John 2:12:  After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.

After what?  After the wedding.

John 2:13:  And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

Remember passover was given to all of Israel but the 10 tribes in the north were taken by Assyria.  The two southern tribes Benjamin and Judah (often just grouped together and called Judah.  Benjamin was very small after most of them were killed in the book of Judges) were taken to Babylon but returned 70 years later.  A remnant of them anyway.  You can read about this in Ezra and Nehemiah.

Christ is also king of all of Israel not just the Jews.

John 2:14:  And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

There are several things going on here and remember Christ taught on 3 levels.

John 2:15:  And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;

This scourge of small cords is a cat of nine tails whip.

John 2:16:  And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise.

So let’s take this one step at a time.  During this time the pharisees were using a temple currency called a half shekel and you had to have these in order to “conduct business” in the temple.  They set the rate of exchange to whatever they wanted.  Basically whatever they could rake the people over the coals for.

The purpose of the doves etc were for sacrifice and it was supposed to be the first fruits of our labor and given in love and they had turned it into a one stop shopping to make God happy.  Well God wasn’t happy.

Now let’s take it a bit deeper.  What were they supposed to be doing in the temple?  They were supposed to be giving out the Word of the Lord.  Instead they were selling short cuts.  Take a look at:

Jeremiah 23:1:  Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 23:2:  Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.

Do you see how angry this makes God when the pastors don’t do what they are supposed to do.  Read the read of that chapter in Jeremiah and you will understand even more.

At the very root of it all what they were doing was causing Israel to sin and to God that isn’t any different than if you had a golden calf standing there.  Pastors that set up new or different ways to God lead God’s children straight to the road to hell and it makes him  ANGRY.

Lastly what is the temple symbolic of? 1 Corinthians 3:16:  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  We are going to see that Christ is going to talk of himself as the temple in just a moment.  So what is Christ showing us here?  He is cleaning out the temple.  Just as he cleaned out the evil spirits out of the man with a legion of demons in him.  Remember what he said when you clean out an evil spirit?  You have to fill the house else the spirit will return with a few of his buddies (see Luke 11).  What is Christ going to fill the temple with?  The Holy Spirit which is given 50 days after his resurrection.

John 2:17:  And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

This is quoted from Psalms 69.  Whenever a verse is quoted it is a good practice to go back and read the chapter it is from.  There you will see it mentions a flood.  Symbolicly we see that a flood represents the flood of lies that come from Satan’s mouth.  Revelation 12:15:  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.

John 2:18:  Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?

They always want a sign don’t they?  There is nothing wrong with asking for Father’s direction, but that is not what they are doing here.  They are demanding He proof himself.  What did Christ tell tell them?
Matthew 12:39:  But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
Matthew 12:40:  For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

He is telling them the same here.

John 2:19:  Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
John 2:20:  Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?

They are thinking in the flesh.  Be careful you don’t.  It is easy to do, but when you think in the flesh you cannot understand Christ.

John 2:21:  But he spake of the temple of his body.
John 2:22:  When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

This is in part my opinion so you can take it or leave it, but I don’t think he wanted a temple built necessarily.  When Israel wanted a king he wanted to be their king, but he gave them one.  Yes God did tell Solomon to build the temple so I won’t argue with this point, but take a look these scriptures and let’s see if maybe we can get a grasp on the emotions and feelings of our Father.

2 Samuel 7:5:  Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?

Are you David going to build me a house?  Remember Christ just said his body was the temple not a collection of cedar.

2 Samuel 7:6:  Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.

Remember God didn’t even want them to shape the stones they used to build altars.  Why because he didn’t want man’s hand fashioning it.  We can’t cut it without the blood of our Savior.

2 Samuel 7:7:  In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?

God is making it very clear this wasn’t his idea.  You can read the rest on this on your own.  God Bless you all and if this has helped you in anyway don’t just “like” it “share” it.