Cleansing of the temple

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jaydam
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Cleansing of the temple

Post by jaydam » Wed Apr 09, 2014 12:42 pm

Do you guys think Jesus really cleansed the temple twice?

If so, why? Doesn't one cleansing point to everything the action was meant to indicate, both OT references and coming end to the temple era?

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steve
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Re: Cleansing of the temple

Post by steve » Wed Apr 09, 2014 8:17 pm

I have no problem accepting two temple cleansings. If there was only one:

a) It is hard to explain why John would place it at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, if it really was at the very end. As near as I can tell, John's Gospel follows a chronological scheme in other respects.

b) It seems equally hard to explain why the Synoptics would place it in the Passion Week, if it really occurred prior to the commencement of His public ministry.

For me, it is no more difficult to imagine that He cleansed the temple twice, and the synoptics mentioned only one instance, than to explain why Matthew mentions both demoniacs dwelling among the tombs, while other writers mention only one of them.

If Jesus cleansed the temple twice, and the Synoptics mentioned only the second time, then it is not strange for John (whose Gospel hardly covers any of the synoptic material, and who seems deliberately to fill in blanks in the synoptic tradition) would let us know about the earlier instance.

The earlier instance (John's) has Jesus complaining that the temple should not be made a "house of merchandise" (no particular mention of the ethics of the merchandisers).

The later cleansing finds Jesus calling the temple a "den of thieves"—a different, more severe, complaint.

For there to have been two temple cleansings (which happened to bracket Christ's ministry years), does not seem any more superfluous, as far as getting a point across, than for there to have been two feedings of multitudes (of which John, incidentally, mentions only one). Jesus seemed to indicate that both multitude feedings conveyed a single lesson (Mark 8:18-21).

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jaydam
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Re: Cleansing of the temple

Post by jaydam » Thu Apr 10, 2014 1:31 am

Thanks Steve.

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