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. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
Jesus made it clear through many of His actions (including riding into Jerusalem on a donkey) that He was not a revolutionary intent upon overthrowing local government. His act of cleaning out the temple could be interpreted as a political act and brought attention that most likely contributed to the religious leaders’ desire to see Him executed.* So why did Jesus do it?
During the time of Jesus, those traveling from long distances to the temple could not successfully bring animals long distances for sacrifice (especially since they were to be without blemish). To solve this issue, those traveling a distance could bring money to the temple and purchase qualifying animals to sacrifice.*
The service of money-changers solved another issue. Those traveling from great distances and even those who lived in Galilee used a wide variety of currencies. Offerings at the temple were required to be made in the Tyrian currency, so exchange was required.*
Again, why did Jesus have a problem with this?
Jesus acted as He did because of where these necessary services were being performed: the outer court. Why is this a problem? The outer court was the only place that Gentiles could come to pray and worship.* This meant that for them to pray and worship, they had to do so amongst a loud and bustling marketplace (hardly conducive to worship). Furthermore, while Jewish people could continue further into the temple to worship, they would have to pass through the marketplace and could most likely hear it in the inner courts.*
When Jesus cleaned out the temple, He did several important things:
He acted as one with authority in the temple, demonstrating His place as High Priest.*
He emphasized the value and importance of Gentile worship.*
He fulfilled prophetic Scripture about the Messiah (see e.g., Zechariah 14:21).*
He set a precedent for our lives.
Jesus demonstrated the importance of holiness in the temple. There are certain activities that may serve a purpose (like money exchanging, buying, and selling), but have no place in the temple of the Lord. The Lord’s temple is to be set apart for God and for His people to worship. The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Could it be that certain activities that are not bad in and of themselves do not belong in our bodies? Could it be that our bodies ought to be holy and set apart? What does it look like in our lives to allow Jesus to clean out our lives of things that do not belong?
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to allow Jesus to operate in your life with the authority that belongs to Him. Perhaps God wants you to stop some functional, understandable things in your life because they do not belong (He wants to replace work with worship). Maybe God wants you to be open to Jesus doing difficult things in your life to bring you closer to Him.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.
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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 524–527, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 21:12–16) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).