FIRST CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE

Christ Driving the Traders from the Temple by El Greco (Doménikos Theotokópoulos), 1571-76

Spring 27 A.D Passover

Jerusalem

John 2:13-25

And the Jews' Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting. And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables.

And said unto them that sold doves, “Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.”

And his disciples remembered that it was written, “The zeal of your house has eaten me up”. [Psalm 69]

I am a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my own mother's sons for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me. Psalm 69:8-9

Let’s picture what it may have been like in Jerusalem when Jesus arrived. He came for the Passover. Passover was an important and sacred time for the Jews, but it was also a feast. It had its solemnity, but also its celebration, much like out Esther time. Different churches practice various ceremonies leading up to Resurrection Sunday. This can include for some walking the Stations of the Cross. There may be a Maundy Thursday, with foot washing and reenactment of the Last Supper. Some people have a vigil through Good Friday. Sunday morning will be filled with joyful song. 

Surrounding the worship services are also secular traditions. Families get together for Easter dinner. There are gifts of Easter Baskets, Easter egg hunts, parades and parties. Over the passage of centuries these secular traditions have come to often overwhelm the sacred. For far too many people going to church service becomes an obligation to get out of the way before the festivities can begin. I have a feeling the Passover Week of Jesus’ time had acquired a similar patina.

I’ve read that the main street to the Temple was lined with vendor booths. It reminds me of when my children were young and we would take them to the Philadelphia Zoo. Hawkers selling balloons, stuffed animals, hot dogs, soft pretzels and other bric-a-brac or foodstuffs lined the street from the parking lots to the zoo entrance. Another image I get are the streets around Wilmington’s Rodney Square filled with lunch wagons and souvenir hustlers during the annual jazz festival.

 There were many people coming to Jerusalem for the week, which means there is money to be made. Out-of-towners were coming who needed lodging and meals. The main street to the Temple was noisy, crowded, and full of tempting smells with a carnival atmosphere. But this was all going on outside the Temple. This was the place for such activity if such activity must be done. Jesus entered the Temple at the Court of the Gentiles and found it not much different than the street scene.

So why are these merchants here?

It probably began with good intensions, but what is the old saying? “The road to Hell is paved with good intensions.” 

The Jewish people of those times were required to make various animal sacrifices, for instance sin offerings (which Christ was to be and replace). Depending on circumstances and sometimes the economic status of the person, cattle, goats, sheep and birds were used. These animals had to be unblemished. 

You can imagine it was not always easy to secure an unblemished animal for this purpose, let alone drive or carry it several miles. At some point, some priest probably had the great idea to supply these goods so people didn’t have to do all that work. Unblemished livestock was provided at the Temple by breeders or sellers contracted by the priests to provide the service and people could simply pay a fee and then offer that purchased beast. (Recall in Luke 2:22-23 Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple after the purification period was over and offered a sacrifice of two birds. They probably purchased these Turtledoves or Pigeons from such a service.)

Because of the devious hearts of men, this soon became a money making proposition. Vendors overcharged for the animals and thus padded their profit at the expense of the people. There may have even been kickbacks to the priests. However, the corruption didn’t end with high prices on such animals.

There were also moneychangers in the Court of the Temple. We seldom use that term today. There was a time when the term was used for bankers and even today we often go to the bank to change money. If I were going to Italy I might go to my bank and exchange some U.S. dollars for lira. An exchange rate would be posted and the bank would give me that equivalent amount and change me a fee for doing so.

The moneychangers of that day were performing a similar service certainly. They were probably busier than usual during Passover Week because so many tourists flooded the city that needed local money. The exchange rate was at the discretion of the moneychangers and they took full advantage of this.

There was another bounty for these men. The people were required to pay a Temple Tax. This tax could not be paid in common lucre. It had to be paid with a special Temple coin. The moneychangers sold these coins and they often charged far more in exchange than the coin was worth. The Court of the Temple had become a place for the fleecing of the worshipper. This is not what God intended.

Jesus was God and he drove these thieves out of His house.

There are some who believe this instance is the same one spoke of in the other Gospels at the beginning of the Passion events. I do not. I stand with those who accept there were two such occurrences, one at the beginning of His ministry and one at the end. These served different purposes. The cleansing at the end of his ministry was used to further agitate the authorities to fulfill His mission and put him to death. The cleansing here at the start was to tell them he had arrived. What a spectacular announcement for drawing people’s attention.

Then answered the Jews and said to him, “What sign show you to us, seeing that you do these things?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Then said the Jews, “Forty and six years was this temple in building, and will you rear it up in three days?”

But he spoke of the temple of his body.

When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this to them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles, which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself to them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man for he knew what was in man.

“Then the Jews…” meaning the authorities demanded what authority he had to do this.

I guess they did!

His answer dismayed them. It was laughable. Perhaps they dismissed Him as a crazy man. This may be why they didn’t immediately arrest him. Note they demanded a miracle to establish His authority. Even then they may have been questioning if Jesus was the Messiah and were being a bit caution just in case. They had questioned John if he were the Messiah and by this time there may have been some whisperings getting to these religious leaders about this Jesus fellow.

We find Jesus did perform some miracles while He was in town and there were a few people who believed in Him. Whether any of these miracles were performed before the cleansing we don’t know. Some may have been and this was part of why they asked for a miracle. At least one of the Pharisees among the rulers believed Jesus was some kind of man of God. His name was Nicodemus.

Notice it says, “Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men.” The context of the surrounding verses and this statement indicate it was not time for Jesus to be arrested and killed, more evidence that there were two Temple cleansings. He is going to meet with Nicodemus secretly in the night and soon Jesus and his few disciples are going to move into the wilderness for a while. They will not be there long before the danger becomes great enough that they flee back to Galilee.