It was a time of confrontation! Jesus stood against the corrupt system in God's house in Jerusalem. With the permission of Caiaphas, the high priest, and Annas, his father-in-law, the money changers and merchants had set up their tables of commerce in the Court of the Gentiles within the temple precincts. When worshipers brought birds or animals to the temple for sacrifice, if they tried to save money by buying a lamb outside the temple grounds, the priests who inspected the animals often refused it, forcing the worshipper to buy another animal inside the temple, where the price was fifteen times higher.
45Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. 46"It is written," he said to them,” 'My house will be a house of prayer'; but you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" 47Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words (Luke 19:45-48).
Annas oversaw everything within the temple grounds and was responsible for exploiting people with low incomes by charging high prices for sacrificial animals and birds. There was also the issue of the temple tax, which had to be paid in Israelite Shekels. Greek or Roman coins could not be accepted, so when people exchanged their money, it created another opportunity to rip them off, and they could do nothing to prevent it. Instead of the Court of the Gentiles being a place where the Gentiles could pray and seek God, it was filled with the smell of animal dung and the clatter of coins. God said His house would be a house of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7), but instead, it became a marketplace for selling animals and birds. Mark records how Jesus responded to such behavior in the House of God.
15On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves 16and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts (Mark 11:15-16).
We see the controlled anger and passion of Jesus for His Father's name and glory in the above verse. Later, the Apostle John wrote: His disciples remembered that it was written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me" (John 2:17). His courage and zeal captured the hearts of those being cheated. Christ was outraged at the religious leaders' desecration of the temple courts and their corruption. Picture the scene: the money rolling everywhere, people scrambling for all they can grab as tables are overturned, and doves getting their freedom and flying in all directions. The picture depicted chaos inside the Court of the Gentiles.
Can you imagine the leading priesthood being challenged by someone they believed was an illegitimate son from Nazareth? (John 8:41). Their thoughts turned toward violence as Christ questioned their practices. Where did He get the authority to do and say such things? They may have thought: "How can He assume to tell us we cannot sell our goods in the Temple precincts?" Jesus must have known His behavior would not earn Him any friends or favors in the Temple Courts. His brave actions exemplified His passion and enthusiasm for the Lord’s house. May this same attitude be in us, too—a passion for the household of faith. Keith Thomas
Taken from the series on the Book of Luke. Click on Study 52. The King Comes to His Temple.