Luke 19:45 - 48
45 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”
47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.
Questions:
ReplyDelete1. Jesus just predicted the destruction of the temple. Why was He so concerned now?
2. How is the statement of Jesus teaching in the temple every day line up with the timeline of Passion Week?
https://hartmangroupdevotionsmark.blogspot.com/2018/10/mark-1112-25-12-next-day-as-they-were.html says:
ReplyDeleteThe cleansing of the temple (21:12-17) . . . illustrate the inadequacy of the temple system and the need for a reemphasis on the needs of people (v. 14).
It is in this context that the incident of the fig tree occurs (21:19-22).
While the Jewish religious system looked good from the outside and by all appearances was healthy ("leaves"), yet it produced no fruit. Just as the corrupted temple that should have been a house of prayer had perverted its purpose and needed to be cleansed, so now Jesus pronounces judgment on barren Israel.
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Judea was under the rule of the Romans, and the money in current use was Roman coin. However, the Jewish law required that every man should pay a tribute to the service of the sanctuary of “half a shekel” (Exodus 30:11–16), a Jewish coin. It became, therefore, a matter of convenience to have a place where the Roman coin could be exchanged for the Jewish half shekel. The money-changers provided this convenience but would demand a small sum for the exchange. Because so many thousands of people came up to the great feasts, changing money was a very profitable business and one that resulted in fraud and oppression of the poor.
Also, according to the Law, two doves or pigeons were required to be offered in sacrifice (Leviticus 14:22; Luke 2:24). Yet it was difficult to bring them from the distant parts of Judea, so a lucrative business selling the birds sprang up, with the sellers gouging the faithful by charging exorbitant prices. There were other merchants selling cattle and sheep for the temple sacrifices as well.
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So there are two recorded occasions when Jesus cleansed the temple—the first time at the beginning of His public ministry, and the second time just after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem shortly before He was crucified.
Since Annas and Caiaphas refused to shape up following the first temple-cleansing in John 2, Jesus took another opportunity to remind the people of the importance of true worship.
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Here are three all too often overlooked reasons Jesus cleansed the temple.
1. Jesus as the “Son of David” is the Builder of God’s House. In the temple cleansing which follows, he demonstrates how he has taken up the responsibility given to David’s son.
2. Jesus was Angry Because the Temple had become a Barrier to God’s Praise.
3. Jesus was Prophetically Acting Out the Coming Destruction of the Temple.
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2. When is it OK for us to make that kind of commotion?
Jesus was both King and High Priest of the temple. He had not only the right to make that kind of ruckus, He had the duty to. Also, this was another prophesy about the temple's destruction.
3. Why did the crowd like this?
I think that the people always like to see the rich people get their comeuppance. In this case, the rich people were directly ripping off the people. I also think that the people still were in the throes of Messiah fever. For a while, Jesus could do anything He wanted and get universal approval of those people.
Isaiah 56:1, 3, 5 - 8:
ReplyDeleteThus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
for soon my salvation will come,
and my righteousness be revealed.
3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
and let not the eunuch say,
“Behold, I am a dry tree.”
5 I will give in my house and within my walls
a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that shall not be cut off.
6 “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
and holds fast my covenant—
7 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.”
8 The Lord God,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
“I will gather yet others to him
besides those already gathered.”
Jeremiah 7:8 - 11:
8 “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11 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.
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https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/19-47.htm says:
Daily in the temple - That is, for five or six days before his crucifixion.
https://www.preceptaustin.org/luke-19-commentary says:
ReplyDeletethe King of Glory entered into the very place from which His Glory had departed over 500 years earlier, just prior to the destruction of the First (Solomon's) Temple in 586 BC by the Babylonians and King Nebuchadnezzar. So for a brief moment in time, the Glory of the LORD had returned to His Holy Habitation, the Temple! But just as in Ezekiel's day when there was corruption and idolatry and failure to recognize Jehovah which led to His departure, so too again religious corruption and rejection leads to His departure.
Remember that the crowds have just (in effect) crowned Jesus as King of the Jews, so His entrance into the Temple grounds will constitute His first "official act" as it were as their King. You can imagine the anticipation of the Jews as they watched Him enter the Temple, undoubtedly expecting their conquering King to head straight for the Antonia Fortress. Instead, to their shock and dismay, He directly confronts the religious corruption taking place in the Court of the Gentiles! This reminds me of Peter's warning that "it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:17). Where would Jesus go first if He came to America? To Washington? To Wall Street? No, He would go directly to the churches that claim His Name!
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The Golden Gate (Eastern Gate) - It is interesting that this gate is the only one of the eight gates in Jerusalem that is sealed. The Arabs believe that since the Jews expect that Messiah would come through this gate (Sha'ar harachamim) they would try to prevent any possibility of His return. The East gate was walled up by it's Muslim conquerors (the Ottoman Turks) with great stones in 1530 A.D. and a cemetery was planted in front of it thinking that the Jewish Messiah could not set foot in a cemetery and therefore would not be able to come.
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Jesus’ purpose in riding into Jerusalem was to make public His claim to be their Messiah and King of Israel in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Matthew says that the King coming on the foal of a donkey was an exact fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The spreading of cloaks was an act of homage for royalty (see 2 Kings 9:13). Jesus was openly declaring to the people that He was their King and the Messiah they had been waiting for.
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In summary, the “gate facing east” that Ezekiel describes is different from the Eastern Gate visible today in the old wall of Jerusalem. The current (sealed) gate did not exist at the time of Christ, so the Lord never entered it. The location of the earlier Eastern Gate (the one Jesus entered) is below present-day ground level, and it does not agree with the detailed description of the future temple complex as given in Ezekiel 40–42.
Questions and findings:
ReplyDelete1. Jesus just predicted the destruction of the temple. Why was He so concerned now?
The attitude and corruption that characterized temple worship at that time was the reason the temple was going to be destroyed. I think this was the last chance for the leaders to repent. Just because Jesus knows what is coming doesn't mean that He doesn't get upset over the foolishness of people.
2. How is the statement of Jesus teaching in the temple every day line up with the timeline of Passion Week?
The triumphal entry happened the week before His crucifixion. So, He had a few days to preach the Gospel to the people in the temple. His preaching made the Jewish leaders desperate enough to act on the Passover itself, which fulfilled scripture.