Not only did the Lord’s actions challenge the authority of Caiaphas, they also hurt his family’s financial holdings since they had grown rich from the sale of sacrificial animals. In doing so, He also angered Caiaphas, the high priest, whose family was in charge of the money changing in the temple. Jesus challenged these ungodly practices and urged the people to obey God rather than convenience. They simply traveled to Jerusalem and purchased animals from the market at the temple. Instead of following God’s command to offer pure, spotless lambs from their own flocks at Passover ( Exodus 12:5), many Jews were guilty of commercializing this process. In this case, the money changers were guilty of turning worship into a matter of convenience while stealing from the people by charging exorbitant prices for substandard sacrificial animals. Remember, Jesus often confronted the religious leaders and challenged their hypocrisy. Some may wonder at the plausibility of Jesus cleansing the temple on two occasions, but there is no reason to doubt that He would do this. While the message was similar, the words Jesus used to convey His message were different. However, during the second cleansing Jesus said, “ It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves’” ( Matthew 21:13 Mark 11:17 Luke 19:46). As cited above regarding the first temple-cleansing, the Lord stated, “ Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” ( John 2:16). The words that Jesus spoke while cleansing the temple are different. The Synoptics do not mention a whip at all. John wrote that Jesus made a whip of cords and then drove out the money changers. In contrast to this, the Synoptics record that following the second cleansing, Jesus began to teach those who were in the temple and heal the blind and lame that came to Him. There is no mention of this confrontation or Christ’s prophecy in Matthew, Mark, or Luke. In John, Jesus was immediately confronted by temple officials who asked, “ What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?” John revealed that the Lord responded by pointing to His future Resurrection: “ Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” ( John 2:19 2:22). When you look closely at these accounts other differences can be found. These events took place at different points of Christ’s ministry. The most obvious difference has already been explained. So rather than automatically crying “Contradiction!” we should see if a solution can be found. Furthermore, the biblical authors should be given the benefit of the doubt. The critic might protest and suggest this is simply an ad hoc answer (i.e., a solution concocted just to address the objection), but the biblical accounts support this. The final time was just prior to His death, as described in the Synoptics. The first time was near the beginning of His ministry, as described in John. Jesus cleansed the temple on at least two occasions. In this case, the solution is actually quite simple. In other words, just because two accounts are similar, it does not mean they refer to the same thing.
Students of the Bible need to realize that similarity does not necessarily equal same-ness. Is this a contradiction and if so, who is right? The Solution Just because two accounts are similar, it does not mean they refer to the same thing. Meanwhile, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all describe the temple-cleansing as taking place just days before Christ’s Crucifixion. John describes the cleansing of the temple as occurring during the first Passover (of three) mentioned in his Gospel.
Some Christians believe these accounts describe the same event, but there is a problem. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) also tell of Jesus entering the temple, driving out those who bought and sold, overturning their tables, and telling the crowd that they had turned the temple into a “ den of thieves” ( Matthew 21:12–13 Mark 11:15–17 Luke 19:45–46). Jesus said to those who sold doves, “ Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” ( John 2:16). He also poured out the money and turned over the tables ( John 2:13–15). The second chapter of John explains that during the Passover, Jesus went to the temple in Jerusalem, made a whip of cords, and drove out the money changers who were doing business there.
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