The image of the video shows David and Sarah walking down the street. They just bought a new game. The day before, Sarah got very angry about the anti-racism movement. When they come across an anti-racism poster along the way, she gets angry again and pulls it off the wall. Out of nowhere, a mysterious figure appears behind them. He points them to a strange door. When they reach the door, the man has suddenly disappeared again. On the door there is a mysterious text: ‘Looking for answers? Those who go through this door are surprised.’ As they step through the door, they learn a lesson about a man who was ambushed by robbers.

1.2 ‘Jesus and the man attacked by robbers: Introduction

2.3 The world of the Bible

Jesus lived 2000 years ago at a time when life was vastly different from life today. You can probably imagine that people interacted differently without the internet. There are many more things that make our world completely different from theirs. We can say that they are not alike at all. Knowing what the world of Jesus looked like is important to understand a biblical text. Only then can the meaning of a text become clear for us today. We call the world of the context. The exercises and texts that follow deal with parts of the world of Jesus.

Exercise 2

Imagine that there is a time machine at school. You are lucky and allowed to travel to the time of Jesus. What would you like to learn about the time when Jesus lived?

2.3.1 Jerusalem and the temple

Jesus was born in Bethlehem at about the beginning of our era and lived in the area the Romans called “Palestine” (a region in the Middle East). One place Jesus visited a few times in his life was Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the capital of Palestine.
In the Old Testament it is described that David, the second king of the people of Israel, made Jerusalem his capital. Jerusalem has since that time remained an important place in the religious life of the inhabitants of the area. David’s son, Solomon, built a temple to God in Jerusalem. A temple is a place where people worshipped gods in Old Testament times. This Temple was the center of the religious life of the people of Israel.
The Bible books of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and 2 Kings describe that the Babylonians destroyed the Temple because the people had not remained faithful to God and began to worship other gods. This destruction of the temple is dated to 586 BC. A part of the people of Israel was led into exile. Exile means that a large part of the people was forced to live in a different place, far away from where they had grown up. Eventually, the period of the Exile ended when the later rulers, the Persians, allowed the exiles to return and build a new temple.

The construction of this Second Temple is described in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. This Temple was less grand and impressive than the first Temple. Around the year 19 BC, Herod the Great initiated a major renovation of the Temple. This renovation was to restore the Temple to its former glory. The new Temple became so impressive that even the Romans considered it a special building. The period after the construction of the second temple is called “second temple Judaism”. This is the period when Jesus wandered in Jerusalem and its surroundings.
The temple consisted of several courts and buildings. As you can see in figure 2.3 the main temple building was surrounded by a large court. On this court also non-Jews were welcome. Inside the main temple complex, there were the Courts of the Women and of the Priests that restricted access to only Jews and priests, respectively. On the Court of the Priest animals were slaughtered and sacrificed. The Holy place was the place where the priests did all their temple work.

Figure 2.3 Photo of a Replica of the Temple of Herod in the Holyland Model of Jerusalem. Source: Wikimedia Commons Exercise 3

Consider why the Jews would have liked to have the Temple rebuilt after the first one was destroyed.

Exercise 4

Consider why the Jews would have liked to have the Temple rebuilt after the first one was destroyed.

2.3 The world of the story

The Bible contains several books that describe the life of Jesus. We call these books the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each Gospel gives a testimony of the life of Jesus and each writer shows his own perspective. The story of Jesus cleansing the temple appears in all four Gospels. We are going to look at the story as John described it.

Did you know that ‘gospel’ comes from old English ‘godspel’, based on the Latin translation of the Greek word ‘euangelion’? This means ‘good news’ and refers to the good message brought by Jesus Christ.

Did you know that the Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke are remarkably similar in order and content? Because of this similarity, they are also called the Synoptic Gospels. ‘Synoptic’ comes from the Greek ‘synoptikos’ which means ‘seen together’. The Gospel of John looks vastly different and contains several stories that you will not find in the other three Gospels

John tells the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple court at the beginning of his ministry. The three other Gospels, on the other hand, tell this story at the end of Jesus’ life, just before he enters his last days. In this story, Jesus travels to the city of Jerusalem and visits the temple. When Jesus enters the Temple, he sees how animals are sold in the Temple for sacrifices and money is exchanged.

When you read a Bible text, you can ask the question: what do I notice about the text? The first thing to notice is that this text is a story. Something else that you can notice is that this story is about Jesus doing something strange himself. This is striking because in most stories it is others who do things that Jesus tells us about.

Money changers exchanged travelers’ money to adequate coins to enable them to pay the temple tax.

This story most likely takes place in the Court of the Gentiles. This was a large court where non-Jews were also welcome. The market was probably in a corner of this court.

Exercise 5

At the beginning of the story, Jesus travelled to Jerusalem. According to the text, why did Jesus go to Jerusalem?

When you are reading a Bible text, it is advisable to look at what is written before or after the text. In the story that precedes the cleansing of the Temple in the Gospel of John, Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding. This wedding took place in Cana, a place in the Galilean region where Jesus grew up. After the wedding, Jesus went to Capernaum and a few days later when the Passover feast was approaching, Jesus left for Jerusalem. When Jesus arrived, he went to the Temple and found traders and moneychangers there.

Exercise 6

How did Jesus respond to what he saw in the Temple? How would you describe his actions? What do you think of this response?

The biblical text does not state that Jesus got angry. Yet, Jesus is often described as angry when people talk about this story. Although it is not stated, the text can be interpreted like this. There seems to be legitimate a reason for Jesus to become angry, namely the presence of merchants and moneychangers in the Temple. It is important to look at what is actually written in the Bible. Sometimes we read a text and see things that are not actually in the text. For instance, there are other ways to describe Jesus’ actions. Jesus could also be described as being sad about the situation in the Temple court. Reading a Bible text to understand what it says is called interpretation.

Exercise 7

What other descriptions of the reaction of Jesus can you think of other than angry and sad?

Jesus makes a whip to chase traders and moneychangers out of the temple. You could imagine Jesus as someone whipping around forcefully with the whip. As you read this, you may be startled by what Jesus does. In the world today, it is hard to imagine anyone doing this in a temple.

The Bible text says that Jesus overturned the tables of the moneychangers. Jesus also has a whip in his hands. Yet it does not say exactly how Jesus expelled the merchants from the Temple. It is unclear at first glance whether Jesus used physical violence against humans and animals.

If you compare this story with the same story in the other three Gospels, it is striking that these three do not mention a whip. These accounts thus seem less violent than the narrative in John.

Exercise 8

Jesus calls the Temple his father’s house. Who is Jesus referring to? Why would he do this?

The disciples of Jesus remembered a verse from the Old Testament. This text is from Psalm 69 verse 10. In this Psalm, a person is talking who is in a period of suffering due to following God. He lists several difficulties he is experiencing and calls on God to punish his enemies. After Psalm 110, this Psalm is the most quoted Psalm in the New Testament.

The disciples respond with a Bible text that says something about Jesus’ actions. The students want to understand why Jesus cleared the Temple court.

After Jesus sent the merchants and moneychangers from the Temple court, the leaders of the Jews went to Jesus. Jesus was asked what sign proves that he was allowed to do what he did. Asking for a sign meant that the leaders wanted to know by what authority he had acted. Jesus had to demonstrate that he had a good reason and was allowed to drive the merchants and moneychangers out of the Temple. Jesus responded to this question by making a statement about the Temple. He claimed that if they demolish it, he could rebuild the Temple in three days. This is a striking response because it is impossible for the Jews to demolish the Temple so that Jesus can demonstrate his authority.

In the Gospel of John, “the Jews” usually refers to the leaders of the Jews. These are the leaders of the Temple in this case.

When Jesus was alive, many different groups were expecting a different and renewed Temple. The words of Jesus, like for most Jews, would have been blasphemous even to these groups. The rebuilding of the Temple started by Herod the Great and was still ongoing during the life of Jesus. Construction started in 19 BC and was not finished until AD 64.

Exercise 9

Think about what Jesus’ reaction is doing to you. Write down some words that come to mind. What do these words say about how you look at the

We have just covered the familiar part of this story. Jesus talks at the end of this section about breaking down the Temple and rebuilding it in three days. What does this have to do with expelling the merchants and moneychangers? To answer this, you need to read further in the story. At the end of the story, everything would become clear to the disciples.

John tells in the text what Jesus meant by breaking down and rebuilding the Temple. According to John, Jesus referred to his own body when he referenced to the temple. The temple in Jerusalem was an important place where God’s presence dwelt. Jesus is depicted as a person who disrupted the temple ministry. A possible interpretation is that he wanted to draw attention to the future. John showed throughout the scene and questions that he saw Jesus as the new true temple that replaces the old temple. What this means is that the presence of God has been moved from the original temple to Jesus. Jesus became a new way of getting closer to God, without the need for rituals in the old temple. In his response to the leaders Jesus spoke about his own death, because through his death he showed who he really was. The disciples eventually understood this all when Jesus died on the cross and rose again on Easter.

Exercise 10

Why does Jesus not want the Temple court to be a marketplace?

Exercise 11

What do you think of this story? Do you think Jesus was violent?

Exercise 12

What would you like to ask Jesus about this story?

Figure 2.4 Depiction of Jesus Cleansing the Temple as Stained Glass in the St. Janskerk in Gouda, Netherlands. Source: Wikimedia Click on the finish button to complete the course!

2.4 GLOSSARY

REFERENCES