It must have been some sight! With the crack of a whip, Jesus chased merchants from the temple. He drove out the oxen. He scattered the sheep. He turned the tables on the moneychangers, with coins jangling to the floor and rolling away. Single-handedly, Jesus swept the temple clean. The leaders glared at him and said, “What sign can you show us for doing this?”

            “What sign can you show us ...?” The fact is, Jesus was disrupting a workable and established system. The leaders at the temple were ostensibly concerned that everybody was properly equipped for worship. Does anybody want to offer a sacrifice to God? An appropriate animal was available at the temple. Does anybody want to offer thanks to God, but is short on money? Inexpensive doves will be available at the temple.¹ Does anybody need to change common Roman currency into Jewish temple money? Money changers will be available at the temple. How convenient! You could travel those long, dusty miles to the holy city, never worry about dragging along your own ox or sheep, never fear about bringing exact change. If you wanted to be religious, the religious system provided everything.

            It was a good system until Jesus came and disrupted it. In response, the leaders said, “What sign can you show us for doing this?”

An action that challenges

            Obviously, they saw Jesus as an upstart. According to the Gospel of John, this was the first time Jesus confronted organized religion. Up to this point, he had been collecting disciples and attending wedding receptions. Now for the first time, he met organized religion head on — and he exposed its seedy underside. No wonder they responded, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Who did Jesus think he was? What were his credentials? Where was his diploma? Did he think he could march into the temple and smash the system to bits? If so, he should have remembered that actions have ramifications.

            The other Gospels tell this story as if it happened much later in Jesus’ life. When Jesus undertakes this prophetic action in Matthew, Mark and Luke, the authorities say it is the last straw. They decide to eliminate the troublemaker. They practically sign his death warrant.

            Yet in his Gospel, John tells the story as early as chapter two, as if to say that, from the beginning of his ministr

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