Why Did Jesus Cleanse The Temple?

Why Did Jesus Cleanse the Temple?

When people think of Jesus, the cleansing of the Temple is usually pretty low on their list of favorite accounts or passages. Most tend to think more about Jesus teaching on love than they do about Him driving out merchants with a whip after turning over their tables. Yet, twice in Jesus’s earthly ministry He cleansed the Temple on the Passover. Have you ever really thought about the reason why?

So, why did Jesus cleanse the Temple? There are two separate events recorded of Jesus cleansing the Temple. Some think these accounts record only a single cleansing, but it is best to view this as two separate cleansings at different points in Christ’s earthly ministry. They are found in Matthew 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-46; and John 2:13-22. There are two main reasons why Jesus cleansed the Temple. First, the money-changers and pigeon sellers occupied a place in the outer courts. This is where the Gentiles could come and pray. Instead of being a light to the nations these merchants were keeping the nations from coming to God. Second, these money-changers and pigeon sellers were inflating their rates. They were robbing the people who sincerely wanted to offer up sacrifices to the Lord. They were profiting and making a mockery of the sacrificial system. These two reasons help explain why Jesus was so angered by the circumstances He found in the Temple and His actions in clearing it out.

These Gospel accounts of Jesus cleansing the Temple on two different occasions tell us a lot about Jesus and His priorities. Let’s dig a little deeper and discover more about the Son of God.

A Light to the Nations

From the very beginning, the mission of God has been to ransom a people for Himself from every tribe, tongue, language, and people (e.g., Genesis 12:3; Revelation 5:9). God has been working through Christ to set the world free from captivity to sin and to redeem them to Himself. (For more on this, see our article Why Did Jesus Die For Sin?).

This is why the nation of Israel was formed. To be a light to the nations. To point the world to the Creator God who can save them from their sin and rebellion against Him.

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3, bold added)

God called Abram (who we also know as Abraham) and made him the father of the nation of Israel. God said that He would make Abraham into a great nation. God also declared that the world would be blessed through them. All the families of the earth.

Why? Because Israel was God’s chosen instrument to point the world to Himself. It was also through the nation of Israel that the Messiah, Jesus, would come into the world to save sinners who turned to Him in faith.

Through Israel God established His law, the priesthood, the Temple, the sacrificial system, the celebration services, etc. All of these were a shadow of the substance which was to come; that is, Jesus (Hebrews 8:5; 10:1). One of these celebrations instituted by God, given to His people in order to point them (and the world) to the Messiah, was the Passover. (All of God’s appointed times are filled with significance — we encourage you to read our article on our sister site about The Lord’s Appointed Times or watch our video on the same topic.)

The Passover is the context of both instances where Jesus cleansed the Temple. During the Passover celebration, the nation of Israel was to gather at the Temple to offer sacrifices in remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 12:43-51).

The Temple was the place where the priests would offer sacrifices daily to God on behalf of sin. They would do this on the alter in the middle of the Temple. The very outer courts of the Temple were designated for the Gentiles, the nations. Gentiles could come and offer up sacrifices, prayer, and worship there. However, they could not go past the dividing wall that leads into the Temple itself.

It was there, in the court of the Gentiles, that the money-changers and merchants set up their business. By doing so they have occupied the ONLY place that the Gentiles could come and worship the living God at the Temple.

Jesus tells us the reason for His righteous anger. We don’t have to guess or speculate.

He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.” (Matthew 21:13)

And He was teaching them saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for the nations?’ But you have made it a den of robbers.” (Mark 11:17)

The Jewish nation was acting as a stumbling block for the Gentiles coming to God during one of their largest celebrations. They were supposed to be a light to the Nations. Instead, they were preventing Gentiles from coming. They were keeping them in darkness.

Thus, we see the righteous indignation of the Son of God. He turned over the tables of the money-changers and drove the merchants out with a scourge of cords. The very nation that was to be a blessing to the world was not allowing the world to be blessed. Jesus couldn’t let that pass without strong rebuke.

Thieves and Robbers

As noted above, the Passover celebration was a large and essential festival. During the earthly ministry of Jesus not all Jews lived in, or even near, Jerusalem. Most were scattered across the Roman empire. They never came back after their dispersion except for the pilgrimage feasts.

These scattered Jews, and some believing Gentiles, would travel great distances to observe the Passover celebration. It was a pilgrimage festival. (For more on the Lord’s Appointed Times and Feasts, you may enjoy this article from one of our ministry partners.)

Part of the Passover celebration required every family who could afford it to sacrifice a lamb. This was to remember the tenth plague of Egypt: the death of the firstborn. To remember when angel of the Lord passed over the Jews because of the blood of the unblemished lamb (Exodus 12:1-32).

In the Passover celebration every family was to sacrifice an unblemished lamb. However, because of the poverty of a household, God allowed for the sacrifice of two turtledoves or two pigeons instead of a costly lamb (Leviticus 5:7). (We also strongly encourage you to watch our video on Christ’s fulfillment of the Passover.)

Due to the long distances being traveled for the Passover celebration by some, it was not practical to bring animals for the sacrifice from home. Seeing opportunity, those in Jerusalem had them available for purchase for the travelers. They also had money-changers available to exchange foreign currency to a currency acceptable to purchase animals to sacrifice to the Lord.

The problem was not that these services were offered. The problem was the greed of some robbing their fellow Jews. Particularly the poor. God had made a way for all who desired to offer a sacrifice within their means. Yet, the Jews eliminated this by charging inflated amounts to exchange currency and for the sacrifices.

This was a great injustice. The greedy were robbing their own people who came to offer sacrifices to the Lord in honor and obedience of the Passover. The Lord hates injustice and greed. Jesus was rightly angry over it.

The Dividing Wall of Hostility

The mission of God continues today. It is God’s eternal purpose in Christ.

God is still making a people for Himself from every tribe, tongue, language, and people. Through Christ, His Son, God has torn down the dividing wall of hostility between the nations. The Apostle Paul tells us this in Ephesians 2:14-16,

For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of the commandments expressed in the ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

This is wonderful! (For a good summary of God’s eternal purpose in Christ, take five minutes to watch our video on the truth about God’s Masterpiece in Ephesians 2.)

In Christ, the dividing wall that kept the Gentiles from worshiping the living God with the Jews has been destroyed. Both Jew and Gentile are able to worship in unity together. Why? Because God is fulfilling His promise that through the nation of Israel all the nations would be blessed.

Now, because of the once and for all sacrifice of Christ (Hebrews 10:12), all who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13). (You may also enjoy our article, Call On The Name of the Lord.)

One Cleansing or Two?

Some skeptics attempt to use the narrative accounts of Jesus’s cleansing of the Temple courts to create a supposed “contradiction.” The question is often asked, did Jesus cleanse the Temple at the beginning or at the end of His ministry? John’s Gospel records it at the beginning. The synoptic accounts in Matthew and Mark put it at the end.

A lot of discussion has surrounded this supposed problem. However, none of the accounts say that Jesus cleansed the Temple only once. The simplest and most-straightforward solution is the one this article has assumed. Jesus didn’t cleanse it at the beginning or at the end of His ministry. Jesus cleansed it both at the beginning and at the end.

It was both. Not either/or. Both/and. Framing the question as “either/or” creates a false dilemma that isn’t necessary or warranted as we read these accounts.

From the beginning to the end of Jesus’s earthly ministry, He was avidly against this terrible practice that had become commonplace. Jesus was consistent in rebuking the wickedness of individuals and calling them to repentance and faith. This is what we should expect, since God’s mission from beginning to end was consistent as well.

Unfortunately, the money-changers didn’t learn their lesson the first time. Old habits die hard. Jesus rebuked many traditions that had filtered into every day practice which nullified the Word of God. Many chose to continue in their traditions despite these warnings. It was true of the Pharisees and the Scribes. It was also true of the money-changers and merchants in the Temple court.

John’s Gospel makes it clear that they didn’t intend to include every detail of Jesus’s life and ministry. They couldn’t. There was simply too much.

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31)

Jesus did many things that were not recorded. By putting all of the Gospel accounts together, we see one writer that the synoptic Gospel authors (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) included it at the end and John included the first event. While their purposes are slightly different, they all maintain the two main conclusions that Jesus was angry with the money-changers and merchants for turning the Temple into a den of thieves instead of a house of prayer.

They were not being a light but were contributing to keeping the world in darkness. Jesus responded appropriately toward their sin.

God does not change. To understand more about the character and nature of God, we encourage you to read our articles:

Christ’s Priorities

This article hopefully helped you to see some of Christ’s priorities so that you could rightly understand His response to the sin in the Temple. As Christians walk with the Lord, we should all desire to know Him better and walk according to His priorities and precepts.

We have some related resource that we hope you’ll consider. We believe they will encourage you in your walk with Christ. As followers of Christ, it is critical that we know and understand God’s Word (the Bible), that we have a healthy and robust prayer life, and that we know how to proclaim the excellencies of Christ in the world.

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