THE CLEANSING OF THE
TEMPLE
1ST Monday
of Lent
Read Matthew 21:12-17
Picture the scene in your head: Jesus flipping over tables
and driving people from the Temple. The
scripture passage doesn’t say he yelled, but it is hard to imagine this being a
quiet exchange. How does this picture of
Jesus fit with the image of Jesus you hold in your mind?
Notes on the text:
Because Jewish pilgrims travelled to Jerusalem from all over
the Roman Empire, they brought with them many different types of coinage which
had to be exchanged for the Temple coinage in order to pay the Temple tax. Likewise, having travelled great distances
under harsh conditions, most pilgrims did not bring their own animals for a
sacrificial offering so they needed to buy an animal to offer as a
sacrifice. Money-changers and vendors
had taken what was once a service to pilgrims and turned it into a profitable
business.
Verse 13 references Isaiah 56:7 & Jeremiah 7:11.
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