Jesus cleared the temple

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.”

Why did he clear the temple?

There are two main reasons why Jesus cleared the temple

1. is because his house was to be a house of prayer

I want to unpack where Jesus says “My house shall be a house of prayer”

Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 56:7

Isaiah 56:7 (ESV)

these I will bring to my holy mountain,

and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

their burnt offerings and their sacrifices

will be accepted on my altar;

for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

“my house shall be call a house of prayer for all people”

The phrase all people is important

If one where to read Marks account of Jesus clearing the temple he states in Mark 11:17

“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’?”

Isaiah 56 speaks of the extension of God’s salvation to people who formerly were excluded from it:

foreigners, eunuchs, exiles, and Gentiles would be welcomed into God’s salvation plan.

The temple was not to be sole property of Israel

but rather the witness to the nations that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Edwards 343)

But instead of the temple being a lighthouse for the nations to see it became a den of robbers

Which is the second reason Jesus cleared the temple.

Jesus was quoting from Jeremiah 7:11

Jeremiah 7:11 (ESV)

Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord.

Jesus’ words from Jer 7:11 are a stern and passionate judgement of the temple operations that had become so corrupt

The priests who were supposed to be praying for the people were instead those who preyed on the people.

The story I shared at the start gives one the idea of the corruption that was taking place

The religious leaders were using God as means to have power and get rich!

These leaders abused their position of power and swindled helpless victims into paying extremely high prices in order that they could worship God.

People who desired to worship God were used by the religious leaders as they extorted sincere followers of God.

The bottom line is the religious leaders traded in true and pure worship of God for there own profit of money

Does it make sense why Jesus and John the Baptist called these religious leaders a brood of vipers?

John the Baptist said

Matthew 3:7 (ESV)

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Jesus said

Matthew 12:34 (ESV)

“You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

Jesus tone gets even harsher later on in Matthew when he states in 23:33

Matthew 23:33 (ESV)

“You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?”

The are 2 things you need to know about vipers

1. Vipers were small snakes that looked very much like sticks and were hard to notice.

Sometimes while gathering firewood, people would pick up a viper, thinking it was a stick.

Remember Paul had this happen to him in Acts 28

People would pick up these vipers thinking that they were useful but instead they were deadly

2. You could find “broods” of them in cooler places in the desert, such as in caves and under trees.

A desert traveler who was looking for safety and shelter would search out these cooler locations to camp.

Unfortunately, the spot that looked as if it offered coolness and rest

would instead be a location that would lead to a slow painful death

The place that was supposed to be the safest often turned out to be the most deadliest.

Think of it this way....

Jesus and John where calling the religious leaders a brood of vipers because on the outside they looked helpful and useful just like a viper looked like a helpful and a useful stick to help keep warm.

On the outside the temple looked like a place to find rest for those who were tired.

But when the traveler finally made his way inside the temple that looked helpful and looked like a place to find rest

Was not at all what they were looking for

The traveler soon found to be place the was full of man made rules that weighed them down and brought eternal despair

The temple became a place that of corruption, abuse, and manipulation that is why Jesus had to clear the temple.

After Jesus cleared the temple He continued to teach about the Kingdom knowing that His path to the cross was soon at hand as he would shed His blood that we might receive salvation

nail in the coffin