Matthew 21:12-17

Introduction to Matthew 21:12-17, Jesus’s first day in Jerusalem

What do you think is the first thing Jesus does after he arrives in Jerusalem and gets off the donkey?  Make a courtesy call to the political leaders?  Visit the religious leaders and ask for their blessing?  Get a permit for a rally where he can preach to the people in the city?  Set up a healing tent?

As we will see, the first thing he wants to do is heal people, but he needs a quiet place to do it.  So the first thing he does is one of the most disruptive and confrontational things he could have done: clear the Temple of the people providing currency exchange services and selling sheep and doves for sacrifice.

Matthew 21:12-13 The cleansing of the Temple: Jesus clears the Temple area of commercial business

We saw in our study of the previous passage that, in the time of the Maccabees, palm branches were waved as part of the ritual in which the Temple was restored and purified after its defilement by the Greeks.  Here, Jesus is addressing what he sees as a new defilement of the Temple.

Some scholars see in this passage a reference to Mal. 3:1-3, where the prophet says that the Lord will come suddenly to his temple and “he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD” (Mal. 3:3, NRSV).

What does Jesus do in the Temple?

Who is the target of his disruption?

Why does he do this?

Jesus quotes from two places in the Old Testament.  Let’s take them in reverse order.

A den of robbers

When Jesus refers to a “den of robbers,” he is drawing from Jeremiah 7:4-11.  In that passage, God tells the people not to boast about the Temple because they are oppressing others and acting unjustly and have turned the Temple into a den of robbers (v. 11)

In what ways might the Temple have become a “den of robbers”?

The selling and buying took place in the outermost court of the Temple complex – not in the Temple building itself but in the Court of Gentiles.  This was the first of several courts Jews had to walk through to reach the Temple itself, which could only be entered by the priests.

The Temple tax, which every male Israelite was required to pay yearly, was a half-shekel, which was equivalent to about two days’ wages.  However, the Temple authorities would not accept Roman or Greek coins because the emperor’s image was stamped on the coins.  They would accept only Tyrian coins (because of their higher silver content) and Jewish coins.  The currency exchange fee was about 10% (one gera or ma’a, which was around one-twentieth of a shekel, according to my research).  In addition to paying that fee, if you brought a larger coin and needed to have change given back to you, the charge was doubled.  So the fee was 10%-20% of two-days’ wages, which was a significant charge for poor people, who didn’t always find enough work to earn a days’ wages every day and who were sacrificing several days of wages to come to the Temple.

There was a thriving trade in cattle, sheep, and doves (see John 2:14) for the sacrifices people needed to make at the Temple.  For pilgrims, it was hard to bring an animal from far away, so people in Jerusalem sold sheep to them.  This could have been seen as a helpful service, unless the prices were set high to take advantage of the pilgrims.  Furthermore, you could only sacrifice an animal that was without blemish, and the power to decide if an animal was without blemish was in the hands of the Temple priests.  It was easy for the Temple authorities to reject a supposedly “imperfect” animal, so the potential for abuse was high.

Doves

With regard to doves: Poor people who could not afford a sheep were allowed under the Law to bring turtledoves and pigeons (Lev. 5:7).  Also, whereas Israelite men were commanded to offer a lamb, women were directed to offer a dove.  Barclay says that price for a dove inside the Temple precincts could be as much as 20 times as high as the price outside the Temple (Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Volume 2, p. 270).

Matthew and Mark both specifically mention that Jesus overturned the seats of the people selling doves.  In John, he specifically chastises the people selling doves, telling them to stop making his Father’s house a marketplace (John 2:16).

Why might Jesus be especially concerned about the selling practices regarding doves?

Since doves were the offerings made by poor people, Jesus might have been particularly concerned about how the sellers were taking advantage of poor people.  Poor people are easier targets for financial abuse since they have little power to respond, so perhaps the markup was especially large for doves, or perhaps he was concerned more generally about the impact of these practices on the poor.

There is one other significant point of background: The high priest Annas had major control over this business and therefore probably took it personally when Jesus drove out the sellers.

Are there ways that we can be at risk of turning God’s holy places into places of commercial exploitation?

There is a lot of money-making associated with the Christian faith (consider Christian music, Christian books, Bible sales, Christian movies, Christian art, statues, candles, devotional materials, Sunday school materials, etc.).  How can we evaluate when it is appropriate, or not, to make money from religious activities?

A house of prayer

In verse 13, Jesus says that his house should be a “house of prayer.”  This phrase comes from Isaiah 56:6-7, where God says that foreigners will come to the Temple and worship there, and it will be a house of prayer for all people.

Even if there was no exploitation going on, how might the money-changing and selling and buying have made it hard for this to be a house of prayer?

How might this have been particularly problematic for the Gentiles, and why would Jesus care?

Jews could go beyond the Court of the Gentiles, to the courts where things were quieter.  But Gentiles could not go further and were stuck in the court where the marketing was going on.

Do you think that all of the people involved in changing money and buying and selling were evil?  Or is it possible that many were devoutly trying to honor God in their lives?

Is it possible for Christians today to be faithful believers but not realize that they are caught up in accepted practices that undermine God’s work?  What might be some examples?

How might we take this message into the business world?

What should the Temple have looked like and sounded like and felt like, as a house of prayer?

If our churches are to be effective houses of prayer, what do we need to help them look like and sound like and feel like?

Matthew 21:14-17 Jesus heals people and responds to the criticisms of the leaders

After Jesus has cleared the Temple courts of the sellers, it is presumably a quieter, more prayerful place.  What is the first thing Jesus does (verse 14)?

Notice that he does this in the Temple – i.e., in the courtyards of the Temple – a place that is crowded with thousands upon thousands of pilgrims.  What does this tell you about Jesus?

Given that the Jewish leaders have not been friendly to Jesus, what does it tell you about Jesus that he is doing this right in the Temple courtyards?

Why do you think the chief priests and scribes are unhappy that children are crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David”?

How does Jesus respond (verse 16)?

Jesus quotes from Psalm 8:2.  This is the psalm that begins, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.”  The verse Jesus quotes is the very next verse, which says, roughly: out of the mouths of babes and infants, you have [done something – scholars aren’t sure what the words mean here] to silence your enemies.  Jesus chooses not to quote the words calling them “enemies” – he is an eternal optimist, hoping people will respond to his teaching.

What is Jesus implying, by using this quote?  What kind of link is he implying between himself and God?

Notice that Jesus defends himself by quoting God’s Word to the religious leaders.  How important is it to know the Bible?

It is telling that the chief priests had no problem with the hubbub of the animals and the buying and selling and money changing in the Temple precincts, but now they are indignant about the noise of the children’s praise of Jesus.  They see (verse 15) the miracles of healing that Jesus is performing.  Yet they are indignant about the children, rather than moved by the healings.  The chief priests may be unhappy that Jesus is healing people in the Temple precincts.  Leviticus 21:16-23 said that people with a “blemish” – i.e., a physical deformity or deficiency – were not supposed to approach the altar.  But Jesus is welcoming them right there in the Temple precincts, not far from the altar.

The chief priests and scribes are more focused on their ideas about what the Temple should look like than on the good that Jesus is doing.  Are we sometimes like that too, focused on our rules and preconceptions and missing the good that God is doing?  Do any examples come to mind?  If so, how might you do things differently?

Jesus spends the night in Bethany, presumably with his friends Lazarus, Martha, and Mary.  Martha and Mary are mentioned in the Gospel of Luke, and all three of them are mentioned in the Gospel of John.

Take a step back and consider this:

Jesus had had a special fondness for the Temple at least since he was 12 years old, when he first called it “my Father’s house” (Luke 2:49).  He clearly believed that this was a special place – a place where heaven and earth meet and people have a special opportunity to commune with God.

He is now making it not only a place where prayer can happen, but also a place where healings happen.

Are there places that you think of as specially graced for prayer, healing, and communion with God?  If so, how do you nurture the prayerfulness of those spaces?

We are not bound to a Temple as the unique place where God resides, but rather have come to understand that every Christian is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who resides in us.  What are some things we might consider doing to make our hearts, our souls, our very selves more fitting places of prayer, and healing, and communion with God?

What can you do to nurture a spirit of prayer and healing in your own life?