Revolutionary Threads : Clearing the Temple

Mark 11:15-18, Matthew 21:12-17, Luke 19:45-48, John 2:13-23

Two or One

The clearing of the temple occurs in all the gospel accounts. There is an issue with this, in that the three synoptic gospels¹ have this happening in the later stages of Jesus’ ministry and in the lead up to his death whereas John’s gospel has it at the very beginning after the wedding at Cana.

Much has been written about this seeming discrepancy and it is worth a little look at why these differences occur. First, we know Matthew and Luke used Mark’s gospel as a blue-print for their accounts. Both of them contain most of the stories Mark has and in the same order. Matthew and Luke have added in extra bits of their own² and edited out others. John on the other hand is written with no prior blue-print that we know of. It is unique in its structure and contains stories no other gospels tell.

Second, none of the gospels are history books. Producing a daily diary of Jesus’ life is not the reason they wrote these accounts of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. Luke tells us he writes so that Theophilus ‘may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.’³ John tells us he wrote his gospel so ‘that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’⁴ He also states later on if every story about Jesus was written down the world would not be big enough to contain it all⁵. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t historical truth contained within the gospels, just that it wasn’t the most important part.

There is every possibility that Jesus cleared the temple twice in his ministry. He visited it many times in his life and the two occasions noted in the gospels seem to occur at least 2/3 years apart and both contain a slightly different version of events⁶. Even if the event only happened once and John chose to include the story earlier in his gospel for a theological reason, it does not detract from its importance in helping us understand Jesus’ purpose in turning over the tables in the temple.

The Last Straw

In the synoptic gospels the clearing of the temple is the last straw for the Jewish leaders. This is the moment they decide Jesus must be stopped. Mark and Luke both tell us that the Chief Priests and teachers of the law begin to plot his demise from this point. Within a week Jesus has been arrested and crucified.

To give some context to why this action from Jesus caused such uproar we must look at the importance of the temple to the Jews.

God’s House

In the Garden of Eden God walked through his creation, he admired all that he had done and he spoke with the first man and woman. The fall put a stop to this and so God’s presence no longer resided with that he had created. Separation of the creator God with his creation had occurred.⁷

God did not leave us in this state though and as Genesis unfolds we see how he began to work through those he called to restore what once was: God’s kingdom here on earth. There are glimpses of this when Jacob falls asleep and sees visions of a stairway to heaven.⁸ Moses sees a burning bush and speaks with the almighty God.⁹

Then after he rescues the Israelites from Egypt he instructs them to build the tabernacle and Ark in which his presence will dwell and he will meet with his people.¹⁰ Later on when the Israelites were settled in the land and David had built a palace for himself his son Solomon built the first temple. It was a majestic building and it became the place where the arc Ark of the covenant rested and therefore the place where God’s presence dwelt on earth.¹¹

This first temple was destroyed when the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem. A second temple was later built when some of the people returned and the accounts of this are recorded in Ezra and Nehemiah. Herod later on expanded the second temple to the size it was in Jesus’ day and it remained the most important site for the Jewish people till its destruction by the Romans in 70AD.

The importance of the temple was due to it being the place where God dwelt. This was God’s house, it was where God would dwell when he returned and restored his kingdom. The sacrifices offered there by the people kept it holy and anyone who threatened that threatened their understanding of what God was doing and would do.

A Den of Robbers

In the synoptic accounts Jesus quotes two Old Testament prophets. The first is Isaiah 56:7 which is from a passage about those whom appear on the outside, like foreigners and eunuchs, who God will welcome into his house if they obey his commands and keep his Sabbath. The second is from Jeremiah in a passage that declares false religion worthless and is given at the gates of the first temple. These two quotes do not come out of Jesus mouth by accident but he is saying something very specific to those who run the temple.

It is often preached that the turning over of the tables of those selling sacrificial animals and the money changers is Jesus railing against a form of commercialism. The sacrificial? sellers and the money changers were just doing what they had always done, making it possible for people to worship God.¹² While this may have some weight there is a greater message here.

Jesus’ anger is not with the temple or what is happening within in but with how the people who represent it and use it live their lives. Jeremiah’s words about a den of robbers are aimed at a people who use the temple as a safe place to hide from their injustices and idolatry.

The Isaiah quote on the other hand is a proclamation to the temple’s true purpose. It is a call to all those who seek to maintain justice, do what is right, keep the sabbath and hold fast to the covenant. These people will be called into the presence of God, to dwell on his holy mountain and live in his house. Mark tells us that the people saw his actions and heard his words and were amazed by him. The authorities on the other hand recognise the challenge presented and know that Jesus is calling them out. For this he has to die.

Questions

• Do you see the gospels as historic accounts, theological statements or a mixture?
• Have Christians lost the sense of God dwelling on earth?
• Do Jesus’ words challenge us today as they did the chiefpriests and teachers of the law then?

Credits – ‘Money changer’ by Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion under CC BY-SA 2.0

1 Matthew, Mark and Luke
2 Like the birth narratives and some Parables.
3 Luke 1:4
4 John 20:30-31
5 John 21:25
6 In John, Jesus creates a whip and in the synoptics he doesn’t. In the two versions different words are spoken by Jesus and the events before and after differ greatly.
7 Genesis 1-3
8 Genesis 18:10-18
9 Exodus 3
10 Exodus 25:8
11 For a full account of Solomon’s building of the temple read 1 Kings 3-8
12 It was a great risk to travel large distances with an unblemished animal for sacrifice. What if it got injured along the way or killed? Being able to buy animals at the temple meant people could offer the correct sacrifice. The money changers also had an important job in exchanging foreign coins for those accepted for the temple tax which helped to keep it in good working order. Exodus 30:13