So what is the real meaning of the story? The Mishnah states that on the 15 th of Adar, every year, "tables" were set up in the provinces (or in Jerusalem) for the collection of the statutory annual half-shekel, and on the 25 th of Adar they were set up in the Temple itself (Shek. © Copyright 2020 Catholic Exchange. Their removal was meant to symbolize the end of mediation toward God by sacrifice; the Mosaic system was not condemned but rather it was displaced as a result of its being superseded by the presence of Jesus. The scourging itself then becomes another symbolic act that foreshadows the Passion of Jesus: to paraphrase Augustine, He who scourged the sheep Himself was scourged for us. Jesus cleansed the Temple because sinful activities interfered with worship. This is referred to in the famous instance of Jesus’ driving the money changers out of the Temple (Matt. Money changing was very common in the Roman Near East, where there was a proliferation of currency systems and standards. (John 2:17, ESV). Like and subscribe, or I will find you, and I will kill you. The story is recounted in the beginning of the Gospel of John, but the gospel writer makes the same connection more explicit for us: At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. He drove the exchangers out of the area, along with the men selling pigeons and cattle. As he cleansed the Temple of greed and profit, Jesus quoted from Isaiah 56:7: "My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers." In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. Neusner, The Mishnah, 252). Jack Zavada is a writer who covers the Bible, theology, and other Christianity topics. In John chapter 2, Jesus arrives in Jerusalem during the festival of Passover and drives the money-changers out of the temple. image: Giotto [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons, Tagged as: His areas of interest include Eastern Christianity, Marian and Eucharistic theology, medieval history, and the saints. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. But there is a deeper meaning to this story and the context makes it clear. Jesus Drives the Money Changers From the Temple - Story Summary: Holy Week Timeline: From Palm Sunday to the Resurrection, Meet Matthew the Apostle, Ex-Tax Collector, Jesus Cleanses the Temple (Mark 11:15-19), Judas Iscariot - Betrayer of Jesus Christ, Meet Caiaphas: High Priest of the Jerusalem Temple, Israel Tour Pictures: Photo Journal of the Holy Land, Peter Denies Knowing Jesus Bible Story Study Guide, Learn the Meaning of Numbers in the Bible, M.A., English Composition, Illinois State University, B.S., English Literature, Illinois State University, Jesus drove out the money changers from the Temple on Monday of Passion Week, just three days before the Passover and four days before his. 3) ordinary money for the two drachmae pieces which were used in paying the temple tribute (see note on Matthew 17:24). Scripture, He has appeared on Fox News, C-SPAN and the Today Show and his writing has been published in the Washington Times, Providence Journal, the National Catholic Register and on MSNBC.com and ABCNews.com. from the Court of the Gentiles, which warns non-Jews not to go any further into the Temple, on fear of death. The money changers were there to convert various currencies into one standard coinage, the Tyrian shekel, that was used for the payment of the annual temple tax. Raised as an evangelical Protestant, he is a convert to Catholicism. They were more than ordinary businessmen. Herod the Great doubled the size of the Temple Mount. They began to plot a way to destroy Jesus. First, an exegetical clarification is in order. 16 To those who sold … Augustine hints at it, but does not explicitly say so. Instead of brokenness and contrition, holy adoration and prolonged petition, there is noisy commerce. theology, Stephen Beale is a freelance writer based in Providence, Rhode Island. He is the author of "Hope for Hurting Singles: A Christian Guide to Overcoming Life's Challenges. Although the whipping is sometimes read as applying to the money-changers themselves—as in the El Greco painting of the scene—a closer and more accurate reading of the original Greek indicates that the whipping was primarily directed at the sheep and the oxen. Entering the Temple, Jesus saw the money changers, along with merchants who were selling animals for sacrifice. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/StephenBeale1, Sentire cum Ecclesia – Insights from Inside the Vatican, The Nativity of Christ: Its Historic Reality. Do I need to cleanse my heart of attitudes or actions that are coming between me and God? And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers doing business. Best of Week, By using Learn Religions, you accept our. Oxen and doves were constantly needed for sacrificial purposes, and as each family which ate the passover required a lamb, … He is a former news editor at GoLocalProv.com and was a correspondent for the New Hampshire Union Leader, where he covered the 2008 presidential primary. The common people were impressed by Jesus' teaching, but the chief priests and scribes feared him because of his popularity. Why is this? Accounts of Jesus driving the money changers from the Temple are found in Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-46; and John 2:13-17. And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! 13 Now the Jewish feast of Passover was near, 113 so Jesus went up 114 to Jerusalem. ", Learn Religions uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Because pilgrims were unfamiliar with Jerusalem, the Temple … If we do not understand the expulsion as a symbolic act, we have no reason for it since the animals were necessary and were not in themselves an abuse of the temple’s sanctity. He welcomes tips, suggestions, and any other feedback at bealenews at gmail dot com. (Here, I am reading the version in John 2, where the use of the whip, or scourge, is specifically mentioned.). This detail points to the deeper meaning of this passage: is it not most fitting that this challenge to the old way of sacrifices preceded their replacement—which was Christ’s one-time self-offering on the cross? In Palestine, as in Egypt, each district had its basilikai trapezai ("royal bank") retained from Hellenistic times (Jos., Life 38), and probably each village had its own money changer (cf. They found the sacred city of God overflowing with thousands of pilgrims from all parts of the world. In the Synoptic gospels—that is, Matthew, Mark, and Luke—the cleansing of the temple comes near the end of Jesus’ ministry, upon his entrance into Jerusalem, which culminates in his crucifixion. In a recent comment thread on another site, one commenter alluded to the story to argue against the notion that Jesus’ message was one of nonviolence. Sif. They were seeking to profit financially from the worship of God. Both the selling of animals for sacrifices and the payment of the temple tax were activities required by Jewish law and central to the temple’s functions. His followers remembered a passage from Psalm 69:9: "Zeal for your house will consume me." The high priest ordered that only Tyrian shekels would be accepted for the annual half-shekel Temple tax because they contained a higher percentage of silver, so the money changers exchanged unacceptable coins for these shekels. Jesus Christ and his disciples journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Passover. But who were the money-changers, and why was their presence at this sacred site so offensive? A native of Topsfield, Massachusetts, he graduated from Brown University in 2004 with a degree in classics and history. Of course, they extracted a profit, sometimes much more than the law allowed. Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this (John 2:18-22).

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