Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. (John 2:13)
We learn in Exodus 12 that God had instituted the Passover, the night that He "passed over" the children of Isreal and killed the firstborn in Egypt, which led to Pharoah letting them leave that evening. God had also instructed them that ‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. (And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’” (Exodus 12:14, 24-27)
Beyond the actual events that took place during the first Passover, the symbolism of Christ's sacrifice were a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things,... (Hebrews 10:1) The children of Isreal were to get a ...lamb...without blemish, a male of the first year. (Exodus 12:5) Jesus is The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29) God further stated that Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; (Exodus 12:13) Just as God through Christ, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,... (Romans 3:25)
So as is the Jewish custom, Jesus went to Jerusalem for the passover, which is the first month of the Jewish calendar year (Exodus 12:2); And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.[Psalm 69:9]" (John 2:14-17) Well, this is proof that Jesus can and did get angry! “And you shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it; and you shall hallow it and all its utensils, and it shall be holy. (Exodus 40:9) The "house" of God, or the places we use to worship are supposed to be set apart and holy to God. They are not to be used for selling of goods for profit, fundraising, yard sales, etc. Yes, it's just a physical building, but it's santified, set apart for a spiritual use, therefore it should not be treated like any other place! Jesus makes that very clear, for any of us who may have had doubts.
Of course the Jews and others who were there selling and making money were upset and demanded that Jesus prove to them He is the Son of God and that He has authority over the tabernacle, or in other words the body of believers: So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said. (John 2:18-22) We must remember that the physical things we see are only manifestations of spiritual truths. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (I Corinthians 6:19) Just as the physical church building is supposed to be used as a holy place for God, so is our physical bodies to be used as a holy place for the Holy Spirit of God. For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (I Corinthians 6:20)
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