Lent: Journey Through the Holy Land – Part 41

Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written,

‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’?
But you have made it a den of robbers.”

And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.

Mark 11:15-18

It is rare that we read about Jesus being angry in the Bible, three of the gospels recorded this instant as Jesus cleanses or clears the temple. 

But what exactly is happening that makes Jesus so angry? Well, after reading the  footnotes in two different study Bibles and using Pastor Adam’s The Way as an additional reference, here’s what I’ve learned:

The temple area had its own form of currency, temple currency. So when people came into Jerusalem to the temple to offer sacrifices as an act of worship, they had to exchange their currency into the temple currency with the money changers.

Then, the people could purchase sacrificial doves for their offering from merchants. All of this took place inside the court of the Gentiles. The booths of the merchants and the money changes crowded the court, pushing the Gentiles out, Gentiles who had come from all over to offer worship to God. 

The money changers would deceive visitors who didn’t know the exchange rate and merchants would take advantage and sell the sacrificial animals at high prices. The temple had become a place of commercialism and not of worship. The merchants and money changes became very wealthy at the expense of the Gentiles who were coming to worship God.

When Jesus entered in to Jerusalem, Passover was just getting ready to begin. During this time visitors flooded Jerusalem, making it a highly profitable week for the merchants and money changers. Once Jesus cleansed the temple, he disrupted the business and profits. This only fueled religious leaders, who likely received a cut of the profits, to plot against Jesus. 

When reading about this passage, I noticed some titled this section “Jesus Clears the Temple” and others as “Jesus Cleanses the Temple.” 

I don’t know about you, but I rarely ever think about Jesus and cleaning in the same breath. I’m going to be honest with you and break your perception of me. 

I am a messy person. 

Most people would be shocked to see how messy I am. There are sections of the floor that pretty much always have a pile of clothes or books or papers or miscellaneous items. I have a laundry basket full of items I need to find a place for. I have piles of clothes I need to fold and put away. I’m a mess.

A lot of times, I’ll be working on something and lose focus to notice maybe one or two things I can put away later. Or I’ll stop what I’m doing to look through one or two piles of papers to find a credit card bill I was looking for earlier in the day. And most times, I’ll end up distracted for a lot longer than just a moment. The mess around me pulls me away from what I’m trying to do. 

Jesus walked into the temple and saw the mess.

He saw the money changers and merchants. The mess they created. The temple was a place for worship, and the mess they had created distracted from the purpose of the temple – to worship God.

As spring is slowly emerging, it’s time to do some spring cleaning. Maybe that’s in your home. Maybe that’s in your social media. Maybe that’s in your heart. 

What do you need to do to cleanse yourself? What do you need to ask Jesus to cleanse you of so you can get back to what you were made to do and worship God? 

Lord, cleanse us. Remove the mess and bring us back to start. Lord let us do what we were made for – to worship You. Amen.

Abbey Jo