Cleansing the Temple

Matthew 21: 12 – 13

And Jesus entered the temple and cast out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers den.”

Some Bibles have topical headings describing the passages. Mine is one of those and this passage is headed by the title, Cleansing the Temple. This is a familiar passage, but I want you to read it with new eyes, as if you have never heard this story before.

My first question to you is this. Jesus had been to the temple many times before and He had never upset the cart, so to speak, before. Why this time? The second question is, why did He do it at all? The conduct of commerce at the temple was not an uncommon situation. He, His disciples and everyone in Jerusalem were accustomed to seeing trade going on at the temple.

The reason this passage is so important is because of 1 Corinthians 3: 16- 17, 1 Corinthians 6: 19 and 2 Corinthians 6: 16 all of which tell us that we have become the Temple of God. Jesus’ storming of the temple in Jerusalem happened immediately upon His triumphal entry into the city on a young, donkey colt. The crowds shouted, “Hosanna” as He entered and threw their cloaks and tree cuttings on the road so that not even the hooves of His colt would touch the ground. This entry into Jerusalem marked the end of the journey for Jesus. He would never leave. When He left for Jerusalem, He went with the intention of sacrificing Himself for our sins. He knew that He was about to be offered up as the sin offering for all mankind.

Jesus cleansed the building that was used as the Old Testament temple as He entered the city and He cleansed the temple of the New Testament, you and I, as He left, “For we are the temple of the living God, (2 Cor. 6: 16). Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross cleansed all of us for all time and now the Father, Son and Holy Spirit come and make their abode in us. You are now that house of prayer of which Jesus spoke. You are the living temple of Christ. We are the reason that Jesus made a message out of a spectacle. He proclaimed us clean and entrusts us to maintain the temple until his next coming.