Did Jesus purge the Temple at the beginning of his ministry John 2 v 13 or before he was arrested Matthew 21 v 12 - a time gap of about 3yrs?

Answer 1

Theologians recognize the possibility of the event having occured twice, once at the beginning and once at the end of Jesus' ministry.

It must be remembered that there is no requirement for any particular event to be recorded in any of the Gospels but simply that what is recorded was true to fact. John specifically mentions that he left out many of the details of Jesus' life because there was simply too much material to record it all.

Not every Gospel writer records every miracle or every saying of Jesus either and so it is quite reasonable to conclude that Jesus did this twice. Jesus' ministry and teachings aroused the ire of the authorities from the very beginning.

Other scholars note that John is far less interested in exact chronology than the synoptic authors and that he does not actually pinpoint which passover is referred to in 2:13 in relation to the chronology of Jesus' life. These scholars suggest therefore a single cleansing with of course no conflict or confusion as is alleged. Thus, although the cleansing in John is placed in terms of the chapter which records the beginning of Jesus' ministry, John does not state that the cleansing occured then.

Edersheim points out that the Gospel writers would almost have considered it blasphemous to propose to write a truly chronological history of Jesus' life. This was a reflection of the high regard they had for Him as their Lord and master. Such an obsession with exact chronology as is held by the modern 21st century mind was unknown to those of first century Palestine. They sought rather to put forward certain key events in Jesus' life and to draw suitable teachings from those events.

Thus in either of these two cases there is no necessity to pose any kind of contradiction or conflict between the various writers and between the writers and the actual historical record of Jesus' life. What is certain is that he cleansed the temple, Edersheim noting that this event was not unpopular with the people who recognized the degree of exploitation coming from the family of Annas, the likely owners of the whole racket.

A Second View Point:

Evidence for Two Cleansings of the Temple: In Mark's gospel, the cleansing of the Temple is one of the last things that Jesus does in his public ministry. It is an event that leads directly to the arrest and execution of Jesus. Matthew and Luke were both based on Mark's gospel, and so they also have the cleansing of the Temple shortly after Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. John, in contrast, tells about Jesus cleansing the temple at the beginning of the gospel narrative. It is in the second chapter, shortly after the miracle of the wine. A close reading gives the impression that John wants us to see these events as closely following one upon the other. He is maintaining a rather precise account of the timing of the crucial events at the outset of our Lord's ministry

If one accepts the accounts of the Gospels at face value, there are obviously two temple cleansings. The first occurred at the outset of our Lord's earthly ministry and is described by John. The second takes place at the end of our Lord's public ministry, and it is the incident which appears to precipitate His death by crucifixion.

There are reputable theologians who are troubled that the one-cleansing theory receives any support from conservative scholarship. The text is straightforward. From their perspective, those who accept it as the inspired Word of God should accept its statements without feeling obliged to change them. It is not at all difficult to believe there are two cleansings, one at the beginning of our Lord's ministry, and the other at the end. Why do some want to challenge the text, based solely upon their own presuppositions?

If Jesus fed 5,000 in one place and 4,000 in another, can we not believe there were two similar, but separate, miracles? Dare we "correct" the inspired text because we think this miracle comes "too early" in our Lord's ministry? Who are we to say what God can do, or when? Do we really believe Jesus could not get away with cleansing the temple twice? No one could arrest Him, or put Him to death until it was "His time"? Soldiers who came to arrest Him fell before Him when He spoke. And yet do we dare to think He could not go into the temple and cleanse it daily if He willed? The objections to taking the text literally are not only weak, they are presumptuous.

Answer 2

It is believed that Jesus purged the Temple twice, once at the beginning of his ministry (John 2:13) and another time before his arrest (Matthew 21:12). Scholars suggest that there were likely two separate incidents due to the differences in timing and details provided in the accounts.

Answer 3

Some say that Mark, in the first of the synoptic gospels, placed the purging of the temple towards the end of his gospel because this made a suitable dispute with the priests, bringing about the arrest and execution of Jesus. Mark showed Jesus as frequently trying to keep his true identity secret, so an early altercation would have been inconsistent with that objective. On the other hand, John had Jesus unconcerned about his true identity being known, so it is believed to suit his narrative for the purging of the temple to be placed towards the beginning of his gospel, with the final dispute being about Jesus' claims to be God.

WE now know that Mark's Gospel was the first New Testament gospel to be written, that Matthew and Luke were substantially dependent on Mark, and that John's Gospel was loosely based on Luke. It would therefore be reasonable to favour the synoptic version, based on Mark's Gospel, as that is earlier and thus closer to the events that might have occurred.