Articles
Cleansing the Temple - Part 3
All four gospels record Jesus cleansing the temple (Mt. 21:12-13; Mk. 11:15-18; Lk. 19:45-47; John 2:13-17). That’s what we call it—a cleansing. I doubt that’s how it felt at the time. Overturning tables is how one makes a mess. Using a scourge of cords (a whip) creates panic and mayhem. Does anyone clean their house this way? Their car? Anything? But this was a cleansing; it was a spiritual straightening up of God’s house.
There are three issues that had dirtied God’s temple.
For one thing, Jesus said, “Stop making My Father’s house a place of business” (John 2:16). There isn’t anything particularly sinful about business; it’s simply the act of merchants trading their products and services. Jesus even compared the kingdom of heaven to a merchant (Mt. 13:45). The problem wasn’t merchants or business. Jesus makes this clear when He tells everyone to “take these things away” rather than to stop having them or selling them. The problem was that they were doing their business in the wrong place. Thus, they needed to be removed. Some of these merchants were selling oxen and sheep (John 2:14). Those were necessary for sacrifices. The animals belonged in the temple. The selling of them did not.
When Jesus cleansed the temple a second time, things had gotten worse rather than better. Beyond just doing business, Jesus accused the people in the temple of robbery (Mt. 21:13; Mk. 11:17; Lk. 19:46). It seems that the moneychangers and sellers were taking advantage of their brothers as they came to worship. Perhaps they were using dishonest scales (Prov. 20:23). Maybe they were just severely overpricing their products. Regardless, the problem of business had escalated to a problem of robbery. The temple needed to be cleansed again.
Mark adds an additional issue that Jesus addressed – people carrying their merchandise through the temple (Mk. 11:16). The temple was situated such that travelers from the east could enter the city of Jerusalem much easier by going through the temple. Otherwise, they had to go around it. The temple was in their way. It had become a shortcut rather than a spiritual focus. Jesus put a stop to this as well.
What does this mean for us? Today, the church is God’s temple (Eph. 2:19-22). What if we start treating it like the Jews during Jesus’ day? Imagine if churches became places of business? One doesn’t have to imagine. That is precisely what has happened. Churches have fundraisers, yard sales, and some denominations are running their own businesses as sources of additional income. Does no one see the problem with this?
Shouldn’t we be keenly aware of what the God-designed purpose for the church is and be zealously careful not to deviate from that design? The temple was not subject to the thoughts and plans of the Jews. It was God’s house. His. Is the church any different? If we are doing something different than what the churches in the Bible were doing, shouldn’t we be terrified?
Worse than changing the purpose of the church, what if Christians started taking advantage of one another. Anything that might be construed as robbery would be a terrible idea, don’t you think?
As for the temple being used as a short cut, perhaps you can think of modern parallels. Is there a way that is being done in churches today? I’d love to hear your thoughts on that.
It is bothersome that Jesus had to cleanse the temple twice. The Jews should have learned their lesson. Instead, they got even worse. It would be even more shameful if in modern times it was the disciples of Jesus who didn’t learn the lesson.
