The Cleansing of the Temple

As the Passover of the Jews approached, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Upon entering the temple, he found individuals selling oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as money changers seated at their tables (John 2:13-14). Jesus constructed a whip out of cords and drove all the participants out of the temple area, including the sheep and the oxen. He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who were selling doves, he commanded them to take these things away and stated they should not make his Father's house a house of trade (John 2:15-16). His disciples remembered that it was written that zeal for his house would consume him.

The Jews questioned Jesus, asking what sign he could show them for doing these things. Jesus answered by telling them to destroy this temple and in three days he would raise it up (John 2:18-19). The Jews responded that it had taken forty-six years to build this temple and asked if he would raise it in three days. The text does not say if Jesus replied to their question at that moment, but it specifies he was speaking about the temple of his body (John 2:20-21).

After Jesus was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this. The text records that they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken (John 2:22). The text does not say exactly how many people witnessed the event or the physical reactions of the merchants beyond their departure from the temple courts.