You can see from the above layout that Luke follows the lead of the other two synoptic gospels in positioning the Cleansing of the Temple at the end of Jesus ministry. Mark’s is a chronological account. So it is most likely that the cleansing of the temple happened at the end of Jesus’ ministry. John is the only one who has it positioned in an entirely different place. However, we know that John is writing a theological Gospel, primarily to convince us that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God and to lead us to believe in Him. He and Luke are the two gospel writers who are most likely to move a pericope to another location. Yet in this case, Luke positions The Cleansing of the Temple in the same sequence as Matthew and Mark, but with some differences.
We have already seen in the comparative columns that I gave you yesterday, that there are distinctive differences between the synoptic gospels at this point.
Mark’s coverage is most likely to be the standard package from which the others have deviated. Matthew has added the segment on Children and Infants, while Luke has left out both elements related to the fig tree. That is not his focus at this point. We have seen one of Luke’s focal points to be the timing of Jesus’ entry as Messiah and the fact that Israel missed it. I have already said he has picked up on the prophecy from Daniel from Matthew’s reference to the King coming in the name of the Lord. Below I will expand on Luke’s other focus.
Look at Bible Gem 26 for my comments on this segment as John sees it. My personal opinion is that there is one temple cleansing but John is rearranging the order and changing the content to suit his purpose. That is typical of John and the interaction with the other gospels. He has only selected the temple cleansing story and he retained the authority segment to go with it. The rest he discards to highlight his purpose. I am not sure if he has deliberately substituted the vineyard pericope with the story of changing the water to wine at the Cana wedding, but my hunch is that that is exactly what he has done. It seems too much of a coincidence to think otherwise. John clearly knows exactly what the others have written. Remember, his was the last gospel to be written. There are 12 other times when John writes in parallel with the other gospel writers. But he always has different things to say or a different point to make or new information. Remember too, that John was in the inner circle with Peter and James. They did things the other disciples didn’t do and were privy to things the other disciples didn’t know about. And John was the closest to Jesus, it seems, when naming himself “the disciple that Jesus loved”.
Our focus now are Luke’s intentions and arrangement related to this segment. Note the comments I made about the missing days (Bible Gems 80, 81 and 82), and the reference in this segment to Bethany in Mark 11:12, and the fact that He returned to Jerusalem in Matthew 21:18. Luke has totally skipped the break in Bethany between these events. Luke deliberately draws close together, the Triumphal Entry and the Cleansing of the Temple. There is no hint that Jesus has been elsewhere, namely to Bethany. According to Luke’s account, we could think the Cleansing of the Temple took place on the same day as the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Luke has placed them in juxtaposition for a reason: to emphasise the stones theme. After the first reference to the “stones” Luke builds toward the second reference of the stones. But note, they are very different, with a very different focus. However, Luke is deliberately linking them together. The first reference to stones crying out, I have drawn your attention to before in Gem 1144. Now look at the passage below, clipped from the Luke column above.
But as He came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, He began to weep. “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not accept your opportunity when God offered it.”
Luke 19:40-44
Isn’t it strange that as Jesus enters Jerusalem to all the adulation and cheering, He weeps over it? Jesus Himself tells us why.
“How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes . . . because you did not accept your opportunity for salvation. — (or recognise the time of your visitation.)”1
Luke 19:42, 44
1 – consult the variant readings among the translations on Luke 19:44
That much is clear and we have investigated that already. But why do “stones rejoicing” turn to “stones scattered”? Jesus is making the comment that this joyous moment is going to turn to a judgment moment. He sees past the momentary delight of the people of Israel in their Messiah coming, to the point where He has already told the disciples numbers of times, He will be rejected, crucified and buried, only to rise again. Because He knows that, He can hardly get excited about their brief fleeting worship. He knows the big picture and looks to the end point. In this case, the end point is linking what John is talking about in Chapter 2 to the events of the Triumphal Entry and the fickleness of Israel’s heart.
But the Jewish leaders demanded, “What are You doing? If God gave You authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.” “All right,”Jesus replied.”Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” “What!” they exclaimed. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and You can rebuild it in three days?” But when Jesus said, “this temple,” He meant His own body. After He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered He had said this, and they believed both the Scriptures and what Jesus had said.
John 2:18-22
Jesus is referring to the destruction of the temple in AD 70, a sign of God’s hand upon Israel in judgment because they rejected the Messiah. The last two verses described graphically what happened with the siege of Jerusalem, when the city fell to Titus in AD 70 and the conflict was finally ended with the fall of Masada in AD 73. The scattered stones, not one left upon another refers to total destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and the official Jewish presence in the city. Jesus weeps as He comes into Jerusalem because He knows the outcome of the people of Israel missing this revelation of their day of salvation. He knows also what will follow it. As I have told you before, the “peace” referred to here is not just peace as in the absence of war. It is the peace promised in the word [shalom] which signifies total well-being of body, soul and spirit, when everything is aligned with God’s purposes. The restoration of His ultimate plan and the ushering in of the Age to Come. Imagine missing that moment. Just as Israel did; you could too. (See Romans 11:17-21 and Bible Gem 224)
I Would Rather Have You Hate Me For Telling You The Truth Than For You To Love Me For Telling You Lies.
Robb Thompson
We bear within us the seeds of our own disintegration. The strength of our flesh is an ever present danger to our souls.
A W Tozer
God removed his anger from me at great cost (Rom. 8:32). Shall I not then remove my anger from you no matter the cost?
John Piper
God’s Word has every prescription for every human need and hurt. But we must give out the RIGHT medicine for EACH illness!
Rick Warren