Why jesus overturned the tables in the temple

So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. How dare you! Christ would come in here and flip all this over! My stomach turns a little, just typing that dung. What a monster He would be. This world brings enough trouble on its own. He came to save us from it, not heap on more heartache.

So what is the proper context behind the actions of Jesus Christ that day? Did He go berserk because they were gambling, price gouging, or conducting business on holy ground? This one section of the temple was designated for non-Jews. Yet they still believed in God.

They had faith. We should not suppose that the changing of money and the selling of sacrificial objects compromised the holiness of the temple. Some kind of market was necessary for the daily operation of the temple. The biblical requirement of offering unblemished sacrifices to God necessitated having a supply of sacrificial animals on hand, a means of inspecting the animals for disqualifying blemishes, and a monetary exchange for pilgrims.

This activity does not take place within the sacred space of the sanctuary. Tables lined the outer courts three weeks before Passover to receive the annual half-shekel tax required of every Jewish male Ex. This tax funded the daily sacrifices for the atonement of sin.

For a modest commission, money changers exchanged inadmissible local currencies for the sanctioned Tyrian shekel used to pay the tax. Doves were the staple sacrifice of the poor who could not afford animals for sin offerings Lev.

They had other uses including for the purification of poor women after child birth , 8 ; Luke —24 , for men and women who had a bodily discharge Lev. An incident recorded in the Mishnah describes a time when the cost of doves was exorbitant two golden dinars for a pair of doves. Fearing that the poor would not bring their offerings at these prices, Rabbi Simeon, the son of Gamaliel, gave a ruling that only one offering would suffice for the five that were required.

The bottom fell out of the price in one day to half a silver dinar 1 percent of the original cost. If money cannot exchange into the holy currency, then monetary support for the temple sacrifices and the priesthood must end. If sacrificial animals cannot sell, then sacrifice must end. And if no vessel can go through the temple, then all cultic activity must cease. Then on top of all of that, they were doing this INSIDE the temple courts which would have crowded out and disrupted the worship taking place there during the Passover celebration.

Jesus said they turned a house of prayer into a den of thieves and called these people robbers or thieves. As far as Jesus not being angry anywhere else in the Bible, actually, he WAS in a few different instances:. So he DID get angry on several occasions, but the thing to recognize is that he was angry yet never sinned Hebrews , Ephesians Jesus got angry for the right reasons but was never malicious or hateful about it.

Even in the temple, he merely drove the people and animals out without hurting them or causing destruction. Notice in the passage that he did not let the doves out of their cages. Nor did he ruin, throw away, or steal the money of the money exchangers.

The text says he merely overturned the tables. He still maintained self-control and was not destructive or harmful.

Also— Click here for a great commentary by Matthew Henry. Anger is a normal emotion. What additional applications can you make from Jesus throwing the moneychangers from the Temple? Your thoughts are always welcome! What a great lesson! Learn even more about what the Bible says about Money!

Joe Plemon is a Certified Financial Coach and has been coaching people with money since He also served as a Money Columnist for the Southern Illinoisan newspaper since You can read more from Joe at Personal Finance by the Book. THANKS…this sooo blessed me today as we need to hear how the Temple is sacred and for doing and being what He wants for us, living blameless, and out of debt and as simple as we can.

Thanks… I like application you have made especially about prayer. Often times we forget that we are temples of the living God and he has called His temples to be houses of prayer. The less we prayer the more people do what seems right in their eyes as did these money changers and the more sin prevails. Very good! There are plenty of other opportunities and places for that; entering the house of God is entering a realm where other values are preeminent, and should therefore have preeminence.

I think this is the only part of the bible that tells about Jesus being angry, that he displayed human emotions and he was happy when he was with the children. Bookstores as you walk in has always made me think about when Jesus Christ drove the merchants from the temple. Hi, Is there any other scriptures that support that one in John ? This is very significant. Then, the temple was a physical edifice built by human hand. However, from the vantage of today, the emphasis has changed from physical edifice to the heart of man.

Too on the list of transaction must be doing that which the master says is what the temple was designed for; a house of prayer. First thing that comes to mind is the peddling of tithing.

So many churches today are about merchandising, it is quite frankly, a turn off.