In this study, I argue that the Fourth Gospel’s economic context contributes to our understanding of John’s narrative presentation of Jesus’s authority as God’s Son. Turning to John 2:13-22 to prove this thesis, I use literary and historical methods to examine Jesus’s disruption of the commerce in the Jerusalem temple with close attention to the economic realities that affect its interpretation. My primary aim is to address how the economic dimensions of John 2:13-22 affect its interpretation within its ancient contexts. I survey textual and archaeological evidence relevant to the contexts of John’s readers to analyze its interpretative effects. I do so with respect to one topic—temple commerce—in relation to first-century Judea (John 2:13-22's narrative context) and first- and early second-century Egypt, Syria, and Asia Minor (the contexts of John’s readers).

The prevalent symbolic readings of John 2:13-22 argue that John presents Jesus as the temple’s replacement. But because they overlook the passage’s economic context, these interpretations emphasize a negative view of the Jerusalem temple’s commerce that distorts the exegesis of this passage. When read in light of a fuller understanding of the temple’s sacred economy, John 2:13-22 emerges as an important passage in which John uses the economic realities associated with the temple to establish Jesus’s authority at the start of his public ministry, without the implication that Jesus replaces the temple.

I conclude by exploring the implications of my analysis for current ecclesial questions. As my study shows, John's Gospel uses economics to articulate its Christology, which challenges the church to recognize the role that economics plays in communicating its own understanding of Christ. Moreover, my study presents a different understanding of Jesus’s relationship to the temple in John than simple replacement, thereby challenging replacement readings that propagate Christian supersessionism.