Abstract:
Differing with E. R Sanders (1985), who argues that the temple incident is a symbolic prophecy of the destruction of the temple, and Richard Bauckham (1988), who argues that it is a symbolic "attack on the financial arrangements for the sacrificial system," this essay will propose that the central message of the Johannine temple incident is the universality of the body of Christ as God's new temple in which Jews and Gentiles are united. A narrative-critical reading will be employed to produce a fresh interpretation of the temple incident. This means that the various narrative features of John 2:12-25 will be explored in order to reveal the central message of the text.
