John 2:13

And the passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

CLEANSING THE TEMPLE

The passover of the Jews ... Writing near the end of the first century, John no longer referred to the passover as a feast of God, but of the "Jews". Whatever ordinances or observances are undertaken upon man's initiative only, such ordinances, even though originally commanded by God, become in a special sense the ordinances of men. Jesus' saying of the temple, "Behold your house is left unto you desolate" (Matthew 23:38), is in the same vein of thought.

The cleansing of the temple about to be related should not be confused with a second cleansing during the final week of our Lord's life on earth (Matthew 21:12f; Mark 11:15; Luke 19:45). In this cleansing, Jesus made use of a scourge, but none was mentioned in the synoptic accounts of the second cleansing. Far from being any difficulty, John's relation of this dramatic cleansing gives the explanation of the implacable hatred of the Pharisees and other keepers of the temple concessions, the hatred being evident enough in the synoptics, but this practical reason for it at so early a date appearing only in John.