Here is a teaching of part 2 of chapter 2 of the book of John. If you want to check out previous Bible studies and chapters going forward, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.
John Chapter 2. Part 2: Jesus Clears the Temple
12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. 13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.
Okay, so I'm just going to stop here real quick because I want to say a few things before I go further. Every year the Passover was a tradition that took place in the temple at Jerusalem and people came from all around, to the temple to celebrate the Passover. It was very crowded around that time, but the religious leaders made it even more crowded because they allowed money changers and merchants to set up booths at the temple courts. It was so full of merchants and money changers that the people that came to worship at the temple found it difficult to worship and praise God and that was the whole point of having the temple.
The temple tax had to be in paid in local currency, so these people that were coming from different places had to get their money changed, but the money changers were charging very high exchange rates. These people also had to sacrifice for their sins and a lot of people weren't able to bring their own animals to sacrifice because of the very long journeys that they had to take. The merchants were selling these sheep, cattle, and doves for people at very high rates so they could make a profit for people to buy these animals to sacrifice for their sins. As we've read further here, we'll see that this made Jesus very angry because these people were being dishonest, they had greedy practices, and they were just making a mockery of the place that was made for God's worship.
15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."
Alright, I'm going to discuss a few things with you guys here. So obviously we see here that God's temple was being misused because people had turned it into a marketplace and they just didn't care that it was God's house of worship. They were using it to make a profit instead of to worship God. This is very important for us to remember when we go to Church, we should see the Church as a place to worship God and not as a place to have personal contacts or for business gain. It should be a place for fellowship, but the most important thing is to worship God.
So Jesus was obviously angry at these merchants who were exploiting those who had come to God's house to worship and rightfully so. because of the injustice and the sin that they were committing at the temple courts of the Lord. Here where he made a whip out of cords, he was showing his authority and his anger for this unrighteousness and the sin, which he had the right to do all of that. Jesus had all the authority in the world. Here is something for us to always remember; we don't have that same authority that Jesus had. While we want to live our lives like Christ, we can't try and claim his authority when it hasn't been given to us.
We see all throughout the book of John, as we're doing these Bible studies we'll see more and more, that Jesus is very loving, merciful, and gracious. There were a lot of times in this book of the Bible where he was very kind to people, but in this specific instance, it does show his anger because of this sin and unrighteousness. This was at God's worship place, it was a temple for his father's name, of course he's going to be angry about people mocking it and using it as a place for profit instead of for God's worship. Jesus took these evil acts in the temple as an insult against God and he didn't deal with them halfheartedly. So he was consumed with this righteous anger against the disrespect for God.
18 Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." 20 The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believe the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
So whenever Jesus told these people to destroy the temple and he would raise it again three days later, he wasn't talking about a temple made of stones. He was talking about his body. They didn't realize it at the time, but Jesus was greater than the temple and his words would take on meaning for his disciples after his resurrection. So it says here in verse 22, that after he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said, and they believe the scripture and the words Jesus had spoken. So after his resurrection, it became clear that his predictions were true and that became the strongest proof of his claim to be God.
23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25 He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.
So I'm going to talk about these last few verses here. So the son of God knows all about human nature and he obviously knows what was written in Jeremiah. Here in Jeremiah 17:9, it says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Jesus knew that the faith of some followers was superficial and some of the same people that claimed to believe in Jesus at the time of his crucifixion yelled, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
John Ch. 2 Bible Study. Pt 2: Jesus Clears the Temple
1. What did Jesus see at the temple courts?
2. Why was Jesus angry with the merchants and money changers?
3. What should we do when we go to Church?
4. Do we have the right to show righteous anger towards others?
5. What temple was Jesus speaking of that he was going to raise in 3 days?
6. What did Jesus know about man and their faith?
7. What should we do when other people don’t believe in Jesus?
Whenever it's exciting and other people are following Jesus, it's easy to follow him. But you have to stay firm in your faith and when other people are not believing in him and they're giving you a thousand reasons why you shouldn't believe in him, you have to stand firm in your faith and know that Jesus is Christ. It's not popular to follow Christ, especially in today's time. There are so many people that don't believe in God and don't believe in Jesus Christ and it can be so easy to get wrapped up in the worldly things and start thinking the way that these other people are thinking and this new age thinking. We have to stand firm and know that Jesus is Christ, we have to seek the truth of these words, we have to pray to God, and have a close relationship with him, so we can stand firm in our faith and let other people know about God's word and the truth of God's words.
Before I let you guys go, I want to say a quick prayer. Lord, I pray that you are with every single person reading this right now. I pray that you open up their eyes, their ears, their heart, their spirit, and their mind to you Lord. I pray that they know the truth of your words and that they let other people know about your words and about how amazing you are. Even whenever everyone else that they know aren't believing in you and aren't following you, I pray that they stand firm in their faith and know that you are Christ, you are the savior, and that they lean on you for guidance and direction through every single aspect of their life. I love you so much, Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
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