Can someone please explain John 2:13-17?

[sidetrack]

It’s the one where Jesus clears the temple of the merchants there with a whip and is famous for being an example of God’s anger at sinful activity.I would assume that this particular kind of anger is called “indignation”.I can clearly see the message being used for place of worship not to “sell out” and/or get involved in “commercialized” stuff (I can so see this being used when taking about “megachurches” which have sometimes derogatorily been called using the prefix used in “McWord”) but what does it mean on a more personal level when it comes to one’s day to day morality,ethics and interaction?.Thank you for your time and happy new year’s.

 

[bmullins]

Well you could take it and apply it to the fact that we are now God’s temple. Then we compare what the people were doing. They were making a mockery of sin. They were selling the sacrifices in the front lobby of the temple, removing all effort on the part of people and in essence, ‘selling indulgences.’ All you had to do was buy it on one side, and then hand it to the priest on the other and you were done. So if you allow your life to become like that… where sin is no longer a concern, you just do what you want… and walk into church expecting it to be fine… you’ve done the same thing.

 

[Suslar]

13 Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,* as well as the money-changers seated there.
15 He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables,
16 and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”
17 His disciples recalled the words of scripture, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
usccb.org/bible/john/2

The sinful activity is not just commercialization; it’s lying, cheating, theft and taking advantage of the poor. The moneychangers were known to have unbalanced scales so they would cheat the pilgrims that came to the temple. And unfortunately, there was little the pilgrim could do about it as every Jewish man over age 19 was required to pay an annual “temple tax” and change his “street currency” into the temple currency. People also had to use temple currency to pay for the animals they needed to be offered as sacrifice. Therefore, Jesus specifically mentions the doves, because that was the offering of the poor – implying that those selling the animals for sacrifice knew they were cheating the poor (as well as everyone else) which was especially heinous.

What does it mean for us? I think we need to look at how we might impact or impede the prayer life and worship or other people. We need to consider if our dealings with others are fair, upright and just. We need to examine how we treat the poor. Lastly, I think it’s good to consider how we experience zeal for God’s House (see Psalm 69:10).

Happy New Year!

 

[Suslar]

I’ve never heard it described this way before . . . .
While it’s true that the animals for sacrifice were immediately available outside the temple doors, there was a need for this as pilgrims were coming from all over the place and it would have been difficult and impractical for strangers to try to find unblemished, firstborn male animals that were suitable for sacrifice. The problem came in when the sellers took major advantage of the pilgrims.

But the thought of removing all the effort needed in making true atonement for sin is something to ponder. Thanks for that bmullins!

 

[GEddie]

It was not the commercial activity per se that was wrong, according to a knowledgeable priest whom I trust wholeheadedly.

There may have been some price exploitation involved, however, the activity itself was necessary. There was a thriving Diaspora at the time, and Jews coming from, say, Athens, would not have been easily able to bring with them the animal for the needed sacrifice, or to find one on their own in Israel.

The problem was that it should not have taken place in the temple. The outer court was a place for Gentiles to pray. By having animals, counters, etc, in the space the merchants were not only profaning a sacred zone but shutting the house of God against others.

Happy 2012 and ICXC NIKA.

 

[stanczyk]

The sinful activity is not just commercialization; it’s lying, cheating, theft and taking advantage of the poor. The moneychangers were known to have unbalanced scales so they would cheat the pilgrims that came to the temple. And unfortunately, there was little the pilgrim could do about it as every Jewish man over age 19 was required to pay an annual “temple tax” and change his “street currency” into the temple currency. People also had to use temple currency to pay for the animals they needed to be offered as sacrifice. Therefore, Jesus specifically mentions the doves, because that was the offering of the poor – implying that those selling the animals for sacrifice knew they were cheating the poor (as well as everyone else) which was especially heinous.

This isn’t really accurate. The moneychangers weren’t cheating anybody, they were just performing business. It was a necessity really, since the Roman currency had images of pagan deities, and it would have be sacrilege to make offerings at the temple with graven images.

They were performing a service and entitled to profit. Nobody is getting cheated when the middleman takes profit from a currency exchange. It’s the quintessential free market.

The sin they committed is commercializing the house of the Lord. Commerce, even honest commerce, when taking place at the temple is the affront.

 

[NotWorthy]

This isn’t really accurate. The moneychangers weren’t cheating anybody, they were just performing business. It was a necessity really, since the Roman currency had images of pagan deities, and it would have be sacrilege to make offerings at the temple with graven images.

They were performing a service and entitled to profit. Nobody is getting cheated when the middleman takes profit from a currency exchange. It’s the quintessential free market.

The sin they committed is commercializing the house of the Lord. Commerce, even honest commerce, when taking place at the temple is the affront.

That’s one of the things I find most comical about the traps that the Jewish opposition tried on Jesus. When Jesus asks them (in the Synoptic Gospels) to produce a coin which has Caesar’s head on it, this scene happens within the Temple (Jesus is teaching opposite the treasury). Hence, the Jewish leaders are doing exactly what they are preventing the pilgrim Jews from doing!

 

[TimothyH]

but what does it mean on a more personal level when it comes to one’s day to day morality,ethics and interaction?.Thank you for your time and happy new year’s.

“Zeal for your house has consumed me” is from Psalm 69. It is worth reading.

That I may praise God’s name in song
and glorify it with thanksgiving.
That will please the LORD more than oxen,
more than bulls with horns and hooves:
(Psalm 69:31-32)

The Bible tells us over and over and over that worship without a contrite heart and a spirit of humility, without first reconciling ourselves to our brother and our neighbor who we have wronged, is not acceptable worship to God. This is the same message Jesus gives us when he tells the disciples that if they remember that their brother has something against them, they are to leave their gift at the altar and go to be reconciled with their brother first. This is the same message given to us by God through King David, who understood it clearly.

Thoroughly wash away my guilt;
and from my sin cleanse me.
5For I know my transgressions;
my sin is always before me.
Against you, you alone have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your eyes
So that you are just in your word,
and without reproach in your judgment…
For you do not desire sacrifice or I would give it;
a burnt offering you would not accept.i
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a contrite, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn.
(Psalm 51:4-6,18-19)

The Jews lived in a world where observation of the mosaic law was what made one Holy. They would go to the temple, buy a sheep, sacrifice, and then think that they were OK in the sight of God. This view was so prevalent that the House of God which was supposed to be a house of prayer was like a production line with money changers right there. They were simply observing the law and not really repenting of sins. They were worshipping according to the strict letter of the law but their hearts were far from God.

If we think we can go to Mass and confession without really repenting of our sins, without really changing our behavior, then we are mistaken. Some seem to think that it is a certain type of Mass which makes us holy or a certain devotion or if they increase piousness then they will be pleasing to God. But Jesus’ radical statement in the Sermon on the Mount is that it is not how you worship which makes you holy, but how you treat other human beings.

It is worth reading Psalms 51 and 69 as well as John 2:13-17, the relevant verses in Matthew 5 and the whole Sermon on the Mount to see how God views the way in which we treat other as human beings and how we worship, and which is a better indication to him of how much we love him.

Many don’t like this message. The message of love your neighbor first and then offer acceptable worship to God is as radical now as it was when Jesus said it.

-Tim-