John 2:17-22

¹⁷His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me" [Psalm 69:9]. ¹⁸Then the Jews demanded of Him, "What miraculous sign can You show us to prove Your authority to do all this?" ¹⁹Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." ²⁰The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and You are going to raise it in three days?" ²¹But the temple He had spoken of was His body. ²²After He was raised from the dead, His disciples recalled what He had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

Jesus’ sign of authority to drive out the merchants. Why didn’t the merchants and moneychangers fight back when Jesus drove them out? Their reaction is one of awe. They can’t believe that one man would dare pull such a stunt against so many. And the question posed to Jesus (by all the Jews) is, “What miraculous sign can You show us to prove Your authority to do all this?” They want Jesus to prove that He has authority to do this, and the only way that could be done is by a miracle. The Jews were willing – so they thought – to accept social and/or political change under the authority of one who is clearly and undoubtedly God’s chosen vessel to institute such change. Thus they were not necessarily wrong to ask for a sign of authority. Of course, we know that even the miraculous would not convince them (Luke 16:31). And that’s why we can say that they were only interested in the physical sign – not the spiritual reality to which the physical sign would point.

Jesus responds to their request with a sort of a parable. It was not a direct response, but an allegorical one. Perhaps, says Calvin, Jesus “reckoned them unworthy of a direct reply,” given His reason for speaking in parables (Matthew 13:13). He gives no explicit promise, yet states, “Destroy this Temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” As is typical of unbelievers (and as we’ll see in the upcoming conversation that Jesus has with Nicodemus), the Jews understood Jesus in a physical sense and were clearly perplexed by His less literal verbiage. They say to Him, “It has taken us 46 years to build this Temple!” Work on the Temple began in 19 or 20 BC and was still conducted, likely until 63 AD – just seven years before its destruction in 70 AD. Of course, from v21, Jesus was speaking of His body as the Temple, which would soon be crucified, buried, and raised. The Jews, as recorded by the other Gospel writers, will remember this statement (misquoted) of Jesus when His trial comes to pass. Jesus came both to purify and to personify His house.

John Calvin says here, “Jesus treats unbelievers as they deserve, and at the same time protects Himself against all contempt. It was not yet made evident, indeed, that they were obstinate, but Christ knew well what was the state of their feelings.” Jesus could have done and did do many other signs and wonders (miracles), but His point to the Jews is that the resurrection is sufficient. Yet not even a miracle like the resurrection is efficient in turning unbelief into faith (Luke 16:31). Not only is the resurrection sufficient, but Jesus is also pointing again to His complete authority over the Temple. Christ is the builder of the Body of Christ. The Temple is His. Furthermore, their response to Jesus’ parabolic sign shows that they had no desire to obey His authority, even if His authority had become clear to them. They were stubbornly enslaved to their own desires, which did not include genuine worship.

The Disciples recalled the significance of Jesus’ words and actions long after they occurred. V17 says, “His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for Your house will consume Me’ [Psalm 69:9].” The context of David’s quote is maintaining true and genuine worship, according to the Word of God. He is willing to bear any insults that would be thrown against the One True Living God. David thought of himself as having this great zeal for the worship of God, but his zeal paled in comparison to that of Christ, for Christ actually did bear those insults. David never could. Likewise, we ought to be zealous for genuine worship. And there is much to discuss regarding what that is, but let’s just agree that it has nothing to do with what we want and everything to do with what God wants. V22 says, “After He was raised from the dead, His disciples recalled what He had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.” Notice that only after the resurrection did the disciples of Jesus remember these events and realize the significance of them. Look at the result: THEN they believed the Scripture and Jesus’ words. John acknowledges that they didn’t really believe until after the Spirit brought these things to mind after the resurrection, as promised in John 14:26. It is also as if they went back over the Scripture and compared it with what Jesus had to say; then they realized that He was indeed the Messiah.

These two verses are great encouragement to me, as it is my experience that I rarely see the significance of an event in my life until well after it leads to something else that points back to it. Jesus’ Temple-cleansing had little meaning to them at the time – other than to confuse them or lead them astray by making them think Jesus was going to create a political uprising of some sort. But 50 years later, as John recalls these things, he is clearly aware of the importance and meaning of Jesus’ actions. Some suggest that the disciples could not have recalled all of these events years after they supposedly occurred, so they conclude that the Scriptures are myth and embellishment. We point to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to overcome this obstacle (John 14:26). Certainly our memories are poor at best, but the Lord forgets nothing (Amos 8:7) – except our sins (Isaiah 43:25; Jeremiah 31:34). Many of Christ’s teachings may seem obscure for a time, but as the Spirit enlightens our minds and hearts, we will grasp the precious importance of all Christ’s teachings. C.S. Lewis said, “There are a great many things that cannot be understood until after you have gone a certain distance along the Christian road. … Whenever you find any statement in Christian writings which you can make nothing of, do not worry! Leave it alone. There will come a day, perhaps years later, when you suddenly see what it meant.”

In conclusion, just as with the changing of water to wine, Christ is here demonstrating the passing of the old order of physical “shadows”, and promising the arrival of the new order of spiritual fulfillment – in Himself alone. But, whereas in the changing of water to wine the emphasis is on the blessedness of those who have a part in the new order, this event emphasizes the coming judgment of those who refuse to acknowledge the new order in Christ. Just as Christ drove out the men who had perverted the spiritual significance of the Temple in favor of material things; so in the future, those who refuse to embrace the spiritual realities of the new order in Christ would be eternally driven out from God’s presence.