Jesus enters Jerusalem, for the Passover feast was upon them. This Passover feast takes place early in St. John’s gospel. Jesus had just performed the miracle of the wedding at Cana, where He changed the water into wine. Upon entering Jerusalem, Jesus goes directly to the temple where, we are told, He made a whip of cords and drove animals and merchants out of the temple. There is a need for some history here. It was a common practice that there would be merchants selling animals, as well as people buying animals. The temple was the place for sacrifices, and it wasn’t practical for people to journey with their sacrificial animals. Merchants figured that some money could be made by providing this service. There is clear documentation to the regularity of this practice in Rabbinic literature of old.

There was also a temple tax. The High Priest, Annas and his family saw a great benefit for merchants and the temple through the practice of buying and selling animals.