Jesus and the money changers

Can someone give me a run down on what this was and why you believe Jesus threw them out of the temple? Thanks.

 

Riping people off.
Selling in his Father's house.
Taking advantage of poor people.

 

So it is just like the Federal Reserve. Throw the money changers out of Congress.

 

Capital Hill isn't holy ground.

 

Can you explain the story and why Jesus had an issue with the money changers?

 

The issue Jesus had wasn't with what the money changers were doing, as much as it was where they were doing it.

The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John) all cite the incident. The setting was the Passover in Jerusalem -- one of the holiest, if not THE holiest event on the Hebrew/Jewish calendar. Every year, Jews from all over the Middle East and north Africa would journey to Jerusalem to observe the holiday and sacrifice for their sins at the temple. During that time, the population of the city would swell to well over a million people.

The problem was, the appropriate sacrifices (as outlined in the law of Moses) were inconvenient if not impossible to transport over the distances some of these people traveled, so they purchased whatever they needed in the city when they arrived. That's where the vendors and money changers came into the picture.

If they would've stayed outside the temple grounds, everything would've been fine. But the city was so crowded, and the target market so specific, the vendors and money changers found themselves inside the temple courts. The issue there is that once you step onto the temple grounds, you're literally on holy ground -- real estate God Himself set apart for very specific purposes, and for very specific groups of people (Israelites, Israelite men, teachers of the law, priests, high priests, etc.).

The Bible isn't clear how deep into the temple grounds the selling was taking place, but any distance would've been too far. The farther in they went, the more severe the desecration.

I think there are three main reasons Jesus blew a gasket there. First, He is God walking around in a man suit, so He took the desecration very personally and very seriously. Second, the transactions had nothing to with God. Yes, they were for sacrifices, but the vendors weren't honoring God. They were turning a need into a source of income. Finally, with the fervent efforts to pass on Israel's history from generation to generation, the Jews should've known better. They had a temple dating back to before they had the land, and the same sacred designations applied. We're talking centuries here. Ignorance wasn't something the guilty parties could claim, nor could the thousands of others who stood by and watched it happen.

Does that make sense?

 

HB, depending on which translation of the bible you read, Jesus tells those moneychangers that they have made God's house into a "den of robbers" or a "den of thieves." Don't you think that implies not only a desecration of a holy space, but also some cheating in their transactions? Price gouging perhaps, or something of that nature?

 

Almost certainly. But even so, I think that was a secondary issue. I believe the main reason for the cleansing was the desecration.

 

I have always associated this story with how I imagine God feels about people who use religion to make money. I won't list names here but there are plenty of preachers on TV who seem to be in it only for the money. I am especially suspicious of the "faith healer" types.

 

Excellent point. Same thing--desecrating something holy for profit.