John 2:12-13

¹²After this [Jesus] went down to Capernaum with His mother and brothers and His disciples. There they stayed for a few days. ¹³When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Jesus’ travels to Capernaum and on to Jerusalem. John here builds on to the timeline of Jesus’ ministry. After the wedding miracle, He heads to Capernaum with His mother, brothers, and disciples; John interestingly separates brothers and disciples here – Catholicism groups these into one group, denying that Jesus had any brothers since Mary remained a virgin her whole life (Matthew 12:46). Now a few days later, He comes to Jerusalem and cleanses the Temple. The other Gospel authors tell us of such an event (Matthew 21:12; Mark 11:15; Luke 19:45), but those accounts occur near the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, leaving us to wonder about the accuracy of John’s account.

Most suggest that there were at least two such Temple cleansings in Jerusalem, one at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry as recorded here by John, and another near the end of His ministry as recorded by the other Gospels. None of the Gospels record both, however, so some (especially liberal) commentators suggest that there was only one cleansing, likely occurring at the end of Jesus’ ministry. Those who hold this view make John’s account out to be non-chronological history. They must labor to explain that John’s timeline (i.e. the next day, three days later, a few days) is not literal, but being liberal, they generally don’t mind that. They suggest that those terms suggest an uncertain amount of time, as John is not interested in literal day-to-day events, but symbols and types. Here is one explanation of John’s symbolism:

“There can be little doubt but that many of the events related by John have a symbolical significance that places Jesus’ ministry in the stream of redemptive history. The first miracle – the changing of water at the wedding in Cana – is a sign (2:11). A wedding is a symbol of the messianic days (Isaiah 54:4-8; 62:4-5), and both a wedding and a banquet appear in the Synoptic Gospels as symbols of the Messianic era (Matthew 8:11; 22:1-14; Luke 22:16-18). Revelation pictures the Messianic consummation in terms of a wedding (Revelation 19:9). In John’s Gospel, the wedding at Cana symbolizes the presence of the Messianic salvation; wine symbolizes the joy of the Messianic feast (see Mark 2:19); the six stone jars used for Jewish rites of purification symbolize the Old Testament era that is [imperfect and] now ending; and Mary’s statement, ‘they have no wine,’ becomes a pregnant reflection on the barrenness of Jewish purification, much in the vein of Mark 7:1-24. John deliberately places the cleansing of the Temple at the very beginning of his Gospel, much as Luke places Jesus’ rejection at Nazareth at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry as another sign (2:23). John interprets this to represent the Messiah’s lordship over the Temple. It will be destroyed and replaced by all that is represented in Jesus’ resurrection (2:19-20). The idea that the Temple worship, both in Jerusalem and in Samaria, is to be displaced by worship inspired by the Spirit is overtly asserted in 4:20-24.”

I prefer the “two cleansings” view for the sake of the “the next day, the third day, and a few days” and its fit with the surrounding material toward the theme of Jesus’ ushering out the old and making all things new (it also makes sense when considered with Mark 11:15-18 – they didn’t plot to kill Jesus yet). Perhaps the best reason to prefer the “two cleansings” view is this: while John alone (v19) records Jesus claim, “Destroy this Temple, and I’ll raise it up again in three days,” the other Gospel writers refer to it (Matthew 26:61; 27:40; Mark 14:58; 15:29; Acts 6:14). These authors, though writing earlier, confirm the historicity of John’s account. Any thoughts? Finally, it is also suggested by commentators that the Cana wedding event is parallel to Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus and that the Temple cleansing event is parallel to Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman. What importance is that? We’ll talk more about it as we cross those passages in John 3-4.