John 2:13-22 Jesus Clears the Temple Courts
13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, 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! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
18 The Jews then responded to him, “What 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 They 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 believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
Reflection
John portrays an angry Jesus. If you’ve dealt with angry people, or your own anger, you know how unpleasant it can be. The apostle Paul warns, “In your anger do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26). Jesus got angry when he saw what was happening in the temple courts. And yet he did not sin.
Jesus wasn’t upset about local vendors providing worshipers something for a fee. But he was zealous that God’s temple should be a place of worship. There wasn’t room for people to pray. “Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” he said. Only later did the disciples connect his zeal with Psalm 69: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
Christ’s passion for God’s holiness made him zealous to save us. We are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27). And in Christ we are the new temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16). Christ’s passion carried him to the cross to make us “living stones,” drawn together as God’s temple (1 Peter 2:5).
Jesus was undeterred. He was heading for the cross to fulfil God’s mission. God’s image would be restored in us only through the work of his Son (Philippians 1:6; Colossians 3:10). If Jesus is so zealous for the holiness of God in us, shouldn’t we be also?
Holy God, the passion of your Son inspires and scares us. May his zeal for your holiness inspire us to be his disciplined followers, your faithful people. In his name, Amen.
Call to worship (based on Psalm 19) The earth is telling the glory of God. The heavens stretch out like a canopy, circling the earth with God’s presence, reviving the soul, making wise the simple, rejoicing the heart, enlightening the eyes, and enduring for ever. Amen.
When we stand in awe of the magnificence of the Temple: Jesus calls us to look for the kingdom hidden among us.
When we value the security of wealth: Jesus reminds us that we cannot predict the future.
When we allow corruption and injustice to go unchallenged: Jesus prompts us to ask the difficult questions.
When we are overwhelmed by the pain and struggles of living: Jesus teaches us to hope and dream of a new birth.
We draw near hesitant, afraid, searching, hoping, to worship the one who calls us to one another, who calls us to a new way of living for ourselves and the world. Amen.
A prayer for all ages and all abilities together
This prayer consists of simple actions to perform.
Lift hands upwards, touch eyes. Lift hands upwards, touch mouth. Lift hands upwards, touch ears. Lift hands upwards, touch nose. Then, Lift hands upwards, touch tummy. Lift hands upwards, touch each hand. Lift hands upwards, touch heart. Bring hands together in prayer position to say Amen.
Where earth is polluted and plundered; where God’s creation is driven to extinction; where habitats are destroyed: let tears fall as we feel the pain of your creation and make us holy as we tread the earth.
Where people are hungry or cold; where children die of treatable diseases; where women are trafficked and abused: let tears fall as we feel the pain of injustice and make us holy as we encounter the lives of others.
Where war denies the right to life; where refugees are driven from homelands; where people are scarred physically and mentally: let tears fall as we feel the pain of conflict and make us holy as we are challenged to live your shalom. Amen.
Suggested Listening All my hope on God is founded https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3LCGh02Vew Here is love, vast as the ocean https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izHuv2rhtF4 How deep the Father’s love for us https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKDujmtyAVk
