Jn. 2:13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Yeshua went up to Jerusalem.
He comes to Jerusalem at the Passover, and this is the first of four Passovers which will be mentioned in His ministry. It is by the mention of these Passovers that we are able to date His ministry as lasting approximately three and one-half years. All male Jews were commanded to come to Jerusalem for three different feasts (Pesach, Shavuoth, and Sukkoth). This commandment is called Shalosh Regalim, and can be found in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy.
Sources: Exodus 23:14-17; Deut. 16:16; 34:23
The cleansing of the Temple is steeped in Jewish background. Rabbinic sources tell us that this was a business venture by selling animals in the Temple area. It was called by the Pharisees the Bazaar of the sons of Annas. This was the name used because the family of Annas, who were the Sadducees, controlled the entire business venture in the Temple. Rabbi Shaul of Jerusalem said, “Annas was the High Priest, his sons were the treasurers, and his sons-in-law were the assistant treasurers.” Josephus tells us that the sons of Annas were the holders of the money, very rich, despoiling the common priests by open violence. It is no wonder that the Essenes wanted to get away from this corrupt priesthood and establish themselves at Qumran.
Sources: Jos. Wars 5.17; M;Shekalim 1:5
It is thought by some scholars that Yeshua’s actions of cleansing the Temple of the moneychangers was aimed at the early Shammaite view adhered to by the priests who refused many offerings of the Gentiles to the Temple. We know by Josephus that by the year 66 C.E. the priests refused all gifts of the Gentiles to the Temple. According to the Mishnah, only sacrifices which could be vowed or brought as free will offerings were accepted from Gentiles, giving the priests the option of accepting the gifts from non-Jews for Temple repairs or upkeep.
Sources: BT:Arakhim 6a; Maimonedes, Arayim 8:8
The Shammaite priest’s ruling on vows would enable the priests to refuse and even pocket the money, since these offerings were not specifically marked for sacrifice. Many gifts were offered by the Gentiles. This was evident from Josephus who records that the altar was universally venerated by Greeks and barbarians. We see how this would have angered Yeshua, since it was the priest’s job to accept all gifts and forward them to the intended purpose. It was at the moneychanger’s tables that the priests would have diverted the Gentile offerings. We can see this more in what Yeshua said to the moneychangers as He quoted them form both Isaiah and Jeremiah. The Damascus Document gives more evidence of why those like the Essenes disliked the Temple in Jerusalem when it talks about “not defiling themselves by laying on hands which had been vowed or devoted to God or on the property of the Temple.”
Source: Jos. Wars 5.1.3 14-18, Damascus Document
According to Mosaic Law you had to come to the Temple and bring a sacrifice. This sacrifice had to be without spot or blemish. It was the job of the ones in charge of the Temple to inspect the sacrifice to see if it was acceptable. There was an inspection fee for having your animal checked and the money went into the pockets of Annas the High Priest. Invariably, if you did bring your own sacrifice, somehow they managed to find something wrong with it. So, if your sacrifice was disqualified, you had two options. First, if you lived in Jerusalem, you could go home and get another one. But if you lived in Galilee, a three-day journey from Jerusalem, this was impossible. So you had to resort to the second option. This second option was rather convenient, because over in the corner of the Temple compound was a whole bunch of sheep that already had the Sadducees’ “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.” They had already been inspected and certified to be without spot or blemish. All you needed to do was buy one. But, these sheep were sold at high inflated prices and the money also went into the pockets of Annas. Also, it was not unusual for an animal that was previously disqualified to end up among these after the previous owner had left. Amazingly the spot or blemish had disappeared.
Jn. 2:14 And He found in the Temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers doing business.
Jn. 2:15 When He had mad a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the Temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changer’s money and overturned the tables.
Jn. 2:16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise.”
Sources: Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11; Matt. 21:12, 13; Mark 11:15-17; M:Shekalim 6:5, 6
Jn. 2:17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”
This is a quote from two Messianic psalms. The Hebrew translation is more graphic: “The zeal for Your house will cause My destruction.” This will be literally fulfilled because of what Yeshua does here and again about three years later. He will have the whole group of Sadducees against Him and they will seek His death because of wheat He did in the Temple compound. It is important to emphasize here that it was a very small group of the Jews (Sadducees mostly, and some Pharisees) that caused His death. The bulk of the Jewish populace actually accepted Him as the Messiah, as we shall see later on. Unfortunately, so many of them kept silent when they had the opportunity to contradict their leaders and proclaim Him as Messiah, but kept silent.
Sources: Psalm 59:9; 69:10
Jn. 2:18 So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show us, since You do these things?”
Jn. 2:19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
At this point the Sadducees demand a sign and He gives them a rather cryptic one. They understand Him to mean that He is threatening the physical Temple. The Temple that He is actually speaking of is His body. We are told later that the Jewish populace made the same mistake. Three years before the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E., Josephus tells us that the populace of Jerusalem swept into the Temple compound, overthrew the tables, and chased the animals out of the compound.
Source: Jos. Wars 5.13.6 562-65
John reports at this point Yeshua also said, “I will destroy this Temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another not made with hands.” In Mark 14:57-59, however, this is the testimony of the false witnesses. If it was true that Yeshua really said He would rebuild the Temple, then Caiaphas, the Sadducee, was not listening to rabbinic fantasies. There is a verse in Zechariah that was understood by all to speak about the Messiah, who would build the Temple. The Branch was generally understood to be a designation for the Messiah. It is therefore logical to suppose that if Yeshua said that He would build the Temple, He confessed that He was the Messiah. Likewise, it would be logical for the High Priest to ask Him, “Are You the Messiah?”
Sources: Mk. 14:57-59; Zech. 6:12
Jn 2:20 Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and You will raise it up in three days?”
Jn. 2:21 But He was speaking of the Temple of His body.
Jn. 2:22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had told this to them, and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
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