This morning we read in our RMM reading of Luke 19:45-48 a zealous account of Jesus that makes us reconsider our soft and cuddly version that Hollywood wants to portray him as being. We also see a reflection of where our hearts tend to stray. Jesus enters Jerusalem with the chorus of worshipping disciples but when he looks out over the city he weeps over their blindness to the long awaited Messiah. He sees this directly when he goes to the temple to find a sight that provokes righteous passion: people selling oxen, sheep, pigeons, and changing money.
It would be nonsensical for animals to be penned and sold in our church but in the Jewish temple at that time, it was not completely illogical. Those who were in the temple knew that there would be travelers who would come from long distances to fulfill their lawfully required sacrifice. Coming from far away, it would be more convenient to have animals available for purchase so that people could make their sacrifice without bringing their cumbersome animals on the journey. What a nice gesture! The foreigners benefited, the sellers benefited, and God was satisfied. Or so it seemed to them.
Jesus saw a different picture. John 2:16-17 tells us that Jesus responded,
“Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.
The disciples remembered Psalm 69:9. They saw Jesus was acting as when the psalm records King David being overcome with zeal because the reproaches on God had fallen on him. The people had made God’s dwelling place a flea market and their dealings with sacrifice were an affront to Him. Sacrifices were easily obtained and profited from. Jesus, knowing that his time was near to be sacrificed for the culmination of the sins of His people, burned with zeal at their blatant disregard for the privilege of God’s presence, the cost of true sacrifice, and the coming of final atonement. So Jesus tells them over the bleating of the animals to take the things away. That is not how the temple or its people are to function.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 21:13 what they should have known about His Father’s house,
“He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
Jesus proclaims that these Jewish people should be very aware that this place was for intimate communion with God. The dwelling where God has said he will meet his people should not be where you go in casually and seek where you can make it all work for you. You don’t settle for trading goods when you are in the presence of the sovereign Lord of all creation. You seek to know Him, love Him, and treasure Him supremely above all else. In that, he says, you will find overwhelming joy. We can see this because he quotes Isaiah 56:7,
“these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
Jesus saw behind their appearance of religious helpfulness to their selfish and immoral hearts. The people do not see it but Jesus is saying that they are trading both joy for death and fellowship for power. First, they change the place where they can find true joy, peace, and salvation into a superficial veneer for their greed. And while they seem to be doing the Lord’s work, serving His people, and nurturing their relationship with Him, they are continually rotting inside. The worship of God has become the worship of their wallets and pleasure. Jesus regularly notes this about the Pharisees, most clearly in Matthew 23:25,
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”
Secondly, we see that although it appeared to be a logically good system of supply and demand, they were going against the context of Isaiah 56:7 which is speaking of extending salvation to the foreigner. These sellers had the upper hand. It was either the person exchange their money and buy an animal for sacrifice or else they could face the judgment and wrath of God by disobedience to His law. Therefore, the sellers could determine any price they wanted, manipulating people’s well-being and conscience for their gain. And if the poor couldn’t pay then they were sent away. Isaiah prophesies that the foreigner would be brought by God to the temple and allowed to joyfully worship Him but these people proclaim that foreigners must come with money or stay away. The promise of a Messiah that would pay the price on their behalf that they might boldly come to the throne of grace was being replaced by power hungry traders. These people have both robbed God of his due glory for their greed and also beat down the very people He intends to save. With this in mind it becomes clear why Jesus says in Mark 11:17,
“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.”
So as we contemplate these things I suggest we ask ourselves three sets of questions.
1) What does it look like to understand the full weight of being in the presence of God during our time in the Father’s house on Sunday? Are you and the church reflecting that?
2) Where in your life have you used God’s gifts to cover your selfishness or greed? What things do you need to “take out of the temple”?
3) How can we be more intentional about making it easier rather than making unnecessary barriers for ‘foreigners’ to come and worship? What are some ways we can be more humble rather than leverage our power in our relationships?
I would love to see your answers to these in the comments and I pray that as we meditate on this we will proclaim with the psalmist in Psalm 84:11, “A day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere”!
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Evan