Cleansing the Temple

Ron Ross
BFP News
Email: ronrossbfp@hotmail.com


4th December 2006

Mark 11:15-18 "And they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to cast out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple. .

And He began to teach and say to them, "Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? But you have made it a robbers' den." And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for all the multitude was astonished at His teaching."

What have you been taught about this teaching by Jesus?

Most Christian preachers highlight the cleansing of the Temple; They pinpoint the challenge by Jesus at what they say was the selling of merchandise within the Temple.There were `money-changers in the Temple' they teach, and this prompted the angry outburst from Jesus.

We once had Christians challenge our wisdom when my wife set up a Christian Book Shop in the foyer of the Church. They believed selling Christian books offended these verses. Is that what Jesus is teaching here?

Did He have another lesson, which was obvious to His Jewish audience but misses the mark for those gentiles who do not know or understand the Jewish roots of the Word?

Jesus taught in a Jewish world. He communicated in ways appropriate to their traditions and their understanding and we miss out when we deny the Jewish context of the teaching and the events in the Bible.

Imagine trying to make sense of a topic like `The World Series' centuries from today. If you were the student, you might expect to find nations like England, Australia, South Africa, Japan and America competing in something called The World Series.

You would have to study the American Way to find out that The World Series is in fact a baseball contest only played by professional teams resident in the USA?

You would be misled if you didn't do the study and the research.

In the same sports illustration, if you go to various countries and speak about `football,' you will quickly learn your audience registers totally different responses.

In Australia, in my home state we think rugby league when the word `football' is mentioned.

In England they think soccer; American football we call gridiron.

South Africans and New Zealanders mostly think `rugby union.'

It can be a very confusing conversation if we do not know the context.

Like most Greek thinkers, we can easily place all the emphasis on what Jesus did in the Temple and miss what He said.

After all the thought of Jesus tossing tables about and removing the money-changers brings to mind a vivid image of an angry Jesus. Here is the God who is love, showing He is also an advocate for righteousness, justice and holiness. By His actions we learn the Lord is prepared to deal with issues that offend the holiness of His Temple.

Those actions have had many interpretations, but what did Jesus say?

"And He began to teach and say to them, "Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? But you have made it a robbers' den." And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for all the multitude was astonished at His teaching."

At the moment of time when this event happened, most of the literature was in oral form. The majority of the people could not read. They learned Torah from their teachers; from attending synagogue; they sang the words of Psalms. The Talmud had not yet been compiled.

Jesus taught the way of the day. He used illustrations people would recognise from their studies.

He chose Isaiah 56: 7 and Jeremiah 7: 11. As soon as the people heard those verses they would know their meaning and the context of their original use.

The context would speak to them.

Unfortunately that context is missed by many Christians, because they do not know the origin.

Isaiah: 56:1-7
"Thus says the LORD, "Preserve justice, and do
righteousness, For My salvation is about to come And My righteousness to be revealed.
"How blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who takes hold of it; Who keeps from profaning the sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil."
Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely separate me from His people." Neither let the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree."
For thus says the LORD, "To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off. "
Also the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, To minister to Him, and to love the name of the LORD, To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath, And holds fast My covenant;
Even those I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples."

What a treasure chest of teaching is to be found in these few verses?

a) Justice is something to be `preserved.'

b) Isaiah mentions `salvation' and `righteousness' in the same verse.

c) `Righteousness' is not something we can do; it is `revealed.'

d) Not `profaning' the Sabbath is the way to being `blessed.' Observing the Sabbath is something we do; `we take hold of it', the verse says.

e) Unlike the society of the day this teaching embraces `foreigners' and `eunuchs' - a key principle in Jesus teaching at the Temple.

The key being found in the words: "For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples."

Using Isaiah had a significance which would not be lost on Jesus' Jewish audience.

In fact Isaiah and Jeremiah were prophets anointed by God at a time when the Temple was threatened with destruction.

Isaiah lived in the second-half of the eighth century BCE. At the time the kingdom of Judah had been invaded by Assyria.

The Assyrians were a vicious and brutal master. They surrounded Jerusalem and besieged it.

For the people of Mark's time this was an illustration which spoke of hope and deliverance.

The Assyrians failed to conquer Jerusalem when a mysterious illness infected their forces. They had to withdraw and the Temple was rescued from being defiled.

Imagine the Jewish response to this miraculous deliverance. They reasoned: "God is with us! Jerusalem and the Temple is invincible because of God and His mighty protection."

There was another important connection to the days of Isaiah.

In his study of Mark's Gospel, Wayne-Daniel Berard wrote: "In Isaiah's time as in (the time of) Jesus, Gentiles were not allowed into the Temple proper, nor were those who were ritually unclean according to the law of Moses, or otherwise described by Torah as outcast." ("When Christians Were Jews" by Wayne-Daniel Berard, page 21 - Cowley)

Now here's a study I've never heard in the church. It has to do with Isaiah's mention of `foreigners' and `eunuchs.'

`Foreigners' we might readily recognise and understand, but what on earth does he mean by including `eunuchs'?

A eunuch is one who has been castrated. This procedure was applied to make certain the slave did not get involved sexually with the captors; it also symbolised the domination and authority the victors had over the slave.

Jews did not apply castration to their slaves because the act offended Genesis 1: 28 "Go forth and multiply."

The rights of the eunuch had a particularly significant application when referenced by Jesus.

Deut. 23:1 "He who is wounded in the testicles, or has been made a eunuch, shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord."

Consider the mighty deeds performed by some Jews who were powerfully used by God in Tanach (Old Testament) adventures - Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego. They were slaves of a Babylonian king and were most likely castrated according to the custom of that time.

When we look at those who might be listed as `foreigners' of the day - remember they were banned from the Temple - those who were classified this way were simply marginalised from Judaism. They were outsiders. No Temple time for them!!

Wayne-Daniel Berard who set me on this style of study wrote about this.

He listed "those of mixed parentage" being made to feel unwelcome there.

He said the leaders feared for the defilement of the Temple, the most holy place for the Jews.

He described a typical sign which was posted between the court and the inner Temple, which said:

"NO FOREIGNER IS TO GO BEYOND THE BALLUSTRADE AND THE PLAZA OF THE TEMPLE ZONE. WHOEVER IS CAUGHT DOING SO WILL HAVE HIMSELF TO BLAME FOR HIS DEATH, WHICH WILL FOLLOW." (Thanks to the historian Josephus for that detail).

Let's consider an application of this law.

Acts 21:27-36 "When the seven days were drawing to a close, some of the Jews from [the province of] Asia, who had caught sight of Paul in the temple, incited all the rabble and laid hands on him, Shouting, Men of Israel, help! [Help!] This is the man who is teaching everybody everywhere against the people and the Law and this place! Moreover, he has also [actually] brought Greeks into the temple; he has desecrated and polluted this holy place!

For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and they supposed that he had brought the man into the temple [into the inner court forbidden to Gentiles].

Then the whole city was aroused and thrown into confusion, and the people rushed together; they laid hands on Paul and dragged him outside the temple, and immediately the gates were closed. Now while they were trying to kill him, word came to the commandant of the regular Roman garrison that the whole of Jerusalem was in a state of ferment. So immediately he took soldiers and centurions and hurried down among them; and when the people saw the commandant and the troops, they stopped beating Paul.

Then the commandant approached and arrested Paul and ordered that he be secured with two chains. He then inquired who he was and what he had done.

Some in the crowd kept shouting back one thing and others something else, and since he could not ascertain the facts because of the furor, he ordered that Paul be removed to the barracks. And when [Paul] came to mount the steps, he was actually being carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob; For the mass of the people kept following them, shouting, Away with him! [Kill him!]"

Why was this crowd so angry?

They suspected Paul had brought `foreigners' - Greeks, into the Holy Place. Paul's life was at risk. He was only saved by appealing to the Roman authorities.

Why all the passion and fury?

I believe this is the focus of the message for Christians. It is an insight I learned from the study by Wayne-Daniel Berard and it should be applied with deep concern.

He wrote: "This may seem like a foreign attitude to Christians, (this fury and passion), until we stop for a moment to consider: Have we never seen or heard of a person or class of people being made to feel unwelcome in a Christian church? If we know of someone's less-than-perfect background, have we ever thought to ourselves, `What is he or she doing here?' Do we seriously believe that such people cannot feel that attitude? Roman Catholicism still denies the sacraments to those who divorce and remarry; in some cases, just being divorced, regardless of who initiated the action, will result in a loss of office such as eucharistic minister or parish council member."

He then says when addressing the friction between some ethnic groups, "Indeed, there was a time when some denominations provided separate sub-denominations altogether for minorities."

People have been ridiculed in church communities because of their hair style, their clothing, for not tithing or pledging - we have found our own ways to castrate those who Christ welcomes!!!

Churches split because some sections cry out "Praise the Lord!" or 'Hallelujah!" Others change churches because the congregation where they fellowship did not fit their particular pattern or expression of worship.

The Isaiah chapter Jesus used, Isaiah 56, is all about the dangers of creating a church in our image rather than in His.

The Temple Jesus came to build welcomed `foreigners' and `eunuchs' and the fact that He found divisions made Him angry.

But Jesus went further than Isaiah. He quotes Jeremiah too and as you might suspect He did it for a very powerful reason.

Jeremiah 7:1-11 "THE WORD that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Stand in the gate of the Lord's house and proclaim there this word and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust not in the lying words [of the false prophets who maintain that God will protect Jerusalem because His temple is there], saying, This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly and truly execute justice between every man and his neighbor, If you do not oppress the transient and the alien, the fatherless, and the widow or shed innocent blood [by oppression and by judicial murders] in [Jerusalem] or go after other gods to your own hurt, Then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers to dwell in forever.
Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot benefit [so that you do not profit].
Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, And [then dare to] come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My Name, and say, [By the discharge of this religious formality] we are set free!-only to go on with this wickedness and these abominations?

Has this house, which is called by My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes [a place of retreat for you between acts of violence]? Behold, I Myself have seen it, says the Lord."

Jesus has said nothing about trading or merchandise taking place in the Temple but He said a great deal about everything and anything that shuts people out of His Father's house.

During my life I have been attacked for bringing drug addicts and prostitutes to church; I welcomed bikers and boys with long hair and rings in their noses. Some went on to full-time ministry!

I invited homosexuals into my home groups.

The reaction was unbelievable but the bottom line every time was simple - who does Jesus welcome into His Father's house? Is He selective or has He opened the door for everyone to seek Him.

Could it be the person we reject, might have the call of the Lord on their lives to become like Paul or Peter or Walid Shoebert (the former Moslem) or Nicky Cruz (the former New York gang leader)?

There was an important issue with the money-changers in the Temple.

They had the responsibility to ensure foreign coins did not become part of the Temple currency. People from all around the world would come to the Temple and bring foreign currency with them.

No graven images were permitted in the holy place, so the money-changers took the foreign currency which might have the likeness of a foreign king or identity on it and they exchanged it.

Picture Jesus arriving in Jerusalem and attending the Temple. We know His flock included the disciples but it is likely He led a motley crew which included prostitutes, tax collectors, ruffians, Galileeans, Nazarites, certainly some divorced people - they were quite a ragtag group.

There were those among the followers of Jesus who were known to be `bastards.' They came from mixed parenting.

The law absolutely forbid them to enter.

Was Jesus angered because the money-changers worked so hard to protect the divine image on the currency but the same standard was not seen in the Temple priests attitude to `foreigners' and `eunuchs.'

The Father's House had become a place of bigotry.

The money-changers were fussing over the right and wrong image coming into the Temple but they were not so sensitive to the image of the Father Himself.

They had translated His love of people into a religious set of laws and standards and Yeshua showed His anger. Their law would have shut the door on Jesus Himself. His birth posed some questions, after all!!

At the centre of this confrontation came rabbinical interpretation, specifically Phariseeism.

How could a religious Jew keep a right relationship with Hashem (God) now the Temple was destroyed.

The Pharisees being the most Torah observant group set up laws and observances.

They ruled that observance of mitzvoth (commands of Torah) established a connection between God and humans that maintained God's grace upon His people.

These very laws would forbid many of Jesus followers from entering the Temple.

Back to the study by Wayne-Daniel Berard who wrote: "For the Jesus Jews, the treatment of the marginal, the outcast, and the stranger had once again caused God to withdraw his protection from the Temple, as it had done in Jeremiah's day. A commitment to `mend ways and actions' with regard to such treatment might have prevented the fall of Jerusalem and the burning of the Temple, as it had in Isaiah's time. "The types of individuals who would be excluded or made to feel unwelcome at the Temple, the ones who would not proceed past the Court of the Gentiles, were exactly those who made up a significant part of Jesus' following. Their inclusion was his hallmark. When he and they arrived in the area where sacrificial animals were purchased, the fact that many, perhaps even he himself, could go no farther seems to have incensed Jesus. He lashes out at the immediate surroundings, at a place where human beings were relegated to the status of animals."

What a crude picture. It is offensive, isn't it?

Imagine those priests inspecting every animal for defects. They had a set of rules and regulations that treated people made in the image of God, the same way.

This is the real parting of the ways for Judaism and Jesus Jews.

Their laws exclude; His Kingdom embraces.

When Jesus was asked to name the most important law of all, He answered: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul." (Deut 6: 4-5). And then He added, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Leviticus 19:18) - see Mark 12:30-31.

Later in Luke's Gospel Jesus teaches the story of the Good Samaritan and He calls on those who follow Him to `love your enemy.'

What is the identity of God that Jesus wants to see shining through those who know and love Him.

Is He sitting like a hawk watching to see whether we fulfil all the details of the faith. Is He waiting for a slip up, so He can remove us from His Temple?

He is teaching in Mark, that His cleansing of the Temple was to remove all the nitpicking and legalism.

His Kingdom is based on love and He is passionate about His name and His character.

If you have yourself or anyone else failing some legalistic standard, you're missing what the Kingdom of God is all about.

He came to build a very different Temple. He provided access for us right into the holy or holies.

You cannot earn it; neither can anyone else.

Our attitudes towards another may be the invitation they're waiting for. Let them see Jesus in us; He is love and seeks for each one of His followers to be His ambassadors in that way.

And by the way, just relax and enjoy Him; He really delights in you and the money-changers have gone. He saw to that!!