John 2:13–25 | Acts 13 Network

Everyone notices it eventually: this story shows up in the wrong place. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus clearing the temple courts comes near the end of his ministry — it's the moment that gets him killed. John puts it in chapter two. Same event, two different spots. In this message, we look at why John does that, what was actually happening in that temple courtyard, and why Jesus's anger there still has something pointed to say to us about what we worship.

In this message:

• Why the Gospel writers weren't writing modern history, and what that means for how we read the placement of this story
• What was really going on in the Court of the Gentiles — and why it mattered that this particular courtyard was the one turned into a marketplace
• The wordplay in the Greek between "temple" and "temple" that most English translations flatten out
• Why "seeing is believing" gets flipped on its head for Jesus
• A hard question about what we actually measure as church "success" — and what our own idols tend to look like

Scripture: John 2:13–25

Discussion questions:

1. Jesus overturns tables but doesn't strike a person, and he lets the dove-sellers keep serving the poor. What does that precision tell you about the nature of his anger?
2. The religious leaders were fixated on Herod's temple complex while missing the one standing in front of them. Where are you tempted to fixate on the impressive and miss the actual presence of God?
3. What's your version of the "triple B" — building, budget, or butts in seats? What would it look like to measure faithfulness differently?
4. Is there a table in your own life that Jesus would want to overturn?

Acts 13 Network is a house church gathering in Ypsilanti, MI. Find us at acts13.net.