Cleansing

Matthew 21:12-13 ESV

“And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

Most scholars believe that after the triumphant entry into Jerusalem that Jesus cleansed the temple the next day. After the triumphant entry, Jerusalem was already in an uproar; the people that were singing Hosanna were expecting Jesus to take the throne and break the Roman rule. On this expectation of the people, He used the opportunity to speak words of wisdom and grace. Much of what He said can be found in John 12. What did the cleansing of the temple represent? Jesus acted out a prophetic judgment against the exploitation of faith. He aimed to stop the “den of robbers” from cheeting the poor, who were forced to pay high prices for mandatory sacrifices. By calling the temple “my Father’s house,” and “a House of prayer,” Jesus claimed a unique, divine authority over the temple’s operations, fulfilling Malachi 3:1-3, which foretold the Lord suddenly coming to purify his temple.

This cleansing of the temple by Jesus calls for our personal purification of our own lives, reminding us that we are temples of the Holy Spirit which requires purity.

Prayer:

Lord, “Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart; Test me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way,” (Psalms 139:23-24 AMP). In Your name Lord Jesus I ask, Amen!