In the last lesson we left Jesus in John 2 with His mother and disciples in Cana. We’ll continue now in John 2:13-25 where He goes to Jerusalem for Passover. This is the account of Jesus’ first cleansing of the temple. The first issue at hand is John’s statement in verse 13 “the Jews’ Passover was approaching” (also in John 6:4 and 11:55). In Exodus 12:11 it is explicitly called “the Lord’s Passover”. (Compare later Old Testament references in Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 28:16) The “feasts of the Lord” (Leviticus 23:2, where “feasts” is from mo’adah, religious festivals or celebrations observed at set times each year) had become the “feasts of the Jews” (John 5:1; 11:56; 19:42).
The reason I’m pointing out this distinction is to illustrate how these festivals had changed over the years from being “the commandments of God” to “the doctrines of men” (Jesus’ statement to the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 15:9). In many ways these festivals had become opportunities for the religious establishment to devise ways to use the temple to extort large amounts of money from those who came to Jerusalem during these times. The city is thought to have had a normal population of around 25,000 people at this point; but at Passover it would swell to 6 times that number, making it an excellent time to take advantage of the situation.
According to Josephus there were over 256,000 animals sacrificed for Passover. The temple priests sold permits to vendors who then sold the animals on the temple grounds. The temple priests refused to sacrifice any animal that had not been bought from these vendors at an inflated price. They also refused to accept foreign currency for the required head tax, so the moneychangers exchanged it at exorbitant rates.
When Jesus entered the temple enclosure He saw the vendors who sold the animals and the moneychangers sitting at their tables (verse 14). This exploitation under the pretense of worship angered Jesus. So He made a whip from rush cords (long marsh grass stems commonly used to make baskets or mats), drove them out (the vendors, their animals, the moneychangers), and overturned their tables, scattering the money (verse 15).
And said to those who sold the doves, “Take these things out of here, and do not make My Father’s house a marketplace!” (Verse 16) It’s interesting that it appears Jesus directed this statement towards those who were selling doves and perhaps had not included them in what had occurred in the previous verse. Doves were the most inexpensive sacrifice allowed and the poor purchased many. However, there really isn’t any reason given if He had, in fact, not included them with the others He had driven out of the temple enclosure. This outburst of anger by Jesus prompted the disciples to remember Psalm 69:9, “The zeal for Your house will eat Me up.” Literally, “My love of Your house will consume Me.” (Verse 17)
Then the Jews wanted to know why Jesus thought He had authority to do what He had just done (verse 18). And Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.” (Verse 19) There are a couple of observations here. First, Jesus’ answer indicates the question posed by the Jews in verse 18 (basically, who do you think you are, disrupting the activities in the temple in such a violent and destructive way!) was probably done with anger and threats of reprisal, possibly physical violence; after all Jesus had just interrupted their lucrative revenue stream.
And in His answer, Jesus probably pointed to His body when He said, “Destroy this temple”. Of course they didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about. (Verses 20-21) And after Jesus had risen from the dead His disciples remembered He had said this. Again, this is in the very beginning of Jesus public ministry, but His answer gives insight into what He clearly understood about the Father’s plan and what He eventually would have to go through regarding His death and resurrection.
We can’t leave this passage without looking at the end of the chapter. While Jesus was still in Jerusalem “many people believed in His name after seeing the miracles He was doing.” (Verse 23) This is the first instance of Jesus performing what appears to be many, public miracles involving more people (as opposed to the singular one earlier in Cana with a smaller group). Here, “miracles” (“signs” in other versions) is semeion, a sign or miracle with an ethical (good or helpful) purpose that associates the doer with a higher, spiritual power. This word will be used many times in the gospel accounts to illustrate Jesus’ relationship with the Father.
However, verses 24 and 25 present a bit of a twist. “But Jesus did not trust Himself to them, because He knew all (about men). He did not need anyone to tell Him about man, He understood what was in mankind.” Above, “trust” (“commit” in the KJV) is from pisteuo, usually translated “believe” in most versions (as it is underlined above in verse 23), but actually means “to trust” implying assent or confidence. Given the recent circumstances from Jesus’ cleansing of the temple, what had to be the Jews angry and potentially violent response and Jesus’ statement about His Own death and resurrection; it appears Jesus was understandably suspicious and recognized the hypocrisy, shallowness or even malicious intent of those who had “believed”. Perhaps some were only pretending to follow Him, but secretly plotting against Him.
The next passage containing red letters follows in John 3 and Jesus’ rather long exchange with Nicodemus. We’ll begin to look at this, but will probably have to finish it in the next lesson. Let’s see how far we get. “Now there was a certain man, a Pharisee named Nicodemus and a leader among the Jews.” (Verse 1) Nicodemus was thought to be a member of the Sanhedrin (the supreme court of Israel), one of the richest men in Israel and a believer.
“And he came to Jesus at night and said to Him, Rabbi, we are certain that You are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that You do, unless God is with Him.” (Verse 2) There are some who criticize Nicodemus for coming to Jesus “at night” out of personal shame. However, it was more likely out of fear of rejection or criticism from his peers. Keep in mind here, the “we are certain” above refers to the leaders in the Sanhedrin who had come to the conclusion that Jesus was Who He claimed to be – the Son of God. But it is clear that most of them were too jealous and afraid of Jesus’ popularity and following to be honest or sincere about this, as their resistance and opposition would prove. But Nicodemus defends Jesus in John 7:50 and assists Joseph of Arimathea with Jesus’ burial in John 19:38-39.
Then in verse 3 Jesus obviously recognizes this to be a divine appointment and directs the conversation to the subject of the new birth, a subject Nicodemus knows nothing about, as we will see. Here are the red letters. “Then Jesus said to him, I assure you, this is the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot ever see the kingdom of God.” Let’s break this down a little. The term “born again” is from gennethe anothen, literally, born from above; in Paul’s epistles he describes this as the “new birth” (compare 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9-10).
Then “see” is eido, to perceive with the outward, physical senses. Here, used as a metaphor illustrating knowledge with true understanding. Jesus knew that Nicodemus understood nothing about the spiritual concept of a new birth; so He began to direct the conversation in a way that would explain what would become a foundational doctrine of the New Covenant – the rebirth or spiritual renewal through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, without which one can never experience the eternal kingdom of God.
Nicodemus is perplexed. “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother’s womb again and be born?” (Verse 4) So, Jesus answers, “Again, I assure you, this is the truth, unless a man is born of water even of the Spirit, he cannot ever enter the kingdom of God.” (Verse 5) Here Jesus is not necessarily adding to Nicodemus’ confusion by telling him there are actually two more births, one of water and one of the Spirit. “Even” translated “and” in most versions is from the conjunction kai and should be translated “even”. Being born of “water even the Spirit” is describing only one birth. Being born of water has nothing to do with water baptism as some like to suppose. Old Testament saints will see the kingdom of God without water baptism. Many New Testament saints trusted in Christ and will see the kingdom not having been baptized in water.
Jesus uses “water” figuratively to illustrate both salvation and the ministry of the Holy Spirit that comes with salvation. This is obvious both in His conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4:7-15 where water flows into eternal life and then in John 7:37-39 where He likens water to the Spirit being a spring of living water, again connected to salvation. We’ll finish this conversation with Nicodemus in the next lesson.