Jesus cut short His initial visit to Capernaum to attend the Passover feast. The Passover feast commemorated God’s “passing over” the Israelites in Egypt who had the blood of a lamb on their door posts (Exodus 12:1-28). No doubt, Jesus had attended this feast since He was twelve years old (Luke 2:41-42), but this was the first Passover of His public ministry. This was also Jesus’ first public appearance since His ministry began. It began in a dramatic fashion, with His cleansing of the temple.

    Temple commerce had resulted from the coming of Jews from all over the world for this major Jewish feast days (Acts 2:5, 9-11). Each Jew was required to pay a yearly temple tax of half a shekel. Jewish authorities based this on Exodus 30:13, even though there is no indication that this was to be a permanent requirement. Temple authorities would not allow this tax to be paid with foreign coins, so money changers were needed. Again, each Jew was to make certain animal sacrifices during the feast days. Most who came from other lands couldn’t bring animals with them, so they had to buy them when they arrived. And so, originated as a service to world travelers, but they had deteriorated into a moneymaking scheme controlled by the priests. The transactions were evidently carried out in the court of the Gentiles. There are two Greek words for temple. One referred to the sacred part of the temple. The other referred to the temple complex as a whole, including the court of the Gentiles. The latter word is used here.

    The first public act of Jesus made a statement concerning His zeal for God’s house and God’s will. As He drove out the merchandisers, He said, “Stop making My Father’s house a place of business” (John 2:16). Later, on a similar occasion, He would say, “It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den” (Matthew 21:13).

    Jesus’ first public act also made a statement regarding His God endorsed authority (Matthew 3:17; 7:29). Upset, the temple authorities challenged that authority. The New Living Translation reads in John 2:18, “What right do you have to do these things?’ the Jewish leaders demanded. ‘If you have this authority from God, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.’”

    For those willing to see and believe, Jesus would give many signs during His ministry (John 2:23), but the most significant miracle would be His resurrection (Roman 1:4). So, He answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). He was speaking of the temple of His body (John 2:21), but His enemies misunderstood Him (John 2:20), thinking only of the physical temple of marble and gold that surrounded them. This statement of Jesus made an impression on them. Their misinterpretation of the prediction was brought up at Christ’s trial (Mark 14:58) and at His crucifixion (Matthew 27:40).

The Faces of Persecution

by Jeff Curtis

     Paul said that “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2Timothy 3:12; John 15:20; 1Thessalonians 3:3-4). Jesus mentioned in Matthew 5:10-11 several different types of persecution that may be directed against Christians.

     Christians may be physically persecuted. Many early Christians were crucified, burned at the stake, herded into Roman arenas to be killed by wild animals for the mere amusement of the bored public, or burned alive as human torches to provide light in the arenas at night.

     Christians may be “insulted.” If we lead righteous lives, we will be objects of insult and persecution at the hands of those who live in a worldly manner (John 15:18-20).

     Christians may have lies told about them. Rather than speaking openly, evildoers often whisper behind Christians’ backs. As hurtful as public attacks can be, they at least give us the opportunity to defend ourselves against them. When the attacks are “stabs in the back,” they can do serious harm to our reputations before we have any knowledge of them.

     We may sometimes suffer because of our own lack of good sense, foolishness, or blundering. Some believe that they are being persecuted because of their beliefs, when they are only facing the earthly consequences of evil deeds (1Peter 4:14-16). Such people act as if they are martyrs. This type of “victim” behavior may itself invite persecution on some people. Robinson said of such people, “They are very zealous people, label grabbers with a religion that probably never goes beyond the shirt pocket. They may think that they bear the offense of the cross, but they are just plain offensive.”

     We should be careful not to behave offensively, dress offensively, or speak offensively. If we conduct ourselves in this way and offend others so that they reject us or look down on us, they are not persecuting us. Rather, we are suffering because of our own improper behavior. That is not the circumstances that Jesus said would be a blessing.

     How should we react to persecution? Jesus said, “Rejoice and be glad” (Matthew 5:12). He did not exactly mean for us to “grin and bear it.” He reminded us of the reason for rejoicing; the fact that our “reward in heaven is great.” Our ultimate reward will be our eternal home in heaven, but not all of our reward is in the future (Mark 10:29-30). We have abundant life and all spiritual blessings now in Christ (John 10:10; Ephesians 1:3).