Jesus Clears the Temple - John 2:12-23
Pastor Chris Casoni
Part of John
July 4, 2022

12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 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. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. —John 2:12-23


1. Jesus confronts hypocrisy (v.13-16)

  • a. Superficial worship angers God (Amos 5:23)

    Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. —Amos 5:23

  • b. God values the heart (Psalm 51:16-19)

    16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; 19 then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar. —Psalm 51:16-19

  • c. Mishandling God’s spiritual community angers God

  • d. Jesus attacked a corrupt system.

Jesus is to be worshiped as both

and .

2. Jesus has zeal for the Glory of the Father (v.17)

  • a. The disciples remembered what they had learned.
  • b. David calls his people to true worship (Psalm 69:9)

    For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. —Psalm 69:9

  • c. God’s holiness is motivation for devotion

Jesus is loyal to

.

3. Jesus’s authority is affirmed by the Father, not by man (v.18-22)

  • a. Man demands a sign as if God’s Word is not enough

Spiritual complacency

.

  • b. The resurrection is a sign that ultimately validates His claim to be the Son of God.
  • c. Jesus’ claim is twisted and held against him at his trial.
  • d. Jesus is the true temple.

God meets with His people not in

but in the . —Alistair Begg

4. Jesus knows what is in you (v.23-25)


  • a. Our hearts deceive us (Deut 11:16; Jer. 17:9; Eph 4:17-18)

    Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; —Deuteronomy 11:16
    The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? —Jeremiah 17:9
    17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. —Ephesians 4:17-18


Your faith cannot be .


  • b. Belief must change you.
  • c. Jesus helps our weak faith (Mark 9:23-25)

    23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” —Mark 9:23-25


Religion takes you . Jesus brings you to .


Small Group Questions

  1. What did God teach you through this passage and sermon? Share the work of God in your heart with the group.

  2. What questions did this passage and sermon raise in your mind?

  3. What do you think made Jesus so angry when he arrived at the temple for Passover in John 2?

  4. How is your zeal for God seen in your life? Do you think your worship is pleasing to the Lord?

  5. In some ways we are all hypocrites. How may we lovingly help one another become aware of our spiritual complacency?