The time is fast approaching when the Church will celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Major events took place in the last week of Jesus’ physical life, here on earth, which affects all mankind. These events were recorded in one third to one half of the Gospels. The event our text records took place the day after the triumphant entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem.
“On reaching Jerusalem” reveals Jesus did not remain in the city of Jerusalem. In fact, when you read all the accounts of this last week you will find each evening He went out of the city. The result being each day He entered into Jerusalem. On this day when arriving in the city, Jesus “entered the temple area”. This would have been the area around the temple and not the temple itself where the holy and the holy of holies places were. The area would have been given the name of the Gentile Court. It had become a place of business instead of being use for the purpose it was intended. Seeing this, Jesus “began driving out those who were buying and selling there”. What had happened was individuals were selling animals to travelers so they could make the sacrifice required by the Mosaic Law, but they were charging high prices. The priests and scribes allowed this in order to make money. Often practice was to declared the animal the individual brought with them, to make the sacrifice, had a defect and then they would trade their animal plus some temple currency for another which was without defect. Later, the one declared to have a defect was then sold to another traveler as not having a defect. This was happening because of greed. If those selling were doing it when Jesus entered the temple area this would have added to His reason for driving them out.
Also, Jesus “overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves”. This was just another area where greed took over. Each area of the known world had its own currency and therefore had to be changed into the temple currency. The money changers charged high prices to change the currency. The poorest were sacrificing doves for they could not afford anything else and they would have been charged high prices too, in the very place were there should have been concern for them. Jesus stopped those who were carrying “merchandise through the temple courts”.
Once Jesus had cleansed the temple He made a statement by quoting the Old Testament saying “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations”. Jesus was stressing the purpose for this area was to be communicating with God, His Father. It is a reminder when a place is set aside for worship and prayer it is a holy place to God. It is interesting to realize Jesus’ house of prayer was for all people who will come to Him. Anyone who is honestly seeking God will find Him. The very opposite had been done to the temple area, as Jesus says “you made it a den of robbers”. What it comes down to, Jesus is telling those who had been selling and exchanging, they were stealing and sinning against God.
You can expect what the result is going to be. Anytime someone is reprimanded for the sins he has committed, he is going to respond. “The chief priests and the teachers of the law” reacted by looking into how they were going to kill Jesus because, “they feared him”. The crowd was “amazed at his teaching”. Are you amazed? How are you going to react? CONSIDER VERY CAREFULLY WHAT YOUR REACTION IS TO JESUS!!!