Jesus enters Jerusalem and clears the temple
And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”
And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, “It is written,‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’but you have made it a den of robbers.”
***
That is what the Gospels tell us. See, it is Passover week and the Israelites must make their sacrifices to honor God. They have traveled to Jerusalem from all over and many decide instead of taking their sacrifice from their home to Jerusalem, they will just purchase it there. At the temple are men selling lambs and other animals for sacrifice. There are also "money changers", (who would exchange the peoples roman coins for coins acceptable by the pharasees)
I can imagine that they really jacked up the prices at this time too! And they did not sell these at the markets, but right inside the outer court of the temple! So instead of being a place of worship, it has become a place of business. And not an honest business either---hence Jesus calling it a den of robbers.
Angered by the desecration of the Holy Temple, Jesus weaves cords into a whip and then turns tables and chases out the merchants. It is important that Jesus uses the words "Den of Robbers" because it relates to Jeremiah 7:11 to mean a gathering of sinners trying to hide from their sin.
To Close, I would like to Share this Meditation with you From:
As once you came into the temple, come to us, Lord Jesus,
and cleanse us from all that makes us unholy.
Silence the noise that prevents us hearing you,
and help us see when we are blind.
Turn over the barriers that block your word,
drive away the distractions that stop our awareness of you.
Give us the wisdom of your commandments.
For you command only what is good,
We are temples of the living God,
help us to know who we are.
No comments:
Post a Comment