The Bible

 

John 2:13-22 : The First Cleansing of the Temple

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13 And the passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

14 And he found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

15 and he made a scourge of cords, and cast all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers' money, and overthrew their tables;

16 and to them that sold the doves he said, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise.

17 His disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for thy house shall eat me up.

18 The Jews therefore answered and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?

19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

20 The Jews therefore said, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou raise it up in three days?

21 But he spake of the temple of his body.

22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he spake this; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

Commentary

 

The First Cleansing of the Temple

By Junchol Lee


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The Gospel of John focuses on the spiritual aspects and the depth of Jesus' ministry more than any other gospel. In the Gospel of John, our Lord Jesus Christ begins his ministry with three very important and spiritual actions: baptism, the miracle at Cana, and the cleansing of the temple. In the time of the Old Testament, the people actually believed that the actual presence of God was housed by the temple. Today, however, our Lord enlightens our minds with a deeper and more spiritual meaning of temple and what it truly means to worship God.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 10549-10551)