14 and he found in the temple those selling oxen, and sheep, and doves, and the money-changers sitting, 15 and having made a whip of small cords, he put all forth out of the temple, also the sheep, and the oxen; and of the money-changers he poured out the coins, and the tables he overthrew, 16 and to those selling the doves he said, 'Take these things hence; make not the house of my Father a house of merchandise.' 17 And his disciples remembered that it is written, 'The zeal of Thy house did eat me up;' 18 the Jews then answered and said to him, 'What sign dost thou shew to us—that thou dost these things?' 19 Jesus answered and said to them, 'Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.' 20 The Jews, therefore, said, 'Forty and six years was this sanctuary building, and wilt thou in three days raise it up?' 21 but he spake concerning the sanctuary of his body; 22 when, then, he was raised out of the dead, his disciples remembered that he said this to them, and they believed the Writing, and the word that Jesus said.
23 And as he was in Jerusalem, in the passover, in the feast, many believed in his name, beholding his signs that he was doing; 24 and Jesus himself was not trusting himself to them, because of his knowing all 'men', 25 and because he had no need that any should testify concerning man, for he himself was knowing what was in man.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on John 2:14-25
Commentary on John 2:12-22
(Read John 2:12-22)
The first public work in which we find Christ engaged, was driving from the temple the traders whom the covetous priests and rulers encouraged to make a market-place of its courts. Those now make God's house a house of merchandise, whose minds are filled with cares about worldly business when attending religious exercises, or who perform Divine offices for love of gain. Christ, having thus cleansed the temple, gave a sign to those who demanded it, to prove his authority for so doing. He foretells his death by the Jews' malice, Destroy ye this temple; I will permit you to destroy it. He foretells his resurrection by his own power; In three days I will raise it up. Christ took again his own life. Men mistake by understanding that according to the letter, which the Scripture speaks by way of figure. When Jesus was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered he has said this. It helps much in understanding the Divine word, to observe the fulfilling of the Scriptures.
Commentary on John 2:23-25
(Read John 2:23-25)
Our Lord knew all men, their nature, dispositions, affections, designs, so as we do not know any man, not even ourselves. He knows his crafty enemies, and all their secret projects; his false friends, and their true characters. He knows who are truly his, knows their uprightness, and knows their weaknesses. We know what is done by men; Christ knows what is in them, he tries the heart. Beware of a dead faith, or a formal profession: carnal, empty professors are not to be trusted, and however men impose on others or themselves, they cannot impose on the heart-searching God.