Jesus Cleanses the Temple
Luke 19:45-48
45 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold,46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”
47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him,48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.
Observations & Reflections
This well-known passage is accounted for in all 4 gospels. Like the triumphal entry it is a key passage in Jesus’ story. However, John’s gospel completely disregards the normal time line and places the temple cleansing right at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, after the wedding at Cana. But this is no real concern as John’s gospel tends to be more of a collection of stories and teachings and less of an “orderly account” as Luke would say.
Now, the question must be answered; what was going on in the temple that made Jesus so mad? Was it not OK to sell the animals of sacrifice at the temple? Exchanging money for an animal to sacrifice was perfectly OK according Jewish law depending on the reason for the offering, such as tithing or sin offering.
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 15 “If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the Lord, he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued in silver shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering. (Leviticus 5:14-15)
24 And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the Lord your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the Lord your God chooses, to set his name there, 25 then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the Lord your God chooses, (Deuteronomy 14:24-25)
Some one had to change the money and sell the animals. It was not controversial. However, there was more happening than meets the eye. For one, almost no-one was bringing the animals to sacrifice anymore and the money changers were extorting the public for the price of the animals. They were being charged way beyond what was fair. Also, Jerusalem had become a major town of commerce, with many nations arriving each year for the passover and all carrying foreign money that needed changed. The money changers were running a racket and using the temple as a bank essentially. They were changing money all year round as a place of business and using God’s storehouses to store gold.
In fact, when the Romans invaded Jerusalem in 70 CE, these same money changers (and other unsavory characters) took to eating the gold coins so that the Romans would not get them. The Roman leader Titus had to order the Syrans to stop killing and disembowel the Jewish refugees, in search of the gold coins. The Temple had become a foreign bank used to house the wealth and greed of the religious elites. It was no longer a place of worship.1
| Matthew 21:12-17 | Mark 11:15-19 | Luke 19:45-48 | John 2:13-22 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.
13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,“‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies,you have prepared praise’?” 17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there. |
15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.
16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city. |
45 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold,
46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” 47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words. |
13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. |
When Jesus entered Jerusalem on the colt and the people cheered “save us, save us (הושענה = hosanna)”, they expected a messiah that would arrive and clear out the riffraff. They expected many things from Jesus and when Jesus walked into the temple and began clearing out the den of thieves, one would believe that they were about to get everything they were asking for. Not only that but Jesus remained in the temple for days, having seemingly taken it over and restoring it.
Up until now, Jesus is looking like he is going to give the people everything they had hoped for. But we know that isn’t what happens ultimately. So what went wrong? We will have to continue passage by passage in the next few days to find out. But one thing is sure, Jesus is not pleased with people who put money first. You cannot serve two masters.
1. [Ancient Siege Warfare, Paul Bentley Kern, Page 342]↩