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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts
and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned
the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and
would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as
He taught them, He said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house
of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this
and began looking for a way to kill Him, for they feared Him, because the whole
crowd was amazed at His teaching.
When evening came, Jesus and His disciples went out of
the city.
Mark 11:15-19
When Jesus entered the temple courts, He began to drive out those who were selling. “It is written,” He said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
Every day He was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill Him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on His words.
Luke 19:45-48
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
When Jesus entered the temple courts, He began to drive out those who were selling. “It is written,” He said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
Every day He was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill Him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on His words.
Luke 19:45-48
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
It was Monday, the day after
Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey to great fanfare from people who
proclaimed:
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is He who comes in
the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest
heaven!”
Before he returned to Bethany
Sunday evening, Jesus did get a chance to see a little of what was going on
within the city of Jerusalem. This included going in and seeing what was going
on within the temple courts before heading to Bethany with His disciples for
the evening (Mark 11:11). Note that Jesus didn’t take action Sunday because of
the late hour but when He returned Monday, He had plenty of time to make a
stand against all the improprieties He witnessed. Look at these words as we
continue to look at the Gospel of Mark:
On reaching
Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were
buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and
the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry
merchandise through the temple courts. And as He taught them, He said, “Is it
not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But
you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
The chief priests
and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill Him,
for they feared Him, because the whole crowd was amazed at His teaching.
When evening came,
Jesus and His disciples went out of the city.
Mark 11:15-19
Before I go too much further,
a quick note on how someone should go about properly studying the four New
Testament Gospels.
It’s important to keep in mind
that all four accounts of Jesus life were written by individuals distinct from
one another. Thus, as you read through the Gospels, you will find each sharing
what they witnessed in the way they remembered it. This is why you find
different renderings of similar occurrences as you read what each Gospel writer
wrote.
Given this, there’s a fancy
word you will see used regarding Gospel bible study and that word is “synoptic”.
Essentially, it means that one should study all accounts of a like event
simultaneously as to fully understand everything that happened. This account of
Jesus’ clearing the temple is just one of many examples where this form of
study works well.
For example, if you only
studied the clearing of the temple in Matthew, Luke, or John, you may think
that Jesus rode into Jerusalem and got busy on Palm Sunday evicting the money
changers and animal merchants from the temple courts but that’s not the way
things happened. You see, without looking at Mark’s account, you wouldn’t know
that Jesus actually left Jerusalem Sunday evening and then returned Monday to
do what He saw needed done on Sunday.
What did He see that needed
changing?
Well, we can figure it out
through the actions He took which included “driving out those who were buying
and selling there”, overturning “the tables of the money changers and the benches
of those selling doves”, and forbidding people from carrying “merchandise
through the temple courts.”
What was the issue here? What
caused Jesus to make such a scene when He had just arrived in Jerusalem to
fanfare typically reserved for royalty?
Well, first we need to
understand that the area where all this took place was the Court of the
Gentiles, a court on the outer reaches of God’s temple and the only place where
Gentile believers were allowed to come to worship and pray to God. It was
supposed to be a place of sanctity, a quiet place of holiness and reflection and
reverence.
But what Jesus witnessed was
nothing like this. For when He went into the Court of the Gentiles, He didn’t
see a sacred place of worship and prayer but rather a noisy marketplace environment
where the following three things were taking place:
1. The selling of sacrificial
animals.
Our look at the Gospel of Mark
would lead us to believe that only doves were being sold but a synoptic study
of this account would allow us to know that there were also cattle and sheep
present if we look at the Gospel of John (John 2:14). Many people who came to
Jerusalem for Passover would need to purchase proper sacrificial animals
required for an offering to God in the temple. Those animals were being sold
within the Court of the Gentiles and through His tirade, Jesus showed everyone
He didn’t like it one bit. More as to why in a minute but let’s look at the
other two things that were going on.
2. Currency conversion.
If you’ve ever traveled to
another country, then you have went through the process of exchanging currency,
trading the money you would normally use in your nation to the money used in
the nation you are traveling to. For example, if someone were traveling from
the United States to England, they would need to exchange their dollars for
pounds so to be able to purchase things once they arrived at their destination.
In regard to the matter in
Jerusalem, we know many people were in the city for the Passover and thus many
people needed to convert their money to the local currency, particularly when
it came to paying the required temple tax. The money changers had set up their
tables in the Court of the Gentiles in order conduct the currency exchanges,
one other thing that set Jesus off.
3. Those just passing through.
One could cut across the Court
of the Gentiles to pass from the city of Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives and
so Jesus saw people just passing through, carrying their merchandise through
the temple courts. And so He stopped it cold. People would no longer be able to
just cut through a place that was supposed to be set aside for worship and
prayer. They would have to find another route to walk.
As you have probably figured
out by now, Jesus was making a stand for His Father and those who had the right
to worship Him in the proper, reverent environment. He even quotes words drawn
from a couple of scripture passages from the Old Testament to back up His
actions:
And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to Him, to
love the name of the Lord, and to be His servants, all who keep the Sabbath
without desecrating it and who hold fast to My covenant—these I will bring to My
holy mountain and give them joy in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings
and sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house will be called a
house of prayer for all nations.” Isaiah 56:6-7
“Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you?
But I have been watching!” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 7:11
The first passage was meant to
remind the people that God had desired for His temple to be a place where any
person, even the non-Jew, could come and bring Him proper worship, a “house of
prayer for all nations”. That obviously wasn’t happening with the Court of the
Gentiles being converted into an open place of commerce.
But what did Jesus mean by
going back to Jeremiah and accusing the merchants in the Court of the Gentiles
of turning an intended holy place into a “den of robbers”?
There are two reasons He drew
from these words.
The first reason had to do
with the illicit business practices of the money changers. It was pretty common
knowledge that the currency exchanges were rigged to bring maximum profit for
the money changers and thus they were profiting largely off of people who
wanted to properly pay the temple tribute money. In other words, the money
changers were essentially robbing people of their hard earned money and their deceptive
practices were why Jesus accused them of establishing a “den of robbers”.
The second reason is less
tangible and more spiritual in nature. For the marketplace environment was
robbing people from bringing their worship and prayers to God and so in a way,
those actively involved in the money exchanging and selling of animals were
robbing God’s people from a worship practice He had promised.
And so Jesus made a stand and
drove out everyone after fashioning a whip out of cords (something you only
learn from John’s account (John 2:15). He cleared the Court of the Gentiles to
restore its sacredness and provide a place for the Gentiles to worship the God
of Israel.
Obviously, this didn’t sit
well with the Jewish religious authorities who caught wind of what Jesus had
done. These Jewish leaders, which included the “chief priests” and the “teachers
of the law”, decided it was time to eliminate this man named Jesus, once and
for all. And so the scriptures tell us they “began looking for a way to kill
Him” out of fear because He had gained crowds of followers who were “amazed at
His teaching.” These religious leaders will challenge Jesus as we see in
tomorrow’s devotion but as for Jesus, He chose to go out of Jerusalem with His
disciples as evening fell after an action-packed Monday, a Monday when He chose
to make a stand.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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