The cleansing of the temple in John 2 is only one of three separate cleansings. The second cleansing is recorded in the synoptic gospels and the final cleansing occurs in AD70. This parallels the cleansing of the house by the priest in Leviticus 14. The priest inspects the house the first time and quarantines it. The second time, he comes and sees if the leprous plague has permeated the house and the third time he comes to tear the house down. The Jews had made the temple into a house of robbers infecting it with a leprous plague. Jesus as the great priest destroys the house completely 40 years later.
