Temple is Cleansed

April 15, 2012


Background Scripture: John 2:13 – 25
Lesson Passage: John 2:13 – 22

According to the gospel accounts, Jesus spent much of his time in ministry helping people set right priorities. It is so easy to begin to do something that makes a lot of sense only to end up engaged in activities that don’t even reflect the spirit of what was initially being done. This may very well be the case of the merchants who were set up in the outer courts of the temple. The Law stipulated that individuals who had to travel a great distance could redeem their animals to be sacrificed for money in their home country and exchange the money for a sacrificial animal in the region where the temple (tabernacle) was located. It seems reasonable then that someone would figure out that for that system to work there needed to be someone in the region of the temple to offer such services. However, even the best intentions will often go awry if we fail to be diligent in seeking to do things that God would find pleasing. For instance, to be located in the region of the temple does not suggest nor mandate that the exchange activities need to take place inside the temple complex. Nor is there a suggestion that because God’s people needed to be able to do an exchange of money for animals that someone else should be profiting from their need. In addition to the need to purchase animals to be sacrificed, some individuals may also need to exchange their regional currency for some currency that would be accepted locally. For thousands of years, manmade economics has dictated that whenever an exchange of goods or services takes place, there should be a skimming of money in the process. This skimming may take the form of taxes or profits or both. This process is independent of the economic ability of the ones involved to be able to support it. In other words, the ones who can afford it the least are often hit the hardest by it. This very concept goes counter to God’s plan for how a society should treat its poor. To add insult to it all, this very process was taking place in the temple that had been dedicated to God’s purpose. When Jesus entered the temple, he began to drive those involved in the bartering out of the temple along with their livestock. The money of the currency exchangers was poured out and he demanded that they leave the temple. Was Jesus not in agreement with the provision in the Law to allow relief for those who traveled great distances? Certainly he was. He disagreed with them changing the focus or purpose of the temple from a place for prayer to a place for merchandising. He was not questioning their intentions of assisting those travelers from afar. Some, no doubt, were more concerned with commerce than God’s commandments. Merchandising activities should never exceed prayer in the temple. In the other gospel accounts where he apparently cleansed the temple a second time, Jesus further emphasized that the exchangers were stealing from the people. Their wrong priorities had made God’s house a den of thieves. Even this action by Jesus endeared many to him when they saw the zeal he had for his Father’s house. This zeal they saw when Jesus cleansed the temple.


Robert C. Hudson
April 4, 2012