He both began and ended His public ministry by cleansing the temple at Passover time (Matt.21:12, 13; Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45, 46).John 2:12-17 (New International Version)
Jesus Clears the Temple 12After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
13When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"
17His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me. [a]
Footnotes: [a] John 2:17 Psalm 69:9
He took time to make a whip out of cords. He had time to look and listen to all that was going on in the temple as He was making the whip.
The second cleansing of the temple was near the end of His ministry and He said, Luke 19:46 ,"It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be a house of prayer'[a]; but you have made it 'a den of robbers.'[b]"
[a]Luke 19:46 Isaiah 56:7
[b]Luke 19:46 Jer. 7:11
This cleansing of the temple was His first official act entering Jerusalem. By it He unmistakably asserted His lordship over the temple.
This incident has a twofold message for today. In our church life, we need His cleansing power to drive out bazaars, commercialism, and a host of other money-making gimmicks. In our personal lives, there is constant need for the purging ministry of the Lord in our bodies, the temples of the Holy Spirit.
2009
