What did Jesus use to cleanse the temple?
A “whip of cords” (John 2:15) and His voice:
“Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a
house of trade!” (John 2:16).
Was Jesus angry when He cleansed the temple?
Very: “Zeal for Your house has consumed Me”
(John 2:17 & Psalm 69:9).
Why?
Because Jesus loves God the Father, He was outraged that the house where
He should be worshipped (see
Jesus in the Temple) had been turned into a
“house of trade.” When
someone we love is being dishonored, outrage is the right reaction.
How do you feel and react when God's holy name is
blasphemed around you, on television, on social media, etc. to express
surprise or disgust, even to
cuss?
What were the money changers doing
in the temple, and why did the “Jews” object in John 2:18?
Only healthy animals were to be sacrificed at the temple, lest people
offer sick and lame animals as offerings to God.
At first, people brought their own animals and the
priests inspected them to make sure that they were healthy before sacrificing them.
Fast forward a few hundred years and the priests were
telling the people to leave their animals
at home and instead just come and buy animals at the temple, but
there was a catch. Since the priests couldn't touch coins that bore the
Caesar’s image, the
people first had to change their money, for a fee of course, into a special temple money.
So the Jewish leaders and their merchants at the temple were making money
twice - the currency exchange and the sale of
the animals - on each person, and didn’t appreciate Jesus crimping their business.
How does this contrast with what the first
Christians did?
The Jews used the temple to do business with each other. The first
Christians shared within the church: “And all who
believed were together and had all things in common, and sold their
possessions and goods, and distributed them among all, as anyone had need” (Acts 2:44-45,
see
All Things in Common).
Is your church like the Jewish temple or the first
Christian church?
If you are an accountant, dentist, financial advisor, doctor, lawyer, etc.,
particularly at a large church, do you use your God-given skills to help
the struggling members of your church who need your help,
or do you attend your church with an eye toward drawing more paying
clients?
And do any Christian leaders today run their ministry as a
business?
Where does the Bible say God's judgment will begin?
“at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17).