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.

JESUS CALLS HIS FIRST DISCIPLES

Christ calling St. Peter and St. Andrew, 1681 Diego Quispe Tito

Matthew 4:18-22, Mark1:16-20, Luke 5:1-11

By the Sea of Galilee (AKA Lake of Gennesaret and Lake Tiberias)

The town of Gennesaret was not far to the west of Capernaum. Both sat on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and this body of water was also called Lake of Gennesaret. In this instance, Matthew and Mark refer to it as the Sea of Galilee, while Luke uses the name Lake of Gennesaret. So there is no contradiction here. There is a statement some, who like to do the “gotcha moments”, may claim is a contradiction, if a minor one. This is that Luke says Jesus saw the fishermen on shore washing their nets while Matthew and Mark say Simon and Andrew were casting a net into the sea, and James and John were in a ship mending a net. Actually all these observations are true, not contradictory at all, when you know the whole story.

This passage is titled, “Jesus Calls His First Disciples” in many Bibles. In popular culture portrayals of this instance we never get the entire action and so we have a common misunderstanding about this Calling.

The image we may have from films is Jesus comes walking along the seashore and sees these fishermen at work. He calls to them, “Follow me” and they immediately drop everything and go with this charismatic stranger. Jesus was hardly a stranger to these men and this was far from some impulsive spur of the moment behavior.

And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

And Jesus, now as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren. Walking he saw Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

Jesus had settled in Capernaum after those in Nazareth tried to kill him. Here he began to preach and gained fame. We are not told how much time passed since he first began this preaching, but by now he had become known enough that people were “pressed upon him to hear the Word”. So Jesus isn’t strolling along the shore alone at all. He is standing by the lake and he is looking about for some space between him and those mobbing him. We see him do this in other passages of scripture.

He sees a couple ships anchored by the lake and some fishermen washing their nets, after a hard night of fishing. The fishermen are at the waters edge, tossing the nets in the water to clean them. See, just because Matthew said Peter and Andrew were “casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers” didn’t mean they were standing on the deck of the ship fishing. They were standing at the shore washing the nets.

And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

These are not strangers to Jesus. He knows these men very well. So Jesus goes up the plank onto Simon’s boat and asked Simon to take him a bit offshore. Why? As we said, Jesus wanted some space between himself and all those people who had been pressing up against him. Simon and Andrew grab their nets and clamber aboard and row out a bit.

Jesus sits down and finishes teaching the crowd.

Now when he had left speaking, he said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.”

(A British definition of “draught” is “the drawing in of a fishing net; the fish taken in one draft). Jesus has finished teaching and now he tells Simon to go out to deeper water and he’ll catch a bunch of fish. Perhaps Jesus is rewarding Simon for his loan of the boat and his time.

And Simon answering said to him, “Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at your word I will let down the net.”

Simon doesn’t see much reason to do this. He moans they have worked all night and caught nothing. He’s just finished washing the nets. He is probably tired and wants to pack up and go home, but he does it anyway. Why? Note he calls Jesus “Master”. Maybe he would call him this out of respect having heard about Jesus’ preaching and considers him something of a rabbi, yet he does what is asked because it is “nevertheless” Jesus’ word. Would he really go to a lot of useless bother for some itinerant rabbi? You see Simon knows Jesus and has certain opinions about him that compel him to do what Jesus says.

And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned to their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord,” for he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes, which they had taken.

And he, Jesus, said to them, Come you after me, Follow me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

And they straightway left, forsook their nets, and followed him.

A miraculous catch happens. Where before they caught nothing, now so many fish fill their nets that the nets are breaking. They can’t handle it all themselves, so they call their business partners, Zebedee and his sons, James and John, to help. The other boat is rowed over to them and the two teams of fishermen upload the bounty, so much so both boats are in danger of sinking.

As they have filled the holds of the boats and started to the shore, Simon falls on his knees, telling Jesus to go away because he, Simon, is too sinful to be in his presence. He addresses Jesus as Lord.

It is at this point Jesus says to Simon and Andrew, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

Notice the difference here than the portrayal of this scene in The History Channel’s, “The Bible.” Jesus did not wade out to Peter’s boat to be pulled aboard where he was alone with Peter and he does not tell Peter to come with him because they will “change the world.” They are not going off to change the world; they going out to save people from it.

And going on from thence, when he had gone a little farther, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and straightway he called them.

And they immediately left the ship and their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after and followed him.

They debark Simon’s boat; leaving everything behind. Simon and Andrew follow Jesus a short distance down the beach. Jesus stops as he looks out at Zebedee’s crew mending their nets aboard their boat. They are mending their nets because that huge catch of fish had torn the nets up. Jesus calls to James and John. The two brothers now stop mending, come to shore and follow Jesus, leaving behind father, servants and their occupation.

Let’s ask a couple questions. Why did Jesus only call these four guys from those on the boats? Why didn’t he include Zebedee or any of the servants? Why did Simon, Andrew, James and John follow so quickly?

I don’t think there was anything spur of the moment about this. It wasn’t a sudden impulse. The four men were probably waiting for this call. Although this is titled, “Jesus Calls His first Disciples”, that title is a bit deceiving. This isn’t where he made his first Disciples, simply where he has called them to action.

These four fishermen were devout Jews and seekers of the Messiah even before they ever heard of Jesus. Remember, we met them about a year before this calling. They had been following John the Baptist in Bethany. It was there they first saw, followed and spent a day with Jesus. Phillip and Nathanael Bartholomew also joined them there. These men were from the same area as Jesus. They traveled back home in his company and stopped at a wedding in the town where Nathanael lived. There at Cana they had witnessed his changing of water to wine during a wedding celebration. Later they had traveled with Jesus to a Passover Feast in Jerusalem where he turned over the tables and chased the moneychangers from the Temple. They had been in the desert with him, baptized others with him, traveled through Samaria with him and lived near him in Capernaum. They had probably heard him preach many times by now, spend evenings with him listening to his lessons and so awaited him to bid them to be missionaries. Now that moment had come. Of course they immediately followed.

Duccio di Buoninsegna, The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew, 1809-11