John 2- Temple Cleansing
You know that leftover ham and turkey from the family get-togethers? It can make for excellent “leftovers”. I remember at my grandmother’s house, some of the best sandwiches I ever ate were made up with the “leftovers” from the previous day’s celebrations. Sermons often are similar to festive celebratory meals during family gatherings. There is much prepared, much served, but there are also leftovers to enjoy and keep feeding on even in the days following the party. A faithful minister of the gospel taught me to share the leftovers from sermons - those aspects of study and preparation that didn’t quite make the cut for various reasons. In preparing to preach on John 2, I have a few leftovers to share. Today’s leftovers have some questions to get us into the “meat” of the topic:
How many times did Jesus cleanse the temple? Is the story of Jesus cleansing the temple in John 2 the same instance as Matthew, Mark, and Luke, with a different angle in mind? What difference does it make if Jesus cleansed the temple once or twice?
The short answer to these questions:
Twice.
No.
Jesus cleansed the temple twice with specific purposes and teaching each time. The first cleansing was a warning of a coming judgment. The second was a delivery notice of the sealed judgment.
The Longer Answer
There are three groupings of evidence for us to give an accurate, biblically rooted answer. The first set of evidence is the context leading up to the temple’s cleansing. The second set is the account of Jesus’ actions and words and the actions and words of those experiencing his cleansing of the temple. And the third set is the immediate context following the cleansing. By examining what the gospel accounts detail regarding what happened leading up to the cleansing, during the cleansing, and after the cleansing, we will emerge with a biblical foundation to answer how many times Jesus cleansed the temple.
First Grouping: Context Leading Up To The Temple Cleansing
In the Synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) we are told in Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, and in Luke 19:45-46 of one instance of Jesus cleansing the temple. In all three Synoptic gospels the immediate preceding context to Jesus cleansing the temple is his triumphal entry into Jerusalem from Bethphage after leaving Jericho. We do get an additional bit of detail from Mark’s gospel that the day was late when Jesus arrived at the temple (Mk 11:11) and left until the next day to rebuke the temple practices (Mk 11:12). While neither Matthew nor Luke contain this detail of the additional overnight delay between the entry and the temple rebuke, the silence of these gospels is not a contradiction or testimony against the timeline given by Mark. Instead, we see that this is a detail that Mark kept and preserved, while Matthew and Luke did not see fit to include this nighttime return to Bethany and next day entry into the temple.
John’s gospel sets a vastly different lead up to the events of Jesus cleansing the temple. Immediately preceding the cleansing of the temple in John’s gospel, Jesus had just given his first sign revealing his glory in turning the water into wine (Jn 2:1-11). A transition sentence in then made in John 2:12 showing that Jesus, his mother, and brothers and disciples went from Cana of Galilee (about 70 miles northwest of Jerusalem), to an even further location away from Jerusalem, Capernaum (more than 85 miles north of Jerusalem), before going towards Jerusalem during the season of Passover (Jn 2:13). John’s gospel makes no mention of Jericho, or any of the wonders of Jesus recorded in the build up to his final week before crucifixion as the Synoptic gospels do.
Second Grouping: Jesus’ actions and words, and the actions and words of those experiencing his cleansing of the temple.
In the Synoptic gospels all three quote Jesus as referencing Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11, these passages form the basis for Jesus’ cleansing actions. The phrase “it is written” is given as the explanatory preamble by Jesus (Mt 21:13a, Mk 11:17a, Lk 19:46a) with the followup references to Isaiah and Jeremiah quoted by Jesus “my house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers” (Mt 21:13b, Mk 11:17b, Lk 19:46b).
The quotes from Jesus during the temple cleansing in John’s gospel made no reference to Isaiah 56 or Jeremiah 7. Instead Jesus makes this a personal issue relating to his family stating “stop turning my Father’s house into a market” (Jn 2:16b).
The language of Jesus is one clear distinction between these two instances. Another distinction is the actions of Jesus.
In all three Synoptic gospels Jesus is said to have been driving out “those who were selling” (Lk 19:45), “those who were buying and selling” (Mk 11:12), “all who were buying and selling” (Mt 21:12). In John’s gospel those who were driven out were not the people, but instead the merchandise being sold “drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle”. Instead of scattering people (which is what he did in the Synoptic account) he scattered coins. There can be no doubt that both cleansings of the temple were disruptive. But the earlier instance in Jesus’ earthly ministry recorded in John’s account aims to cleanse the temple of inappropriate merchandise. The second instance of Jesus cleansing the temple does aim to drive out the people who were propagating the inappropriate use of the temple.
Another distinction between the Synoptics and John is the animals that are spoken of. Doves are mentioned in Matthew, Mark, and John (Doves are absent from Luke’s account), while sheep and cattle are only mentioned in John’s account (Jn 2:14). Jesus speaks to those who sold doves in John’s gospel, instructing them to “get these out of here!” (Jn 2:16). Whereas in the Synopic gospels we are told of Jesus overturning the benches of the dove merchants (Mt 21:12, Mk 11:12) and barred people from carrying merchandise through the temple (Mk 11:12).
John’s descriptions of Jesus overturning tables is limited to the money changers (Jn 2:14). Jesus’ interactions with the dove merchants in John are verbal only.
Still another distinction is the response of those in the temple during Jesus’ cleansing event. There is no mention of questions or responses from anyone during Jesus’ actions in the Synoptic gospels. All of the descriptions of those in the temple are post-action descriptions (after the fact). John’s gospel records an interaction as a group of Jews respond to Jesus “what sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” (Jn 2:18). Jesus then goes on to prophesy regarding his death and resurrection (Jn 2:19). This is glaringly missing from the Synoptics if these two events were meant to be accounted as the same.
A final distinction in the events themselves is in the tool deployed by Jesus in John’s gospel. John records that after surveying the scene of the market-temple (Jn 2:14), Jesus made a whip out of cords (Jn 2:15). Not only is a whip of cords absent from mention in the Synoptics, but this is the only place in the whole of the New Testament where this tool is mentioned. Such a unique distinction further sets the actions of Jesus in his first cleansing (as recorded in John’s gospel) apart from his second cleansing.
Third Grouping: the immediate context following the cleansing.
After recounting each of these temple cleansing events, the Synoptics and the gospel of John diverge greatly in their narrative. For the Synoptic gospels, the temple cleansing event is precipitous for the conspiracy to murder Jesus. All three of the Synoptic gospels describe disapproval from the chief priests and teachers of the law (Mt 21:15, Mk 11:18, Lk 19:47b). Mark’s gospel most closely connects the actions of Jesus in clearing the temple with the plot to kill Jesus by the chief priests and teachers of the law (Mk 11:18). Luke’s gospel mentions Jesus being “every day…teaching at the temple” and connects the cleansing and teaching with the plot to kill Jesus (Lk 19:47b). Matthew’s gospel waits to connect the plot to kill Jesus until another day’s worth of temple teaching and interaction between Jesus and the Jewish religious leadership (Mt 21:45). John’s gospel however does not make a connection between any plot to kill Jesus from Jewish religious leadership until after the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:46-53).
The Synoptics all follow up the events of the temple cleansing with narratives focusing on the last days of Christ, leading up to his Crucifixion. John’s gospel, however, chooses to spend thousands of words on other aspects of the earthly ministry of Christ before finally coming to the last days ahead of his crucifixion. That point alone doesn’t demand that the cleansing narratives are two distinct acts, but it does further necessitate another explanation for breaking the continuity when considering the whole flow and sequencing of John’s gospel. While some have argued that John’s gospel intentionally rearranges aspects of Jesus’ life out of chronological order, the burden of proof remains to show such a rearrangement, with the pre- and post-temple clearing events included in John having such a clear contrast in time, substance, and geography from the Synoptics.
Lastly, it is well-purported that the distinctions and differences in events recorded among the Synoptic gospels and John’s gospel. The onus for showing overlap is more on the person claiming that the event overlaps with such a preponderance of evidence that is included by John but not a part of the Synoptics. While some events, such as the Last Supper, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus, are not duplicated or repeated. Those events are easily distinguishable due to geography, place in the story, and the timekeeping indicators within the texts of both the Synoptics and John’s gospel. These events of temple cleansing simply do not line up in the same way in the contextual build-up to the cleansing, the events of the cleansing, and the post-cleansing follow-up context. All the evidence points towards two distinct events happening in the same geographical location over the course of at least two different years’ celebration of the Passover.
What do we learn from these two temple cleansing events?
In these two separate cleansing events, we see a pattern that is elsewhere observable in the character of Jesus. Warning comes before judgment, and opportunity to repent comes before a sealed verdict. Beyond the dynamic of warning and rendering verdict, we learn that it was Jesus’ regular common practice to be at the temple during the time of Passover. This was his practice as a young boy when his family returned from exile in Egypt, and it was his continued practice as a grown man. We should not develop in our minds the impression that our Lord was infrequently at the temple, but instead should know that Christ was usually present at the temple. His first coming to the temple was a call to repentance and change with an accompanying warning. His second coming to the temple was with the final verdict rendered on those trusted in the old covenant signs and ceremonies rather than the one (Christ himself) who those signs and ceremonies previewed and pointed towards.
Collapsing these events into a single event distorts history and can even lead us to doubt the truthfulness of what we have in God’s word. Collapsing these two events into a single instance loses a great deal of the character, ministry, and life pattern of Christ. Thankfully, we can rejoice that God’s Word is true and clear. Christ cleansed the temple twice, exercising authority as he did so in the name of God. Just as he twice entered the temple to give warning and then verdict, Christ also came into this world once to give warning and call the repentance and faith. He will come again, as surely as he came to the temple a second time, with a final verdict for all. Is our faith in the signs, symbols, ceremonies, and outward religious rituals we engage in? Or is our faith in the one who all the scriptures have been pointing towards, the Savior and Judge who has all authority in heaven and earth?