45 Then He
went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, 46 saying to
them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of
prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” 47 And He
was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the
leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, 48 and were
unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.
Commentary
In this His last visitation to the Temple in Jerusalem, Jesus once again seeks to openly cleanse the Temple of the monetary corruption that was defiling it. For what was meant to be a sacred and holy place for prayer had become an open market of profiteers! And so, upon seeing this Jesus immediately begins to drive out those who bought and sold in it. For its not just the sellers of religious wares that are guilty of corrupting it, but it is also the buyers who provide them with the incentive to continue on doing so. Therefore, in Christendom today, Jesus’ great displeasure shown here at turning God’s sacred faith into a means of making profit, gain, and convivence is likewise utterly unacceptable and unjustifiable! Now as Jesus was cleansing the Temple, He was doing so under the Authority of God’s Word, for when He was doing so, He did so by stating to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” (see Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11) Recalling then the corruption that infiltrated and invaded the first Temple had now taken hold in the second under their watch! And yet neither God’s house, or the faith upon which it is built is to be turned into a means where making profit for oneself through it becomes “normalized”. For when that happens, anywhere, and in any house of faith, the self-serving, the greedy, and the opportunists will be there preying on whom they may. And that is what happened to the Holy Temple and the Levitical priesthood which God had placed in charge of it. For when they became aligned with the merchants, they lost all their spiritual sight and discernment. And so instead of being God’s instruments for sanctifying and preserving it, they instead became corrupted within by trying to serve God and mammon through it (Matt. 6:24). And as Jesus has already warned when that happens to anyone, their love and loyalty will always go to mammon. Therefore, when Jesus openly cleansed the Temple, (basically openly rebuking them and what they were permitting in it), and He then began to teach the people daily in the Temple, they only sought to destroy Him (Vs. 47).
Because in their eyes Jesus was the greatest threat to them, and the “faith” they built for themselves. Nonetheless as the Scripture states they were unable to do anything to Jesus, because the people there were very attentive to hear Him (vs. 48). And they didn’t want to incite a mob against themselves. And so, Jesus continued to teach and preach the Gospel to the people while they all likely consulted together planning their next move.
Commentary
In this His last visitation to the Temple in Jerusalem, Jesus once again seeks to openly cleanse the Temple of the monetary corruption that was defiling it. For what was meant to be a sacred and holy place for prayer had become an open market of profiteers! And so, upon seeing this Jesus immediately begins to drive out those who bought and sold in it. For its not just the sellers of religious wares that are guilty of corrupting it, but it is also the buyers who provide them with the incentive to continue on doing so. Therefore, in Christendom today, Jesus’ great displeasure shown here at turning God’s sacred faith into a means of making profit, gain, and convivence is likewise utterly unacceptable and unjustifiable! Now as Jesus was cleansing the Temple, He was doing so under the Authority of God’s Word, for when He was doing so, He did so by stating to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” (see Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11) Recalling then the corruption that infiltrated and invaded the first Temple had now taken hold in the second under their watch! And yet neither God’s house, or the faith upon which it is built is to be turned into a means where making profit for oneself through it becomes “normalized”. For when that happens, anywhere, and in any house of faith, the self-serving, the greedy, and the opportunists will be there preying on whom they may. And that is what happened to the Holy Temple and the Levitical priesthood which God had placed in charge of it. For when they became aligned with the merchants, they lost all their spiritual sight and discernment. And so instead of being God’s instruments for sanctifying and preserving it, they instead became corrupted within by trying to serve God and mammon through it (Matt. 6:24). And as Jesus has already warned when that happens to anyone, their love and loyalty will always go to mammon. Therefore, when Jesus openly cleansed the Temple, (basically openly rebuking them and what they were permitting in it), and He then began to teach the people daily in the Temple, they only sought to destroy Him (Vs. 47).
Because in their eyes Jesus was the greatest threat to them, and the “faith” they built for themselves. Nonetheless as the Scripture states they were unable to do anything to Jesus, because the people there were very attentive to hear Him (vs. 48). And they didn’t want to incite a mob against themselves. And so, Jesus continued to teach and preach the Gospel to the people while they all likely consulted together planning their next move.
Scripture Quotations
New King James Version (1982): Thomas Nelson
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