12 "After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothersand his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”"
John 2:12-17
We should take note of the significance of the position John gives the incident in his record. Thus far in his account of the gospel he has underlined the new experience in the lives of the disciples (chapter 1), followed by the lesson, in the story of the wedding at Cana (chapter 2), on the difference that Jesus makes, the transformation of water into wine symbolizing the change from the old order to the new. And now, in the temple cleansing incident, there is the clear message that transformation is not possible without purging. Not without pain is water turned into wine. Here is the idea of collision between light and darkness mentioned in the Prologue. Moral and spiritual resurrection, and the overcoming of darkness by light, is not possible without purging and pain. This is John's central thesis and message here, and it must be borne in mind throughout.
Our Lord's action is sometimes cited to justify violent resistance of injustice. But it may be asked whether the whip was an instrument or a symbol. It is said that what He picked up was a handful of reeds or rushes which served as bedding for the cattle, and wove them into some semblance of a scourge, and the question arises whether it was the sheep and cattle, rather than their owners, that He drove out, as the RSV indicates (the Greek can be so translated). One wonders whether the real point of the story lies in the moral indignation our Lord expressed, rather than the physical impact that He made. And if we bear in mind that this is the beginning of His public ministry, it is easy to understand that He should have inaugurated His work by a claim - and by an act of authority - to be the King of Israel and Lord of the Temple, and by a deliberate assumption of the role of Messiah (cf. Malachi 3:1-3). This is one major significance of the story.