My House
Thesis: The first thing that Jesus was passionate about, as demonstrated in the actions of His final week of earthly ministry, was God's house.
Objective: Challenge listeners to be passionate about God's house, the Church.
- We must be passionate about God's house (15-17).
- We must want to be there (“On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area” (15); The first thing Jesus did when he arrived at Jerusalem, even though everyone was expecting him to claim the throne, was to go to the temple, God's house. Jesus made being in God's house his first and foremost priority. Is it your priority?).
- We must protect its sanctity (“began driving out those who were buying and selling there...” (15); The first thing Jesus did when he entered the temple was “drive out” (NIV, NASB, etc.), “cast out” (KJV, Young's Literal), and “throw out” (HCSB, God's Word Translation) the merchants and others who were distracting from its purpose as a place for worship and prayer. We must voraciously defend the holiness and sanctuary of God's house. It is to be a place of worship from even its very outer courts (e.g., the merchants worked in the Court of Gentiles on the very outside of the temple complex). Do you treat it as a holy place?).
- We must avoid shortcuts (“and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple complex” (16); The second thing Jesus did was make sure that no one dared to just “cut through” the temple courts on their way to somewhere else. God is not a pitstop, and He's not a means to some end. Furthermore, when it comes to worship and serving Him, we can't just give Him a token gesture. The presence of the Lord is an awesome thing, and we must respect it as such. Do you just cut through God's house, or take shortcuts in worship or service?).
- We must value teaching (“Then He began to teach them” (17); After purging the temple, the first thing that Jesus did was sit down to teach. God's house is not supposed to be a place of fluffy, feel-good messages. We are to learn His Word, His ways, etc. But notice that teaching is dramatically different from beating over the head with a stick or even pounding on the pulpit or over the head with a Bible. It's sitting down with people and saying, “Okay, here's what we're doing; here's where we're going.”).
- We must be practice prayer (“My house will be called a house of prayer” (17); For Jesus, the temple was all about prayer. This was not just Jesus delivering to the Father a laundry list of things he needed; rather, it was Jesus taking time to commune intimately with His Dad. Jesus would talk; the Father would talk. Back and forth it would go. The church should be a place where people can come to meet and dialog with God, spend time in His presence, share with Him and hear from Him. Do you listen when you come to church?).
- We must be welcome guests (“for all nations” (17); Jesus understood that the temple wasn't supposed to be a place of worship for Jews only. If that were the case, then it would have been no big deal to have the merchants and co. in the Court of Gentiles. It would have been a vacant lot. But the temple was to be a place of worship for everyone, and since only Jews could proceed into the Court of Women, and only Jewish men into the Court of Israel, and only priests into the Holy Place, and only the High Priest into the Most Holy Place, the Court of Gentiles was the closest that non-Jews could get. This was their place of worship. We in the church need to be mindful that we are to be a light to the world. We should therefore be constantly reaching out to strangers in need of a church home – outsiders – and consciously making a place where they can worship.).
- We must be passionate, regardless (18).
- There will always be resistance (“Then the chief priests and the scribes...” (18); Passion does not flinch under any sort of threat. It presses on even in the face of real and imminent danger.).
- There will always be fear (“For they were afraid of Him” (18); There will always be those who shy away from us as believers because they're afraid of what Jesus is doing in and through our lives. We must recognize this and strive to reach out to them anyway.).
- There will always be astonishment (“the whole crowd was astonished by His teaching” (18); Jesus' passionate and authoritative teaching shocked the crowd. They hadn't expected to hear Him speak so boldly, so articulately, so authentically, so authoritatively, and more. When we are truly passionate about God's house, people will have “great surprise” because they've never seen anything like that before.).
Ryrie
(15) “This is the second time Christ purged the Temple (see John 2:13-17, the beginning of His ministry).”
(15) “The animals, guaranteed to be without blemish, were sold for sacrificial purposes, and Greek and Roman coinage was changed into the standard half-shekel required for the Temple tax.”
(15) “The merchants were guilty of profanation of the Temple and of excess profiteering.”
Henry
Jesus' actions demonstrated authority. He acted as a son in his own house.
It is interesting to note that he drove these merchants out “without opposition; for what he did, was manifested to be right and good, even in the consciences of those that had connived at it, and countenanced it, because they got money by it.”
“It may be some encouragement to zealous reformers, that frequently the purging out of corruptions, and the correcting of abuses, prove an easier piece of work than was apprehended. Prudent attempts sometimes prove successful beyond expectation, and there are not those lions found in the way, that were feared to be.”
“The Jews owned that it was one of the instances of honour due to the temple, not to make the mountain of the house, or the court of the Gentiles, a road, or common passage, or to come into it with any bundle.” (i.e., the temple, even the court of Gentiles, should not be used as a short-cut).
“When all sacrifices and offerings should be abolished, the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise should continue and remain for ever.”
It is essential to notice that Jesus makes clear that the temple was to be a place for all nations to come and join in prayer.
“When Christ drove out the buyers and sellers at the beginning of his ministry, he only charged them with making the temple a house of merchandise (John ii. 16); but now he chargeth them with making it a den of thieves, because since then they had twice gone about to stone him in the temple (John viii. 59; x. 31), or because the traders there were grown notorious for cheating their customers, and imposing upon the ignorance and necessity of the country people, which is no better than downright thievery.”
“Those that suffer vain worldly thoughts to lodge within them when they are at their devotions, turn the house of prayer into a house of merchandise; but they that make long prayers for pretence to devour widows' houses, turn it into a den of thieves.”
(15-19) “all three Synoptic writers mention a cleansing of the temple at the end of Jesus' ministry. Only John has one at the beginning” (see John 2:14-17).
(15) “The temple area” refers to “the court of the Gentiles, the only part of the temple in which Gentiles could worship and gather for prayer.”
(15) “Pilgrims coming to the Passover Feast needed animals that met the ritual requirements for sacrifice, and the vendors set up their animal pens and money tables in the court of the Gentiles.”
(15) “Pilgrims needed their money changed into the local currency because the annual temple tax had to be paid in that currency. Also, the Mishnah required Tyrian currency for some offerings.”
(15) “Doves were required for the purification of women, the cleansing of those with certain skin diseases, and other purposes. Thy were also the usual offering of the poor.”
(16) The fact that Jesus would not allow merchandise to pass through the courts is found only in Mark. “Apparently the temple area was being used as a shortcut between the city and the Mount of Olives.”
(17) “Isa 56:7 assured godly non-Jews that they would be allowed to worship God in the temple. By allowing the court of the Gentiles to become a noisy, smelly marketplace, the Jewish religious leaders were interfering with God's provision.”
(17) Jesus' reference to a den of robbers was appropriate “not only because they took financial advantage of the people but because they robbed the temple of its sanctity.”
(18) chief priests = “Sadducees who were inc harge of worship at the temple in Jerusalem.”
(18) teachers of the law = “The Jewish scholars of the day, professionally trained in the development, teaching and application of OT law. Their authority was strictly human and traditional.”
(18) “The decision to seek Jesus' death was not the result of this incident alone, but was the response to a series of incidents."
ESV Study Bible
(11:12-12:44) “Jesus' first actions, after being hailed by the people as King, are to pass judgment on Jerusalem figuratively through the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple, which highlight Jesus' zeal for true worship of God. Jesus' teaching is bold and authoritative in confronting the religious rulers, and is both introduced (11:20-25) and concluded (12:38-44) by instruction of his disciples.”
(12-21) “The way in which Mark organizes his material in these verses suggests a connection between the cleansing of the temple and the cursing of the fig tree.”
(15-17) “Jesus came as Lord of the temple, and he comes to purify it.”
(15-17) “On the Mount of Olives, as well as in the temple precincts, tables were set up to enable pilgrims to change their respective currencies into coins for the annual temple tax, as well as to purchase pigeons, lambs, oil, alt, etc., for various sin and thanksgiving sacrifices.”
(15-17) “The business activity turns the house of prayer into a den of robbers.” ← Really? All business activity in the temple turns it into a den of robbers?
(15-17) “Gentiles in particular were hindered by the temple commerce in the outer court.”
(15-17) “The goal of Jesus' action is to restore the temple (temporarily) to its function, namely, to serve as a house of prayer for all the nations.”
(18) “Paradoxically, the chief priests and scribes (who are in favor of commerce in the temple) seek to destroy the Purifier (3:6; 15:31–32) rather than to be purified themselves. Their actions are motivated by fear of Jesus' popularity, fear of losing power (social, economic, and political), and fear of a public uprising (in which case the Romans would intervene). The Jewish leaders correctly saw Jesus' act as a challenge to their authority in the most sacred space in the world.”
(19) “As in Galilee, Jesus periodically retreats from public work.”
Archeological
The temple was “perhaps the most impressive structure Jerusalem has ever seen.”
Construction of the temple started in 20-19 BC. Structurally, it was complete within 10 years, but “adornment continued until AD 63.”
“Herod faced a significant challenge: The size of the temple was limited by the Biblical precedent of Solomon's temple, a fairly modest structure. But pagan temples of the NT era were becoming increasingly mammoth, and the Jerusalem temple if confined to Biblical standards would have seemed puny in comparison. Therefore, although the temple proper was left fairly small, the temple precincts in Herod's scheme were enormous. Zerubbbel's temple had to be torn down and the three surrounding valleys filled in. Massive retaining walls helped to support the platform of the temple precinct (the western retaining wall is the familiar 'Wailing Wall').” The temple and its surrounding courtyards created a rhomboid shape, measuring 1,536 feet (485 m on its western side, 1,536 (468 m on the eastern side, 1,035 ft (315.5 m) on the northern side and 912 ft (278 m) on the southern side.”
In the outer Gentile courts, where Jesus found the merchants, et al, “the blind and lame begged and children were present.”
In the court of women, people would leave their tithes and such (e.g., the poor widow of Mk 12:44).
When Jesus entered the temple Sunday night (vs 11), he would have gone into the Court of Israel, where only ritually clean Jewish men were permitted.
“A social center, the temple was the most important locale for education and debate in Judea, as well as the backdrop for many events recorded in the Gospels, most notably Jesus' ejection of the merchants.”
“Jesus' actions and words [when he ejected the merchants] created an 'enacted parable.' He was not only at the extortion but also at the moneychangers' occupation of the court of the Gentiles, which effectively limited access to this area.”
Personal
The using of the temple courts as a short-cut “had been forbidden by the Jewish authorities at one time, but the order was not being enforced.” Word Studies in the Greek NT
The word rendered by the NIV “driving out” is translated by the Word Studies in the Greek NT team as “throwing out.” The word image is that of Jesus physically removing the merchants.