By Pastor Dave Farmer
The temple authorities said to Jesus, filled with vituperation, "Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to do these things? This article is about Jesus' answer.
Matthew 21:12,13
12) And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.
13) And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”
The crowd He drove out
Jesus ejected those involved in criminal activity. He called them robbers. They violated the sixth commandment, "Thou shall not steal." Overcharging or money gouging is wrong, but the worst of this was that the temple authorities were controlling this evil. They forced people into using a specially designed currency, let‘s call it "temple money." If you came to the temple to offer a sacrifice, you had to buy an animal from the priesthood, and you had to buy it with "temple money." You paid a fee when you exchanged your money for temple money, and then the animal that you purchased was overpriced. They were fleecing the people, and even the poor were not exempt. The dove represents the poor person‘s sacrifice. The temple was to be a place of worship (a house of prayer) and not a haven for money-making schemes (a den of robbers).
The condemnation He gave
Our Lord Jesus Christ took two phrases of Scripture from different prophets to condemn what they were doing and also to explain His actions: Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11. It is clear by using these quotations Jesus is asserting that the temple is "His house." He owns it by right of His Person for He is The Sovereign Lord of all. He owns it by right of His Position for He is the unique, born Son of God who comes in the name of His Heavenly Father to do His will. He owns it by right of His Purchase. The temple speaks of Him laying down His life and shedding His precious blood for our sins. He owns it by right of its Purpose. Every article of furniture spoke of Him. For instance, on the brazen altar where the animals were sacrificed, foreshadowed the cross. The candlesticks in the tent of meeting spoke of Him as the Light of the Word. The daily loaves placed on the table of shewbread are a picture of Him as the Bread of Life. Before the priests entered the tent of meeting to perform their daily duties, they went through a washing ritual at the Laver. This is a picture of the cleansing that comes through His death on the cross, 1 John 1:7. I beg to differ with those who see Jesus acting out of character. He behaved in complete harmony with who He is! However, there was one thing that Jesus did that all the prayers of the entire priesthood were unable to do; that is, to heal the blind, to cast out demons from the possessed, to enable the lame to walk and the deft to hear.
The credentials He gave them
Matthew 21:14
And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.
Now that the temple was cleansed He can meet the people's needs. The miracles that Jesus performed was not meant to alleviate human suffering, but to reveal Himself as Messiah. The expectation was that when Messiah came, He would perform many miracles. There is an interesting event that occurred early in our Lord's ministry in Nazareth. He was in the synagogue on the Sabbath, and as usual, He was called upon to read the Scripture. He selected a passage from the scroll of Isaiah:
Luke 4:18,19 quotation from Isaiah 61: l,2a
18) "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are downtrodden,
19) To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord."
Upon completion of the reading, He stated that these passages have now been fulfilled. If you don't believe I am Messiah by what I speak, they believe in me because of my works. Of course, the priesthood attributed His works to Satan:
Matthew 12:24
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”
Confrontation with religious leaders
Matthew 21:15-16
15) But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became indignant,
16) and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes Thou hast prepared praise for Thyself?"
Once again, the religious leaders step in to keep people from believing in Jesus. The young children were singing a song which recognized Jesus as the Messiah, "Save us, Son of David." Hosanna means “save us” and comes from Psalm 118:25. “This must stop!" they said. Now Jesus turns to the Scripture that He had memorized and now quotes from Psalm 8. The implication was twofold: (1) He affirms that He is the Messiah and is worthy of the praises of the children and (2) the children have not been blinded by their traditions and therefore unlike them see Him correctly.
However, before we say goodnight to the Lord, the Apostle John includes a meeting that Jesus had with Gentiles. We will study that in Topic #204 "The Coming of the Greeks."
Who is He? I hope as you are studying this you are not confused about Him. He is the Savior! He has come to die on the cross for our sins and to provide for us the only way of escape from sin and death. Have you trusted Him for your salvation? Have you believed in Him as your only personal Savior? This is a life and death issue. It is too great a decision to waver on or to doubt or to be confused about. Especially when the decision you make about Jesus Christ, will determine where you will spend eternity: in heaven or hell! Who is He? It is my prayer that we all become like the little children in the temple that day and trust in Christ as Savior.