Scholars use the three passovers mentioned in the Gospel of John to measure the length of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. In this week's passage we read:
The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
What He should have found there were families gathered around a very special meal of remembrance. Instead he found a temple turned into a mall. While pagan temples of the time had places designed for the sale of offerings, God's design was solely for sacrifice and worship.
And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.
His response was swift. Taking some of the left-over cords that once held the animals that had been sacrificed, He drove the remaining animals out of the temple.
While sudden and surprising, His actions were not unexpected. They were foretold (Malachi 3:1–5). This is why there is such a measured response from the Jews:
John 2:18-19So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
He was not arrested, for they recognized Him as the potential fulfillment of the prophecy and wanted a sign to confirm. The sign Jesus offered was what Matthew and Luke recorded Jesus as naming “the Sign of Jonah” (Matthew 12:38-41; Luke 11:29-32). This ultimate sign of Jesus' death, three day burial, and His resurrection would be their confirmation.
What makes your blood boil? Someone taking advantage of a child, or mistreating a woman, or . . .
For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach,that dishonor has covered my face.I have become a stranger to my brothers,an alien to my mother's sons.For zeal for your house has consumed me,and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
This all consuming rage occurred when God did not receive appropriate worship.
Sunday morning following this lesson, I awoke hearing in my dream the name of our Lord Jesus Christ being misused. My response in the moment was "May He have all the glory and honor due His Name".
