John Calvin Commentary John 2:12

"After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and [his] brethren, and his disciples; and there they abode not many days." — John 2:12 (ASV)

He went down to Capernaum. The Evangelist moves to an additional narrative. Having resolved to gather a few memorable things that the other three had omitted, he specifies the time of the occurrence he is about to relate.

The other three also describe what Christ did, as recorded here; however, the difference in timing shows that it was a similar event, but not the identical one.

So, Christ cleansed the temple from base and profane merchandise on two occasions: once, when He was beginning to discharge His commission, and another time (Matthew 21:12; Mark 11:15; Luke 19:45) when He was about to leave the world and go to the Father (John 16:28).

To get a general overview of the passage, we must briefly examine the details in order. That oxen, and sheep, and doves, were offered for sale in the temple, and that money-changers were sitting there, was not without a plausible excuse.

For they might argue that the merchandise conducted there was not irreligious but, on the contrary, related to the sacred worship of God, so that everyone could easily obtain what they might offer to the Lord. Certainly, it was very convenient for devout people to find offerings of any kind readily available, thus sparing them the trouble of searching for them elsewhere.

We may, therefore, wonder why Christ was so highly displeased with it. But two reasons deserve our attention.

First, since the priests abused this merchandise for their own gain and avarice, such mockery of God could not be tolerated. Secondly, whatever excuse people may plead, as soon as they deviate even slightly from God's command, they deserve rebuke and require correction.

And this is the primary reason why Christ set out to purify the temple, for He distinctly states that the temple of God is not a place of merchandise.

But it may be asked, why did He not begin with doctrine instead? For it seems a disorderly and improper method to take action to correct faults before the remedy of doctrine has been applied. But Christ had a different purpose in mind: as the time was now near when He would publicly carry out the office assigned to Him by the Father, He wished, in a sense, to take possession of the temple and to demonstrate His divine authority.

And so that all might pay attention to His doctrine, it was necessary that something new and strange be done to awaken their sluggish and drowsy minds. Now, the temple was a sanctuary of heavenly doctrine and of true religion. Since He wished to restore purity of doctrine, it was very important for Him to prove Himself to be the Lord of the temple.

Besides, there was no other way He could restore sacrifices and other religious practices to their spiritual purpose except by removing their abuse. What He did at that time was, therefore, a kind of preface to the reformation that the Father had sent Him to accomplish.

In short, it was fitting that the Jews should be stirred by this example to expect something from Christ that was unusual and extraordinary. It was also necessary to remind them that the worship of God had been corrupted and perverted, so that they would not object to the reformation of those abuses.

And his brethren. Why the brethren of Christ accompanied Him cannot be determined with certainty, unless perhaps they intended to go with Him to Jerusalem. The word brethren, as is well known, is used in the Hebrew language to refer to cousins and other relatives.