25. The First Passover; the Cleansing of the Temple of the Traders. Jn. 2:13–22

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and the Lord Jesus came to Jerusalem and found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers were sitting. And making a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the money of the money changers and overturned their tables. And He said to those who were selling doves: Take these things away; do not make My Father’s house a house of trade.

His disciples remembered that it was written: Zeal for Your house will consume Me (Ps 68:10). The Jews said to Him: What sign do You show us, to prove that You have authority to do these things? Jesus answered them: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews said: This temple was built forty-six years, and will You raise it up in three days?

But He was speaking of the temple of His body. When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.