cleansing the temple
In recent days, posts have flown around about Jesus cleansing out the temple and what it means for us in this time. The story occurs in all four gospel accounts: Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-19, Luke 19:45-48, and John 2:13-16. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all place this story after Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem while John places the account following the first miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding of Cana. Taking an inductive look at the passage in Mark, there is a clear chaismtic structure:
15 Then they came to Jerusalem.
And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; 16 and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 He was teaching and saying,
“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.”
18 And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.
19 And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.
Why does Jesus drive out “those who were selling and those who were buying” from the temple?
The obvious answer is in v17, but how did the former actions make the temple a ‘den of robbers’? What was being 'robbed’?
In v15, we can make a number of observations:
- Jesus “began to drive out” after entering the temple, suggesting that this activity was at least occuring near the entrance.
- Jesus drove people out, overturned tables and seats, and wouldn’t allow anything to be carried through the temple.
- There were four groups of people who were targeted: sellers, buyers, money changers, and specifically “those who sold doves.”
So this also brings up a number of questions:
- What was the significance of being near the entrance?
- Why did Jesus destroy property of the money changers and the dove sellers?
- What exactly were all those sellers, buyers, and money changers doing?
- What’s with the doves?
A final observation is with v18, with this event precipitating the plot to kill Jesus. What was the teaching that led the religious teachers to fear Jesus?
Historical background provides us with some context about the temple during this time period. The outer court is the place where Gentiles were permitted to pray. Thus, the 'marketplace’ activity was occurring, at least, in the space dedicated for Gentiles. A particular significant fact about the doves is that the account in Matthew and John also mention them. This is in reference to Leviticus 5:7, which states that doves are an acceptable sin offering if one cannot afford a sheep. Finally, the money changers were exploitative in adding in extra “fees” for their services.
So what then was occuring here? People were being robbed: those in poverty were exploited in their attempt to be faithful to God; the Gentiles were excluded from their space to pray. Both of these groups of people were being denied dignity. It is obvious that Jesus was unhappy.
Let us look back to Mark 11:11.
11 Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Jesus scoped out the temple the day before and came back the following day to clean house. It seems fair to say that Jesus was angry. In the preceding verses, we find the intriguing account of Jesus cursing the fig tree:
12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see whether perhaps he would find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
Why does Jesus curse the fig tree when it is not the season for figs? In v20, we find the completion of the chiastic thought:
20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots.
This living parable is echoed in the gospels:
Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. (John 15:6)
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 7:19)
Jesus curses the fig tree that bears no fruit after seeing the injustice in the temple and before he unleashes his righteous anger upon returning to the temple. It follows that Jesus curses the the fig tree for the same reason as his righteous anger.
So why then did Jesus destroy property? Because Jesus was furious at the exploitation of the poor, exclusion of the Other, and the denial of human dignity – in the temple of the Living God, no less. Because what does not abide in Him is “thrown away like a branch” and “thrown into the fire.”
This was a pre-Pentecost moment, where Jesus embodies his intentions and clears a path for “all the nations” to come before the Father. How was Jesus teaching? Not just through word, but through action. And His fury at exploitation, exclusion, and denial shook the status quo so much that the religious leaders began to plot the death of Jesus upon the lynching tree. His death would not just be retribution, but a lesson for the world to see what happens when one confronts power.
What does this passage leave for us?
One might assume that all of the sellers, buyers, and money changers were corrupt. But what if there were some people, just trying to make an 'honest’ living? Maybe some sellers did not like that the other sellers were exploitative. However, they were still complicit in the exploitation, even if they personally did not participate. They did nothing to stop the exploitation. And all the sellers were still encroached upon land that was not theirs, denying justice to the Other.
Our society in America is built upon stolen land, broken promises, exploitation of human lives, exclusion of people of color from full participation, the denial of the dignity of Black lives.
Jesus spoke truth to abusive and exploitative power by flipping tables.
Jesus spoke truth to abusive and exploitative power and was lynched.
Now is the time for repentance. To repent of denying the right to Black life. To repent of institutional racism and mass incarceration that cheapens Black communites. To repent of financial systems that favor commodities over people, and even seeks to commodify human life. To repent of the many broken treaties and forced annihliation of indigenous land and cultures. And especially for Asian Americans, it is time for us to repent of complicity in the systematic injustices that can be easy for some of us to ignore.
And what is repentance but to tear down that which has been false and unjust and sit rapt, listening to those who have spoken truth to abusive and exploitative power – listening to those who died upon their lynching trees, so that we might be set free from our sin.
Jesus Christ was a freedom fighter, and he taught us how to fight.
We go'n’ fight all day and night, until we get it right.
Which side are you on my people, which side are you on?
Which side are you on my people, which side are you on?Ahmaud Arbery was a freedom fighter, and he taught us how to fight.
We go'n’ fight all day and night, until we get it right.
Which side are you on my people, which side are you on?
Which side are you on my people, which side are you on?Breonna Davis was a freedom fighter, and she taught us how to fight.
We go'n’ fight all day and night, until we get it right.
Which side are you on my people, which side are you on?
Which side are you on my people, which side are you on?George Floyd was a freedom fighter, and he taught us how to fight.
We go'n’ fight all day and night, until we get it right.
Which side are you on my people, which side are you on?
Which side are you on my people, which side are you on?