John 2 Verses 12-22 

John 2:12 “After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. 13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. 17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. 18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.”   

“After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. 13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. 17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”   

In this passage we find that there were Jews who were going into the temple at the time of the Passover and selling oxen and sheep and doves.  Now there was nothing inherently wrong with selling oxen and sheep and doves, but these had taken their merchandise into the temple and taking advantage of the location to sell to those Jews who were seeking to purchase them for the sacrifices under the ordinances of the Old Testament.  The temple was to be a place of worship, not a place of merchandise.  This, however, upset the merchants as it cut into their profits.  Similarly, today we see those who call themselves churches selling and buying in connection with the merchants in places devoted to worship.  The disciples remembered the Old Testament scripture: Ps.69:9 “For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.”  This was another example of a scripture speaking of Christ and the things concerning him being fulfilled.  The Lord was not pleased with the merchandising in the temple and he certainly is not pleased with a church merchandising in our day.   

“Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.”  The Jews were mad at Jesus and thus questioned his authority by asking a sign of him.  The Lord gave them a sign, but they misunderstood what he was saying.  They thought he was speaking of the natural temple that took 46 years in building and that if it was destroyed he would raise it up in 3 days.  However, the Lord gave a more important sign than that in that he spoke of the death of his body and that after 3 days he would raise it up again.  His disciples remembered this sign after he rose from the grave.   

John 2 Verses 23-25

John 2:23 “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25 And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.” 

“Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.”  Notice that it says that they believed in his name.  His name is Jesus, meaning Savior.  Thus, they believed he was the Savior after they saw the miracles that he did.   

 “But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men…”  The word “commit” and the word “believed” in verse 23 come from the same Greek word “pisteuo.”  The word “pisteuo” means “put in trust.”  It would appear that the many that saw the miracles put their trust in Jesus but Jesus did not put his trust in them for he knew all men.  That is he knew what was in man.  We all have a carnal nature that is not trustworthy.