Two weeks ago, we started talking about Jesus’ first cleansing of the Temple as it is recorded here in John 2. Today we are going to continue to look at this passage and see how Jesus is not only righting wrongs, but is revealing Himself as the Messiah. He demonstrates that He is merciful and righteous at the same time. He has the power to judge yet He exerts mercy. Two weeks ago, we spoke about how God takes common places and makes them Holy, but we tend to do that opposite. Acts of worship become acts of obligation that are more about convenience than worship. And when that happens we are taking Holy places, making them common, and robbing others of the opportunity to worship. This is what the cleansing of the Temple was about and in this passage, we see two different responses to Jesus’ actions. We read this, “To those who sold doves He said, ‘Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!’ His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’ The Jews then responded to Him, ‘What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?’” The disciples and the Jewish religious leaders would have both been shocked by Jesus’ actions, but we see that the disciples are stirred by the Holy Spirit and the religious leaders demanded a sign. The Holy Spirit builds faith in the disciples by bringing Scripture to their minds. Nothing about the situation changed, but in a moment, everything changed for the disciples because they viewed the situation through the lens of Jesus, the Messiah. The Spirit led them and their confidence was then built upon His character rather than the religious leaders who wanted to have their confidence built on signs. Today we will look more closely at this passage and see how the Spirit will build our faith, but it is our flesh that demands proof.