John 2:13-17 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.… I. APPROPRIATE to — 1. The place: the metropolis, the centre of the Theocracy, the predicted theatre of Messiah's self-revelation (Zechariah 2:10, 11; Zechariah 9:9). 2. The time: at the passover, when the paschal lamb, of which He was the antitype, was about to be offered, and when the vast crowd gathered afforded a favourably opportunity for impressing the national mind and conscience. 3. The condition of the temple: whose forecourt, reserved for the worship of proselytes, was transformed into a market and fair under the pretence of religion — a melancholy, because faithful, picture of the secularization of the Jewish religion by the Pharisees. 4. The character of Him who carried it through. The Father's Son had a right to purge His Father's house. II. SUPERNATURAL. As much so as the turning of water into wine. The manifest insufficiency of the means places it in the same category as John 18:6. Its suddenness also surprised, and inward consciousness of guilt paralyzed, the traders. Natural and supernatural causes were thus combined. III. SIGNIFICANT. Designed to be a revelation to the ecclesiastical authorities of His Messiahship (Psalm 69:9; Malachi 3:2-6). IV. SUGGESTIVE. Recalling to the disciples the words of the Psalmist, it confirmed their recently formed convictions. V. ALARMING. It startled the Sanhedrim, who recognized the Messianic character of the action, but wanted to know whether He was Messiah. Secretly they must have dreaded this. But because He was different from what they expected, they declined to receive Him. They trifled with their consciences by asking for a sign. They preferred the darkness, although the light had now conspicuously dawned. Lessons: 1. The duty and privileges of the ordinances of religion. Christ at the passover. 2. The need of purity and order in the sanctuary — Christ purging the temple court. 3. The danger of a worldly spirit intruding into the domain of religion — the traders in the sacred edifice. 4. The propriety of being zealously affected in Divine service — Christ's example. (T. Whitelaw, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,WEB: The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. |
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