Joh 2:13-24 | TNotes | STEP | 2:13 Passover , an annual spring festival, commemorated Israel’s rescue from slavery in Egypt (Exod 12 ). Jews traveled to Jerusalem to participate in the festival (Deut 16:1-16 ). Because John refers to three Passover festivals (John 2:13 ; 6:4 ; 11:55 ), many conclude that Jesus had a three-year public ministry.

2:13 ^a Passover, an annual spring festival, commemorated Israel’s rescue from slavery in Egypt (Exod 12 ^b). Jews traveled to Jerusalem to participate in the festival (Deut 16:1-16 ^c). Because John refers to three Passover festivals (John 2:13 ^d; 6:4 ^e; 11:55 ^f), many conclude that Jesus had a three-year public ministry.
Summary for John 2:14-17: 2:14-17 ^g Those who came for Passover needed to have approved sacrifices for worship. From this need grew a considerable industry for selling animals and exchanging money, but this business was being conducted in the Temple. Jesus, like a prophet, demanded that God’s house be returned to its intended uses—worship, prayer, instruction, and sacrifice. This put Jesus at odds with the Temple leadership.

• The synoptic Gospels place the clearing of the Temple near the end of Jesus’ ministry (Matt 21:12-13 ^h; Mark 11:15-17 ⁱ; Luke 19:45-46 ^j). John might have placed his account of the event here to emphasize a connection with the miracle that transformed the water in purification jars into wine (John 2:1-11 ^k). The Temple and the stone jars were both instruments of purification in Judaism. Stone jars filled with water for ritual washing now contained Jesus’ wine, and a stone Temple dedicated to sacrificial purification would be replaced by Christ himself (2:19-21 ^l). Another view is that Jesus cleared the Temple at the beginning and again at the end of his ministry.
Summary for John 2:19-21: 2:19-21 ^m Destroy this temple: Herod the Great began reconstructing the Temple’s magnificent structure in 20 BC, and work on it continued until AD 64. This explains why Jesus’ audience was amazed when he claimed he could destroy and rebuild it in a few days. However, Jesus spoke figuratively of his own body as the temple where God was present (see 1:14 ⁿ, 51 ^o)—his body was destroyed and restored in three days through the resurrection, rendering the Jerusalem Temple and its services obsolete. Later, at his trial, Jesus’ symbolic reference to destroying the Temple was used as evidence of blasphemy (Mark 14:58 ^p).
2:22 ^q they believed: Witnessing a miracle from God can inspire belief, but it is not the deepest faith possible (20:29 ^r).
2:24 ^s John uses a play on words here. Because of his signs, many people trusted in Jesus (2:23 ^t), but Jesus didn’t trust them. This did not refer to specific people Jesus met in Jerusalem, but reflects his knowledge of all humanity.