Monday: Jesus Cleanses the Temple

This week, I have decided to post a series of blog posts related to the events of each day during Jesus’ final week of ministry before the crucifixion.

Today, we will be looking at the events of Monday during the Passion week. On Monday, following the events of Palm Sunday, the Bible tells us that Jesus enters the temple in Jerusalem. This account can be found in each of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-19, and Luke 19:45-48).

Matthew 21:12–17 ESV

^“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.”

Historically, some have suggested that the account of Jesus cleansing the temple in John 2 with a whip is the same account. However, there are some major differences. In John’s account, Jesus’ statement is similar, but His biblical justification and teaching is different. In Matthew’s account, Jesus drives the money-changers and sacrificial animals out which results in children praising Him and the sick being healed. This infuriates the Jewish leaders who refuse to believe that Jesus is God. Jesus quotes from Psalm 8:2, to prove that He is, in fact, God. In John’s account, Jesus’ zeal for the Lord’s house is shown as a fulfillment of prophecy and He tells them of the resurrection to come. The differences in the accounts lead us to understand that John’s account is separate from the others and took place at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and then the accounts found in the Synoptic Gospels occur at the end of His ministry.

From understanding these passages in the context, we can see that even though Jesus had previously driven them out with a whip, the Jewish leaders and those in the temple complex had returned to sin. Their corruption was unfazed by Jesus’ teaching, such that now, at the end of His ministry, He would cleanse the temple again. In fact, Jesus’ very statement about the House of Prayer becoming a “den of thieves” or “house of robbers” is a quotation from Jeremiah 7, that deals with people repeatedly returning to evil while in the temple.

Jeremiah 7:8–11 ESV

⁸ “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. ⁹ Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, ¹⁰ and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? ¹¹ Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord.

The temple had become a place in which corruption was the norm. Jesus cleansed the temple from being a place of commerce and corruption to a place of healing and praise. In this, we see a few simple truths that we may apply to our lives. Firstly, we see that the God’s house, now established as the church is to be a place of healing and praise. When we lose sight of this goal, we have failed. Many times, churches will become organizations that simply focus on meeting financial goals and building facilities thus becoming more business and property than church. We must instead prioritize ministering to people and praising God. Our ministry, however, must be done in God’s power. The only way we can truly see people healed is through the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thus, our priority must be to proclaim that Gospel to others and believe it ourselves. We must also praise God. When the leaders were indignant and angry with Christ for not conforming to their ideas of what He should be, God raised up children to praise Him. We too should be quick to praise Christ for His magnificent work.

Secondly, and finally, we must recognize that the recurrence of sin is an expected thing for those who are unregenerate. Without the saving power of the Gospel, people will return to sin, just as a pig returns to the mud. Thankfully, Jesus’ ministry during Passion week would culminate with His death and resurrection paying the price for our sins and reconciling us to God. Through Him, we are no longer slaves to sin, but now His children. Thus, we must recognize that we should strive to be people characterized by a focus on true healing through the Gospel and true praise for Jesus’ Name. As we remember Christ’s work on the cross, we would do well to cry out alongside the children in the temple, “Praise God for the Son of David.” (Matt. 21:15 NLT)