MUSINGS ON THE BOOK OF JOHN Housecleaning - John 2:12-22 (NIV)
BY CONNIE HECKER After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 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. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 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.
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There is something similar to the way John unfolds the experience of following Jesus to the way we experience Jesus as new believers. Filled with excitement and anticipation of what will happen next, they must wonder, How will Jesus reveal Himself next? Or think as we should, What is different about my life now that it is Jesus I follow? In this passage, John and the others, including Jesus' mom, are reminded of prophecy as they see it unfold before their eyes. And, just as in the life of a new believer, they had great excitement as each unique situation occurred, knowing that anything could happen. At the temple, Jesus cleared out the corruption that had overtaken His home, His dwelling place - not that the world recognized it as such. When faced with this evil, it was not enough for Jesus just to say, "Go away." Instead, He took time to craft the whip He was to use to scatter the corrupt ones. How did He face this evil? He did not take from them their belongings, but he forcefully drove them away from where they did not belong. He poured the money out - rejecting it, not taking it. He turned the tables. We see controlled force in His response. We see Jesus also using words of explanation to some. Which ones? To those who sold the doves. The smallest offering possible, the least expensive. The local dollar store owners. To them, He gives instructions to remove
