Bible In One Year Day 319 (Luke 17 - 19, Proverbs 26: 13-16)

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Day 319: Come Follow Me 

 

Agape Bible Study 
Luke 17 - 19 

Chapter 17

Chapter 17 begins with four sets of teachings/sayings of Jesus on different aspects of discipleship:

1. On the inevitability of sin/scandal in the Christian community (17:1-3a)
2. On the duty of Christians to forgive (17:3b-4)
3. On the power of faith (17:5-6)
4. On the demands of Christian service (17:7-10)

Luke 17:1-3a ~ Temptations to sin

The word translated "sin" in verse 1 might better be translated "scandal." However, it is sin, after all, that causes scandal in the Church. The Greek noun skandalon can have two meanings:

1. A "trap or snare" (as for example in the Greek translation of Josh 23:13 and Ps 68:22).
2. "Something over which one could stumble" (as for example in the Greek translation of Leviticus 19:14 and Ps 118:165).

Luke 17:3b-4 ~ The necessity of brotherly correction and forgiveness

The theme of this teaching is brotherly correction and forgiveness. Jesus taught at length on this subject in Matthew 18:15-22. The Greek word for "brother" is adelphos, meaning a sibling "from the womb"/from the same mother. This is the only word used for "brother" in the New Testament and can refer to a sibling (Mt 4:18, 21); a half-brother (Lk 3:1, 19), a kinsman or a countryman/covenant brother (Mt 5:22; 7:3-5Lk 6:41, 42). In this context it refers to a brother or sister in the covenant community (also see for example Acts 1:15; 2:29, 37; 6:3; 9:30; 10:23). The word "rebuke" is from the verb epitiman and suggests a frank but gentle admonition; not an angry or irrational correction (Fitzmyer, page 1140). The word "forgive" is in the future tense in the Greek text and the "you" is plural.

Jesus' teaching is that since there is sin the world and all men and women are sinners, the disciples must accept the inevitability that sin will occur within the community.

Question: In this passage what three commands does Jesus give concerning the community's response to a brother or sister who sins?
Answer:

1. Admonish the offending Christian brother/sister (verse 3b).
2. If the correction is accepted and is followed by the request for forgiveness, forgiveness must be offered (verse 3b).
3. Forgiveness must be unconditional (verse 4).

Luke 17:5-6 ~ The power of faith

This is the first mention of the Apostles as a separate group from within the community of disciples since Luke 9:10 when they returned from their first missionary journey (Jesus did mention them in His teaching in 11:49).
Question: Why do the Apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith? Is there a connection to previous teachings?
Answer: Their request shows that they have been reflecting upon Jesus' teachings on discipleship in Luke 14:25-35, 16:8b-18 and 17:1-4. To fulfill Jesus' teachings on the demands of true discipleship, the Apostles realize that their ability to live in compliance to Jesus' teaching depends on their faith. However, they understand that they will need more than their frail human faith to be obedient to Jesus' commands, and so they ask Him to increase their faith.

Luke 17:7-10 ~ The Parable of the Unprofitable Servants

This is the last set of sayings/teachings in this series addressing the inadequacy of service versus the expectation of reward. Once again Luke uses a familiar household analogy of master and servant/slave (see 12:35-40, 42-48; 13:25-27; 14:16-24; 16:1-13). Servants/slaves always ate after the master of the house had finished his meal. In verse 9 the point is not good manners but social convention and acceptable behavior for a servant in the presence of his master. The rhetorical question Jesus asks in verse 9 presupposes a "no" answer.
Question: What is the comparison in this parable?
Answer: In this parable Jesus compares human service to Christian discipleship.

In serving an earthly master, a servant does not deserve or expect a greater reward for doing what is expected of him. Such an attitude is like the Pharisee in Luke 14:15 who believed the Pharisee host of the meal and the other invited Pharisees and scribes deserved to eat at God's banquet table in the heavenly kingdom simply because they were descendants of Abraham and members of the covenant. And yet, as Jesus has shown them repeatedly in His teachings, they had failed in their service to God in not fulfilling even the minimum that was expected "they failed in the understanding and teaching of the Law (Lk 14:3-6), in mercy, compassion and justice to the poor (Lk 11:39-52), and in their love of money over love of God (16:13-15; also see St. John the Baptist's condemnation of the Jews for this attitude in Lk 3:7-9).

Symbolic images in the Parable of the Unprofitable Servant (Lk 17:7-10)
The master	God
The servants who work on the master's land	Christians within the Kingdom of the Church
The unprofitable servants	Christians who only do the minimum service that God requires of a Christian
Michal E. Hunt Copyright © 2013

Luke's Travel Narrative Part III

Luke 17:11 ~ 

The last location Luke gave us was in 13:31 where we can assume that Jesus was in the territory of Perea on the east side of the Jordan River, the territory that Herod Antipas ruled in addition to the Galilee. That Jesus was in Perea for a time is also recorded in John 10:40 when Jesus withdrew across the river into Perea after He attended the Feast of Dedication in December of the last months of His ministry that will reach its climax in the spring. St. Luke lists Samaria before Galilee, therefore, the word translated "through" might be better translated as "between" (an acceptable alternate translation) making the location of His travels "between Samaria and Galilee." St. John notes that Jesus returned across the Jordan from Perea into Judea to raise Lazarus from the dead (Jn chapter 11) and then withdrew to the region of the Judean wilderness to the north of Jerusalem, which could be the northern part of the wilderness in the district of Samaria (Jn 11:54). Luke 17:16 may suggest that He was in the district of southern Samaria which fits with that interpretation. Jesus is making His way toward the Jordan River Valley and down to Jericho (see Lk 18:35); from Jericho He will make His way up to Jerusalem.

Luke 17:12-19 ~ The cleansing of ten lepers

Jesus has entered an unnamed village (presumably on the border between Samaria and Judea) where He is greeted at a distance by ten lepers. The number "ten" may be significant. In the symbolic meaning of numbers in Scripture, ten is a number of perfection of order in God's divine plan; for example there are ten commandments, there are ten Egyptian plagues, and there are ten virgins in Jesus' parable representing the communities of the Church (Mt 25:1-13).

The ten lepers stand at a distance because those suffering from contagious skin diseases were "unclean" and were not allowed to enter villages (Num 5:2-3) or to approach a "clean" person (Lev 13:45-46). They cry out for mercy and begged Jesus to heal them. The outflowing of God's mercy is, according to St. Luke, part of the expectation concerning the visitation of God (see Lk 1:50, 54, 58, 72, 78).

Question: What does Jesus tell them and why? See Lk 5:14; Lev 13:49; Lev 14:2-4, 19-20.
Answer: As in His other encounter with a leper, He tells them to be obedient to the Law and to show themselves to a priest. Jesus is giving them the instruction that a Jew must follow if he was healed of his skin disease in order to be received back into the community.

Their obedience in following His instruction leads to their healing. 

Luke 17:22-37 ~ The Day of Judgment

The "days" are the same days referred to in 18:8 "the Second Coming/Advent of Christ.
Question: The coming of the Kingdom cannot be observed as an event, but what will human beings be able to observe as an event and when will it happen? See 1 Thes 4:16; 2 Thes 1:1-10.
Answer: God's divine judgment in the event of the Son of Man's Second Advent when He will come in glory at the end of the age.

Jesus warns that the days will come when the people will long for these present days when He taught and healed (17:22). Between these days and His return there will be many false prophets who will claim to have His power and authority. Luke's reference to the "days of the Son of Man" is reminiscent of the Old Testament prophets' prophecies of the "Day of the Lord" as a day of retribution (see Amos 5:18-20). Some of the same imagery used in this passage is also found in Matthew 24-25. In this passage Jesus is speaking of His sudden return after His Passion, Resurrection and Ascension; later in Luke 21:6-24 He will prophesy the judgment on His generation and the destruction of Jerusalem.

Question: To what natural phenomena, timing, and past events in Biblical history does Jesus' compare His Second Coming?
Answer: The event will be sudden and similar to:

1. Lighting in the sky
2. God's divine judgment in the days of the Great Flood in the time of Noah
3. The judgment on Sodom that Abraham's nephew Lot experienced.

Chapter 18

Jesus offers three parables on the power of prayer in the Gospel of Luke:

1. The Parable of the Persistent Neighbor (Lk 11:5-13) invites us to urgent prayer.
2. The Parable of the Persistent Widow (Lk 18:1-8) is focused on one of the qualities of prayer "the necessity to pray without ceasing with the patience of faith.
3. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Lk 18:9-14) concerns the necessity of humility.

In the Gospel of St. Luke, Jesus prays:

• Before the decisive moments in His ministry (Lk 5:16; 10:21-23; 11:1)
• Before His Father's witness to Him during His baptism (Lk 3:21)
• Before His Father's witness to Him at the Transfiguration (Lk 9:28-29)
• Before choosing His disciples and Apostles (Lk 6:12)
• Before St. Peter's confession of Him as "the Messiah of God" (Lk 9:18-20)
• Before offering His Body and Blood at the Last Supper (Lk 22:17)
• Before leaving the Upper Room that His Apostles' faith will not fail them when they are tested (Lk 22:31-32)
• Before His own fulfillment of His Father's divine plan through His Passion (Lk 22:41-44)

Luke 18:1-8 ~ The Parable of the Persistent Widow

Question: What is the contrast in the parable and what is the reason God will answer the prayers of one who is just as persistent as the widow in His story?
Answer: The contrast is between a persistent widow petitioning a judge and a Christian being persistent in petitioning God in prayer. The persistence of the widow's petition to the judge got results in the same way the Christian's patient persistence in petitioning God in prayer will get results "not because God finds the Christian irritating like the judge found the widow, but because God will reward a Christian's patient and faithful persistence.

Luke 18:9-14 ~ The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Question: What is the contrast in the parable?
Answer: The contrast is between a boasting Pharisee who is meticulous about external fulfillment of the Law and whose pride causes him to be self-centered and blind to his sins as opposed to a tax collector who humbly acknowledges both his sins and his need for God's grace and mercy.

Question: Why does Jesus say the tax collector was justified, receiving God's forgiveness for his sins, while the Pharisee is not justified? See Jn 9:39-41.
Answer: God judges hearts and not words. 

Luke 18:15-17 ~ Jesus' teaching on the children of the Kingdom

Mothers and fathers were bringing their infants to Jesus to pray over them and bless them (Mt 19:13; Mk 10:16).
Question: What is Jesus' command concerning children and concerning the condition of discipleship?
Answer:

1. Children should not be prevented from coming to the Christ.
2. Disciples must have child-like faith.

Luke 18:18-23 ~ The wealthy aristocrat

The man's request for Jesus' instruction on what he must do to inherit eternal life was a sincere request. In Matthew 10:20 we are told that he is a young man and in Mark 10:21 that Jesus loved him, suggesting the young man was replying in earnest when he told Jesus he obeyed the commandments Jesus cited concerning love of neighbor: Jesus, looking at him, loved him...

Question: Why does Jesus ask the man "Why do you call me good?" What is the irony in Jesus' statement to the young man in verse 19?
Answer: He asks the young man "Why do you call me good?" and then tells the young man that "No one is good but God alone." In other words, Jesus is saying that every man is a sinner. The only One who is "good" is God. The irony is that in Jesus' question He is subtly asking the young man if he has discerned Jesus' true identity as God, the only One who is good because He is without sin.

Luke 18:24-30 ~ A teaching on the danger of riches

Jesus is using an exaggeration for the sake of effect to make the point that it is extremely difficult for a rich man who is so self-sufficient to submit himself to the grace of God. 

Luke 18:31-34 ~ The third prediction of the Passion

This is the third and most complete prophecy of His Passion:

1. The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised (9:22).
2. The Son of man is to be handed over to men (9:44).
3. Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be handed over to the Gentiles and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon; 33 and after they have scourged him they will kill him, but on the third day he will rise (18:31-33).

Luke 18:35-43 ~ The healing of the blind beggar

In 18:42 Jesus' use of the phrase, "your faith has saved you," is repeated by Him a fourth time:

1. To the sinful woman in 7:50
2. To the bleeding woman in 8:48
3. To the Samaritan leper in 17:19
4. To the blind beggar in 18:42.

Learning that Jesus is passing by, the blind man is persistent in making use of his opportunity to take advantage of the presence of Christ. In calling out to Jesus, he acknowledges his belief that Jesus is the promised Messiah by using Jesus' messianic title, "Son of David." His persistence is an act of faith and Jesus rewards him by restoring his sight.

Chapter 19:1-28

Luke 19:1-10 ~ The story of Zacchaeus the tax collector

Question: In this amusing encounter with Christ, what does the story of the little tax collector have in common with the blind beggar besides the location? What is the warning for us on this side of salvation history?
Answer: Both stories are about the urgency of reaching out to Jesus before He passes by. The stories are a warning to us not to neglect reaching out to Jesus while there is still time for us to be open to God's grace and the gift of salvation. In our journey to salvation, we need to continue to respond quickly and decisively to Jesus like the earnest blind beggar and the repentant little tax collector.

Tax collectors were despised because of the way they profited off their commission that they added to the people's taxes. Repenting his dishonesty, Zacchaeus promises Jesus that he will make restitution as a sign of his repentance. A fourfold restitution was imposed by the Law of Moses for theft of domestic livestock only (Exodus 21:37). Roman law demanded a fourfold restitution in all cases of theft. Zacchaeus appears to be following Roman law in the restitution he promises for those he has defrauded, but he goes beyond what is required in promising to give half his wealth to the poor.

Luke 19:11-27 ~ The Parable of the Ten Gold Coins

The Apostles and disciples think that the Kingdom is about to be inaugurated by Jesus' entry into Jerusalem in the same way King Solomon's reign as king of Israel began with his triumphal entry into the holy city (1 Kng 1:32-40). They are so bound up with the natural order that they cannot contemplate the supernatural character of the Kingdom of God in the world "the Church, which has but one sole purpose "that the Kingdom of God may come and the salvation of the human race may be accomplished (Vatican II, Gaudium et spes, 45). Since His Apostles and disciples still do not grasp the true understanding of His Kingdom, Jesus tells parable to help their understanding.

In this parable Jesus tells them that although the reign of His kingdom has begun, it will only be fully manifested on His return at the end of time (His Second Advent/Second Coming). In the meantime, His disciples should use all the resources of God's grace to merit an eternal reward upon His return.

Christ is the "nobleman" or prince who went off to a distance land to claim his throne. The "distant land" is the Kingdom of heaven where He will receive dominion, glory, and kingship (Dan 7:14b). He is to be "King of kings and Lord of lords" (1 Tim 6:1:5; Rev 17:14; 19:16) and will take His seat at the right hand of the Father (Col 3:1; Heb 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1 Pt 3:22). The gold coin in the story that is entrusted to the servants is a mina; a valuable coin worth about 35 grams of gold.

The ten servants the king calls forth to whom he gives ten gold coins are the disciples of Jesus Christ who will serve the Church in His absence by making use of the spiritual gifts they have received to advance the mission of the Church until his return. The return of the king will be Jesus' Second Advent/Second Coming when He will return in glory for the resurrection of the righteous and the wicked and to render a final judgment on mankind and the earth (Acts 1:9-11; 1 Thes 4:16-18; 2 Thes 1:7-10). "Ten" is one of the so-called "perfect numbers" and signifies the perfection of divine order. The profitable servants who will be rewarded on the king's return are the Christians who used God's gifts to advance the mission of Jesus' Kingdom on earth, the Church, and they will receive eternal rewards. The lazy and unprofitable servants are those Christians who neglected their spiritual gifts and failed to advance the mission of the Church. They will face a severe judgment. The citizens who rejected the authority of the king to rule over them are the Jews and other citizens of the human family who rejected the lordship of Christ and His Gospel message of salvation.

Symbolic imagery in the Parable of the Ten Gold Coins
The nobleman who went to claim his kingship in a distant country	Christ's Ascension into the heavenly kingdom
The kingdom the master leaves	The Church on earth
The promise of his return	Christ's Second Advent
THe gold coins	God's grace (spiritual gifts and blessings)
The servants who received the gold coins	Christians who receive God's grace (spiritual gifts and blessings)
The profitable servants	Christians who use God's gifts to advance the mission of the Church
The cities awarded the profitable servants	Eternal rewards
The unprofitable servant	Christians who neglect their spiritual gifts and do not advance the mission of the Church
Citizens who reject the lordship of the king/ enemies of the king	The Jews who rejected Jesus as their Messiah and those others in the human family who reject Jesus Christ and His Gospel of salvation
Michal E. Hunt Copyright © 2013

God gives all Christians the grace we need to fulfill our mission as disciples, and He will richly reward those who put His gifts to the best use, bearing the "fruit" of good works to advance the mission of the Church. But to the lazy and unprofitable servants of His Kingdom the Church, who claimed to be His disciples but who failed to use their spiritual gifts, He will give a very severe judgment.

Chapter 19:28-48

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem

After Jesus taught the parable of the ten gold coins (Lk 19:11-27), He left Jericho and proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem. Jericho is located about six miles from the northern end of the Dead Sea, the lowest site on earth, while Jerusalem is situated on the crest of three Judean mountain peaks that range in height from 2300 to 2500 feet above sea level. The city is about twenty miles west of the Dead Sea's northern end. This is the beginning of the conclusion of Jesus' three year ministry to find the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Mt 10:6; 15:24). It is the early spring and thousands of pilgrims are coming to Jerusalem for the festival of Passover and the pilgrim feast of Unleavened Bread. These were originally ordained as two separate feasts. The Passover sacrifice took place on Nisan the 14^th (Lev 23:5) and the Feast of Unleavened Bread took place from Nisan the 15^th to the 21^st (Lev 23:6-8). But in the first century AD, they were celebrated as one feast and the names Passover and Unleavened Bread were used interchangeable to designate the entire 8 days (Mt 26:17; Mk 14:12; Lk 22:7), as Josephus records (Antiquities, 14.2.1; 17.9.3; Jewish Wars, 5.3.1). However, in St. John's Gospel he refers to the two feasts only as the Passover (Jn 2:13, 33; 6:4; 11:55; 12:1; 13:1; 18:28, 39; 19:14) and never mentions Unleavened Bread.

Jesus' journey to Jerusalem is almost over. He arrives at the village of Bethany and spends the Sabbath with His friends there. 

The countdown to the Passion of the Christ (*count the days as the ancients' counted with no zero-place-value by counting the first in the series as day #1; note that sundown began the next Jewish day).⁽⁴⁾

Day #1. Saturday, Nisan 9^th: Jesus ate the Sabbath dinner with His friends in Bethany and received His second anointing (Jn 12:1-11).

Day #2. Sunday, Nisan 10^th: Jesus made His triumphal ride into the city of Jerusalem and cleansed the Temple a second time, and taught the people at the Temple (Mt 21:1-17; Mk 11:1-11; Lk 19:36-40; Jn 12:12-19).⁽⁵⁾

Day #3. Monday, Nisan 11^th: Jesus cursed the fig tree, cleansed the Temple a third time and taught at the Jerusalem Temple (Mt 21:18-23; Mk 11:12-19; Lk 20:1).

Day #4. Tuesday, Nisan 12^th: Jesus continued to teach at the Jerusalem Temple (Lk 21:37-38).

Day #5. Wednesday Nisan 13^th: Jesus' last day teaching in Jerusalem. He had dinner with friends in Bethany where He received His third anointing, and He was betrayed by Judas to the chief priests (Mt 26:1-2, 6-16; Mk 14:1, 3-11; Lk 22:1-6; Jn 13:1-2a).

Day #6. Thursday, Nisan 14^th: The day of the Passover sacrifice (Mt 26:12-19; Mk 14:12-16; Lk 22:7-13).

Sundown was the beginning of Friday, Nisan 15^th, the appointed time of the sacred meal of the Passover sacrifice on the first night of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It was on this Jewish feast that Jesus celebrated the Last Supper and instituted the Eucharist. He was betrayed by Judas who leaves without completing the meal. It was that night when Jesus was arrested. He was tried, crucified and died during the daytime of the same Jewish day "the day before the Jewish Sabbath, known as "Preparation Day" (Mt 26:20-27:61; Mk 14:17-15:41; Lk 22:14-23:46; Jn 13:2b-19:31).

Luke 19:28-35 ~ Preparations for the entry into Jerusalem

Question: That Jesus went "up" to Jerusalem is a physically accurate description of His journey, but what ascent or "going up" does it foreshadow? See Acts 1:9; Dan 7:13-14.
Answer: It foreshadows His ascent to the Father in the heavenly Jerusalem that will take place at the completion of His mission.

That the mother donkey accompanied the colt (Mt 21:2) is a sign that the colt had never been ridden. Young animals no longer stay in the company of their mothers once they are deemed old enough for service.
Question: In addition to the prophecies, was there an historical event in Israel's history that the people would have seen being repeating during Jesus' entry into the holy city? See 1 Kng 1:32-40.
Answer: They probably would have thought of Prince Solomon, the heir of King David. Solomon entered Jerusalem on a mule and was then anointed King of Israel. For the people, this historical event was being repeated in Jesus, the heir of King David, riding into the holy city.

Luke 19:36-40 ~ Jesus rides toward the holy city

Question: If the Passover was to be celebrated on the 14^th and that day was six days after the Sabbath dinner at Bethany, what was the date of the month that Jesus rode into Jerusalem? See the chart on Jesus' last week in Jerusalem at the beginning of the lesson.
Answer: He rode into Jerusalem on the 10^th of Nisan.

Question: What significant historical event took place on this same day in the first Passover event in Egypt? What is ironic about this event? See Ex 12:1-3.
Answer: The day that Jesus, the Lamb of God, rode into the city of Jerusalem was the same day that the sacrificial victims were chosen for the first Passover.

Spreading their outer garments on the ass/donkey and on the ground was a sign of respect and acknowledgment of Jesus' royalty. The crowd grows as He makes progress toward the city and then when He reaches the western slope of the Mount of Olives within sight of Jerusalem, His many disciples burst into a beatitude of joy in proclaiming Jesus the King of Israel (see Jn 12:13).
Question: The disciples' shout of a blessing for Jesus combines a verse from the Psalms and what echo of an angelic beatitude? See Ez 34:23; Ps 118 and Lk 2:14.
Answer: The first part of their praise is a variation of Psalm 118:26, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD, in which they added the word "king," proclaiming Jesus' identity as the promised Messiah who is the Davidic heir. The other part of their shout of praise is a Holy Spirit inspired echo of the angelic song announcing the birth of Christ: Glory to God in the highest ... The disciples recognize that Jesus is the promised Davidic prince in the prophecy of the prophet Ezekiel.

Question: Why are the Pharisees upset by this and what is the meaning of Jesus' reply? See Lk 19:39-40.
Answer: The Pharisees realize that Jesus' disciples are proclaiming Him the Messianic King and they are fearful the crowd will also take up the declaration. Jesus tells them that this is divinely ordained, and if not proclaimed by men then the proclamation would be miraculously proclaimed by the very stones of the earth.

Question: In their rebuke, the Pharisees are rejecting Jesus as their king. In doing so, what do they become that Jesus spoke of in His last parable before leaving Jericho, the Parable of the Ten Coins? See Lk 19:11-27, especially verses 14 and 27.
Answer: They have announced themselves as those fellow citizens who did not want the nobleman/prince to rule over them in 19:14. They have also declared themselves the King's enemies that Jesus spoke of in 19:27.

Question: In the Parable of the Ten Coins, what is the fate of the enemies who rejected their King? See Lk 19:27.
Answer: Death.

Luke 19:41-44 ~ Jesus' lament for Jerusalem

Jesus' prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction is full of Old Testament references but also points to an event in the future (verses 43-44). The Old Testament references include Isaiah 29:3; 37:33; Jer 52:4-5; Ez 4:1-3; 21:27/22 and for verse 44 Psalms 137:9; Hosea 10:14; 14:1 and Nahum 3:10. These Old Testament passages are prophecies of the judgment on Jerusalem and the destruction of the city by the Babylonians on the 9^th of Ab in 587/6 BC.

Luke 19:45-48 ~ The second Temple cleansing

The prophecy of Malachi concerning the Messiah is fulfilled "... And suddenly there will come the LORD whom you seek, and the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts (Mal 3:1b-c).

Question: This was Jesus' second Temple cleansing. When was the first Temple cleansing and during what festival season of the year did it take place? See Jn 2:13-25.
Answer: It was His second public act after the miracle at the wedding at Cana, and it occurred during the Passover festival.

The first Temple cleansing was to prepare the people for the beginning of His teaching ministry and proclamation of the Kingdom. Now He cleanses God's house of worship a second time in preparation for His final week of proclaiming the Gospel of salvation. The merchants in the Temple area were selling doves that were the sacrifices of the poor, for women and lepers (Lev 12:6-8; 14:22; 15:14, 29). They were also exchanging coins that bore pagan images or the images of the Roman emperor that were not accepted to purchase sacrifices or for Temple donations. These could be exchanged for Tyrian coins that bore no forbidden images (Ex 30:11-16). Jesus going to the Temple fulfills the prophecy of the 6th century BC prophet Malachi: And suddenly there will come to the Temple the LORD whom you seek, and the messenger of the covenant whom you desire. Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts, but who will endure the day of his coming (Mal 3:1b-2a)? His actions in driving out the merchants also fulfill the prophecy of the 6^th century BC prophet Zechariah that in the era of the Messiah ...there shall no longer be any merchant in the house of the LORD of hosts (Zec 14:21).