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Cleanse the temple (Mk 11:15-18, 27-33; Jn 2:13-17)
It was the second day Jesus entered Jerusalem during the last week prior to his suffering. He “went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.” (v15-16)
(reason for cleansing the temple)
All of the above activities had to do with business. Trading occurred everywhere inside the temple as there were buyers and sellers, exactly like in a marketplace. Money exchange was needed for some pilgrims because they came from distant places beyond Israel and used different kinds of currency. They exchanged for local money either to buy offering items or simply to offer the money in the temple. Doves were sold to those who were not wealthy enough to bring and offer calf or sheep. Vessels of various kinds were brought to the temple for sale too. Jesus saw all these activities taking place in the temple and was so furious that he “made a scourge of small cords” and “drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables”. (John 2:15) [According to John, that was the first time he entered Jerusalem and cleansed the temple following the miracle of changing water to wine in Cana of Galilee. (John 2:13) During the last week before his suffering, he rode on a colt to enter Jerusalem. (John 12:12-14) This was the period of Mark 11's record. It was likely that Mark’s record of his cleansing the temple in Chapter 11 was not the first time he cleansed the temple.]
Anyway, this was a rare instance in which Jesus reacted with the angriest act in the Four Gospels. He then quoted Isa 56:7 as saying, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer’? but ye have made it a den of thieves.” (v17) Note that Jesus did not complain that the temple became ‘a market of traders’ but ‘a den of thieves’ instead. Why? It is because those traders in the temple took advantage of the site of worship and earned big profit by selling goods at a high price or exchanging money at a high exchange rate. Hence they were depicted as thieves as if they were stealing money from the worshippers. Moreover, what added to Jesus’ fury was that his heart was broken by the way the temple was abused from its holy use of worshipping the Father. His broken heart was reflected in John 2:17, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” This word was actually quoted from Psalm 69:9. His disciples by chance read this verse in the OT afterward and recalled how furious Jesus was as he cleansed the temple.
(Implication 1)
Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. We should glorify God with our body: “know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” (I Cor 7:19-20) On one hand, we should not abuse our body to sin and provoke the fury of our Lord. On the other hand, are we zealous enough to sanctify our body for God’s use, as Jesus was zealous to cleanse the temple to keep it holy? II Tim 2:21 says, “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”
The church is also the body of Christ. (Ephe 1:22-23) The church also has to maintain her holiness, or the Lord’s glory will be tarnished. I Cor 5:6-7 says, “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump (一點麵酵能使全團發起來)? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened (無酵的麵).” We have to cleanse our own parts first and purge out ‘the old leaven’ in our own bodies. Then we will not cause negative effects on the other pars of the body of Christ. On the contrary, we have to make sure we are ‘unleavened' (無酵的麵) and influence the other believers with our good testimonies and encourage each other in the Lord, “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” (Ephe 4:12)
(conflict with the religious leaders)
“And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.” (v18) When the scribes and the chief priests heard what Jesus did in the temple, they were very upset too, for a very different reason though. Just think about it: nobody dared to drive away the traders in the temple because they were given permission to trade inside the temple, possibly by the chief priests besides the officials. Probably the chief priests were greatly benefited by that. Anyway, Jesus’ act of cleansing the temple not only shocked the religious heads in Jerusalem but was deemed a serious challenge to their status and authority.
But the religious heads were put in a dilemma. As a matter of fact, compared with the doctrines and hypocritical behavior of the Jewish leaders, Jesus’ preachings, teachings and righteous acts were considered a brand new doctrine to the people as well as to the religious people, who admired him as a brilliant rabbi. His presence absolutely posed a threat to their traditional religious status. Moreover, he always publicly defied against their authority and found opportunities to criticize them in the land of Israel. Now that Jesus was in Jerusalem, the religious centre of Israel where the religious status and power of the Jewish leaders were well founded, the conflict between the two parties rose to the climax.
(challenge Jesus’ authority)
The next day Jesus returned to Jerusalem and entered the temple, “the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders” were out of patience and challenged him, “By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority to do these things?” (v27-28) This question was once raised by the religious people to challenge the authority of John the Baptist for his baptism. John instead testified that Jesus was the Christ sent from heaven.
In Chapter 1 of John is recorded, “when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who art thou?’ And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ’…He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah.’... And they asked him, and said unto him, ‘Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elijah, neither that prophet?’ John answered them, saying, ‘I baptize with water; but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.’ ” (John 1:19-20,23,25-27)
In Chapter 3 of John, John’s disciples came to him and said, “ ‘Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.’ John answered and said, ‘A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him…He that cometh from above is above all.’ ” (John 3:26-28,31)
Jesus later testified for himself that he was sent by God: “Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth…But I have greater witness than that of John, for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me.” (John 5:33, 36-37) And throughout the Book of John, Jesus confessed publicly that he was Christ, the Son of God sent by the Father in heaven.
(stubborn people would never accept the true answer)
Here, when challenged with the same question on his authority, Jesus, instead of telling them that his authority was from heaven, demanded from them a similar question, “I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? Answer me.” (v29-39) But the chief priests refused to give him a clear answer and just said, “We cannot tell.” They thought, “If we shall say, From heaven, he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people, for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed.” (v31-32) Their thinking revealed that the people generally believed that the baptism of John was from heaven since they considered him a prophet. And still they stubbornly refused to believe it to be so. They suspected that Jesus’ question was a trap and thus refused to say whether John’s baptism was from heaven or from men.
As mentioned before, Jesus has openly disclosed his heavenly identity for many times. He has given a clear answer as regards the source of his authority. Furthermore, his works and miracles bore substantial proof that he was sent from heaven. When John the Baptist was imprisoned, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “ ‘Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?’ Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me (凡不因我跌倒的就有福了).’ ” (Matt 11:3-6)
No matter how John the Baptist testified for Jesus or how Jesus testified for himself, the religious leaders would not accept their words as valid. Jesus foreknew he would receive the same unfavourable response if he gave them the true answer. On the other hand, if they were willing to admit that John’s baptism was from heaven, they would also believe that Jesus’ authority came from heaven. Since they refused to believe in John’s baptism coming from heaven, they would also refuse to believe in Jesus that John had witnessed as Christ coming from heaven.
(Conclusion)
In view of this matter of cleansing the temple, we can see that Jesus did not fear the chief priests in Jerusalem at all and went ahead to cleanse the temple by force. He did not back away either when facing the dangerous situation of being destroyed by his enemies. On the contrary, he took up courage to accept all the challenges ahead every day on the road of the cross. His brave act and spirit serve as an excellent example for us to follow.
(Implication 2)
When we insist on investing time and efforts to fulfill our heavenly hopes and missions, we will sometimes encounter challenges from the opposing forces. The motive of our toil may be suspected. People around may even doubt the driving force behind our efforts to defend the biblical truth and to speak against unbiblical acts. Even John the Baptist at one time cast doubt on the Christly identity of Jesus. So, it is possible that as we fight hard for our holiness, we may be challenged as well. At this time, we should prove over time with our testimonies that we are walking on the right path and carrying out the right mission from heaven.