NOTES for Joh 2:13-25
Supporters of the use of violence like to appeal to the driving of the merchants out of the Temple in order to justify their claims about the "need to restore order by force." But let us note that Christ did not go to the Temple with instruments of punishment. He made the whip on the spot from ropes, from material at hand there, since a whip is used to drive livestock. There is not a single mention that He struck even one of the people whose tables He overturned.
His restoration of order in the Temple courtyard was neither a pogrom nor violence that led to disorder and physical injuries. Incidentally, let us also remember to note that accusations of violence in the Temple were never brought against Jesus; they were not charged to Him even at the trial before the Sanhedrin. He had the right to restore order from above, something no apologist for the "strong hand" can say about himself.
It is also hardly accidental that immediately after the account of this event the evangelist says that Jesus Himself knew what was in man, and He saw for what purpose a person was in the Temple. After all, a place of prayer can be turned into a place for extracting practical gain even without trade in the literal sense...
He did not need human testimony. We are the ones who need His testimony about the purity of our intentions.