Flashback Episode — The Big Miscommunication: John 2:13-25

As I read the gospels, and the different events in Jesus’ life, one theme that runs through many different stories is how Jesus took a different perspective on life than the people living within the first century, and His attitude was different. However, if you have ever wondered if Jesus got angry, you need to look no further than our passage for this episode. While Jesus was often kind while also confident, we rarely ever get a glimpse of Him losing His temper so to speak. Usually, Jesus is the calm collected one – that is until this passage comes around.

In our passage for this episode, Jesus enters the temple in Jerusalem and He sees it turned into a marketplace. Let’s read about what happen. Our passage can be found in the gospel of John, chapter 2, and we will read it from the New International Reader’s Version. Starting in verse 13, John tells us that:

¹³ It was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast. So Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courtyard he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves. Others were sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ So Jesus made a whip out of ropes. He chased all the sheep and cattle from the temple courtyard. He scattered the coins of the people exchanging money. And he turned over their tables. ¹⁶ He told those who were selling doves, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered what had been written. It says, “My great love for your house will destroy me.”

¹⁸ Then the Jewish leaders asked him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do this?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “When you destroy this temple, I will raise it up again in three days.”

²⁰ They replied, “It has taken 46 years to build this temple. Are you going to raise it up in three days?” ²¹ But the temple Jesus had spoken about was his body. ²² His disciples later remembered what he had said. That was after he had been raised from the dead. Then they believed the Scripture. They also believed the words that Jesus had spoken.

We’ll pause reading at this point because I want to draw our attention to something. So far in this passage, we see Jesus getting angry, a prophecy being fulfilled, a demand, an intentional misunderstanding, a prediction of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and confirmation of a future point of where individuals believe in the scriptures and in the words of Jesus.

When Jesus became upset and He chased the moneychangers away, whether He planned for it in the moment or not, He was fulfilling a prophecy about His love for His Father’s house.

When the Jewish leaders demanded a sign to prove Jesus’ authority, it is amazing that Jesus actually responded to them with an answer. In most other places in the gospels that are similar to this, Jesus sidesteps the issue or turns the tables around. Perhaps He answers because He is extra emotional at the moment, or perhaps He is simply being a little respectful of the religious authority.

Either way, Jesus purposely responds in a way that creates a misunderstanding among the leaders and Him, and in a way that will be understood more fully later. Had Jesus said that He meant His body, the Jewish leaders probably would have happily taken Him up on the challenge right there. If Jesus wanted to prove His authority by dying, they would be happy to help – as they were probably just as irritated at Jesus as He was at the scene in the temple.

However, Jesus predicts His death and resurrection in these verses, and it is only after the events happen several years later that those present understood the message Jesus was communicating. John writing these words many years or decades after the resurrection draws our attention to how Jesus’ statement is fulfilled, and how this prediction prompted many people to believe in the following years.

In the last part of this passage, I was surprised to find another place where it says that Jesus didn’t trust people. In John 5, we read a similar idea that Jesus pushes back at the Pharisees who dislike the miracle He performed on the Sabbath, and here in our passage for this episode within John, chapter 2, we see another place where John gives us a clue into Jesus’ attitude and focus. Picking up reading in verse 23, John continues by saying, “Meanwhile, he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast. Many people saw the signs he was doing. And they believed in his name. But Jesus did not fully trust them. He knew what people are like. He didn’t need anyone to tell him what people are like. He already knew why people do what they do.”

In this transition set of verses within John’s gospel, he shares a little bit more about Jesus, and how Jesus interacted with others. John shares that Jesus did not fully trust others, because He knew what people were like in their hearts. Perhaps this guarded living was noticeable to others, or maybe it was only visible to the closest disciples, or maybe Jesus simply shared it with John. Whatever the case, this information is significant because we can better understand who Jesus was when we have it.

If Jesus began to trust people as they trusted Him, then there would be the strong temptation for Jesus to be caught up in the popular, military Messiah belief that was believed at the time. If Jesus was as trusting towards others as they were to Him, He may have been swept up and carried forward on the path that people believed He should take instead of the one He knew God had planned for Him instead.

Instead, Jesus was extra intentional about where He placed His focus, and that included being more guarded towards people since almost no one living in the first century understood the full extent of His mission. Even though Jesus predicts His death and resurrection, and as He shares more clearly and plainly as He gets closer to the cross, it is really only after the events actually happen that the disciples actually understand what was predicted would happen. Before this, Jesus must remain guarded because the popular beliefs about Him were too entrenched in people’s minds.

Also included in this event is another demonstration of Jesus shifting focus. The Jewish leaders wanted Jesus to do something to prove Himself, or another way of saying this would be to draw attention to Himself, but Jesus was more interested in pointing the attention elsewhere. When the leaders demand a sign, Jesus draws their attention to the temple, and while He figuratively means His body, the words He used also directed focus onto God’s house.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to align your life and your will with God’s plan. Like Jesus did, intentionally keep your focus on God’s plan and avoid being swept up with what the world would rather we focus in on.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself to learn who Jesus really is instead of taking someone else’s word for it. While pastors, authors, speakers, or even podcasters can give you ideas to think about, choose to take everything you read, see, and hear and test it against the truth God has revealed in the Bible. Use the big themes of the Bible as a guide for your life and as a test for whether today’s ideas are worth paying attention to.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or deviate away from where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!