From Matthew 21:12-13 / Cleansing the Temple

All four Gospel writers contain a Temple-cleansing narrative. While debate continues regarding whether or not there were 2 cleansings – one at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry (John 2) and this one at the end (See also Mark 11 & Luke 19), it seems more likely there were two. We cannot go into all of that here, but that said, Matthew’s is the most condensed version of all. And that, it seems by design. Matthew appears to be narrowing our focus on 3 primary things in his account.

Note first: Jesus “drove out all who sold and bought in the temple.”

In Deut. 14, God made provision for those who lived too far away from the Temple to bring their required sacrifices all that distance each year. He told them to sell the animal, take the money with them to Jerusalem, and buy the actual sacrificial animal there.

It appears then that some enterprising individuals decided to set up places within the temple complex to buy those animals. Perhaps they would pay a premium for the conveniences. In any event, it turned the temple grounds into a marketplace. And this, did several things. First, it took the commerce that would have belonged to the ordinary citizens and made it a money-making monopoly for the leadership of the temple. Second, it made the temple grounds a noisy, dirty livestock circus.

God had appointed the temple grounds, especially the outer court, as a place where even the Gentiles might come to seek God and pray to Him. But it became anything but a place conducive to prayer. The braying, neighing, mooing and other noises of the animals would rob it of anything resembling a sacred place to seek God.

The had used the provision of the Law to actually overthrow the very purpose of the temple itself. It would not have drawn Gentiles to seek the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to come and reckon with God in holy solemnity. It Did nothing to foster in men a holy reverence for God. It turned the place of prayer into a cacophony.

One wonders if our Churches today are doing any better. Are our services places of non-stop noise and activity with no time to actually wait upon the Lord in silence? Do we fill every moment with speaking, singing, announcements and other things, and leave no time for the soul to be still before God?

Year ago, I remember being in a Church service, where what might be described as a holy hush filled the room. And all you had to do was look around and see how absolutely uncomfortable everyone was. They were not used to it. They did not know how to respond when the music stopped and they were left to contemplate the reality of standing before God with nothing else to distract.

We may need desperately to learn this lesson in our Churches. But perhaps even more in our private devotions. Are we afraid to be quiet before God, and to spend time in the hush of a heart truly bowed and opened before the Sovereign God of the universe? Or even when alone, do we need to be running off at the mouth? Maybe the Spirit of prayer is more needed than unfettered verbosity.

Note second: “He overturned the tables of the money-changers.”

Because Roman coinage often had the visage of the Emperor on it, the temple leadership had decided one could not pay the temple taxes with such coins. The money needed to be exchanged for temple-worthy shekels.

Now the problem here is 2-fold. First, the refusal to allow Roman coinage was in fact more superstitious than anything else. Scripture nowhere else addressed the idea that only Jewish money could be used. Second, while this arrangement may have had some well-meaning rationale underneath it all, in the end, it was a money making scheme. For the exchange came at a cost. A service charge if you will. A way for some to make an extra buck off of people who had simply come to honor the Lord at the feast times as prescribed by the Law.

Hence we have (in both cases above) Jesus’ pronouncement that they had turned God’s house into “a den of robbers.”

Money making schemes foisted upon God’s people by leadership is a sure way to invite the judgment of God. And one wonders how much of American Evangelicalism is in fact doing this very thing left and right. Marketing anything and everything to God’ people – who need above everything else, to simply be taught God’s Word and taught how to apply it to their lives. Instead, we have every kind of book, media package, trinket, seminar and tchotchke known to man peddled to the people at obscene prices for spiritual “secrets.” It is nothing short of blasphemy.

Note lastly: How seriously we need to see that God wants His house, His Church, to be a place where people who do not know Him, but who have heard of His mercy and grace, to come and seek Him. And to do so as provided for by people who already reverence Him, and represent Him, His character, plans and purposes as He has truly revealed them in His Word.

The question here is – what is the World to take away from the way we represent God?

Father forgive us. We really do not know what it is we are doing.

Father thank you, for striving with us even in our foolishness. Do not abandon us to our baser selves. Wash us. Cleanse you Temple even again today.