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12 Then Jesus went into the Temple area and drove out all those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the booths of those selling doves for sacrifice. 13 He said to them, “It has been written: My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of thieves!”

14 The blind and the lame came to him in the Temple area, and he healed them. 15 When the chief priests and scribes saw that he was performing miracles and that children in the Temple area were crying out, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were dismayed. 16 They said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?” Jesus said to them, “I do. Have you never read, Out of the mouths of children and infants you have brought forth praise? ” 17 He walked away from them and left the city to spend the night in Bethany.

Comments

Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple, like his entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey, is a public, symbolic claim to be the Messiah. The building and cleansing of temples were the prerogatives of kings (cf. Solomon in 1 Kgs 6 and Josiah in 2 Kgs 23). The Temple in Jerusalem was surrounded by three concentric courtyards. The innermost was called the Court of Israel and was only open to Jewish men. The second was called the Court of Women and was open to Jews of both sexes. The outermost court was the Court of the Gentiles, open to all people. Necessary to the operation of the Temple were venders selling sacrificial animals and moneychangers with whom pilgrims could exchange their Greek and Roman coins bearing the images of pagan gods and goddess with inoffensive Hebrew shekels for monetary offerings. These venders originally had to operate outside of the Temple complex entirely, but recently they had been allowed to move their operations into the Court of the Gentiles. Jesus was likely offended not only by the excessive commercialism that supported a corrupt and self-serving priesthood, but also the disrespect implicitly shown to non-Jewish pilgrims who had come to honor the God of Israel. He shouts the first part of Is 56.7. The full verse is, "My house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples."

In fairness, the dismay of the priests and scribes was reasonable. Jerusalem at this time was somewhat of a powder keg, and the occupying Romans were especially vigilant for troublemakers during the Jewish holy days. Jesus had just ridden in on a donkey at the head of an enormous crowd and started flipping tables in the most sensitive area of Jerusalem. He must have given some of them heart attacks.