JOHN 2:13-14 NKJV

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.

JOHN 2:13-14 NKJV

John 2:13 the Passover of the Jews: Every male Jew was required to go to Jerusalem three times a year—for the Feast of Passover, the Feast of Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles (Ex. 23:14–19; Lev. 23). Jerusalem: The synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—concentrate on Jesus’ Galilean ministry. John focuses on Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem. The different accounts do not contradict each other; instead, they complement each other.

John 2:14 The synoptic Gospels place the cleansing of the temple at the conclusion of Jesus’ ministry (Matt. 21:12, 13), whereas John puts it at the beginning (vv. 14–17). Apparently Jesus cleansed the temple two different times. The language of the synoptic Gospels and that of John differ considerably, indicating two separate events. The Law of Moses required that any animal offered in sacrifice be unblemished, and that every Jewish male over nineteen years of age pay a temple tax (Lev. 1:3; Deut. 17:1). As a result, tax collectors and inspectors of sacrificial animals were present at the temple. However, these officials would not accept secular coins because they had an image of the Roman emperor, whom the pagans worshiped as a god. To put such coins into the temple treasury was thought to be an offense. So in order to accommodate visitors in need of animals and the right kinds of coins, animal merchants and money changers set up shop in the outer court of the temple. These inspectors, collectors, and exchangers, however, charged high prices.