The Book of John: Come and See True Religion

Sunday, John takes us to the Passover of the Jews. You probably remember most of the setting of the first Passover (Exodus 12). The Jews were enslaved by the Egyptians. On the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan, the people are to kill a lamb and place its blood on the doorposts and the lintel of the homes they gather in. The lamb with the bitter herbs and unleavened bread was to be eaten entirely (or destroyed) and the people were to prepare to leave Egypt. This meal was followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread until the twenty-first day of the month. God even tells them what to say to their children every year when they celebrate the Passover together, “you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” It is the central Jewish ceremony, even today.

Jesus enters the temple, during the preparation of the Passover and what does he find? Money changers and merchants selling ceremonially pure animals. Now, none of this was sinful. After all, the people were traveling from different parts of the county and needed to purchase animals for sacrifice. In addition, they needed to change their currency into acceptable currency for the temple offering. The problem was the placement of these merchants within the temple, probably in the court of the Gentiles. Jesus rebukes them all, overturning their tables and driving out their animals. He says to the pigeon (dove) merchants, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” (John 2:16)

The temple was to be a place of communion with God, not a ceremonial Wal-Mart. What’s amazing is that Jesus refers to himself as the temple after the religious leaders challenge his displacement of the merchants. The temple was a temporary place of mediation between God and man. It was a shadow of a reality fulfilled in Jesus. Join us Sunday as we consider our great High Priest and the only mediator between God and man: Jesus Christ!