Cleansing the Temple and His People | Mark 11:15–19
After cursing the fig tree (vv. 12–14), Jesus and His
disciples return to Jerusalem and the temple.
Jesus had already investigated the temple the previous night (v. 11), so
He knew what the issues were. It was
full of corruption and lacking in what was needed. As such, He takes possession and occupies it
for a time, providing what the people needed.
The Lord’s temple is to be pure. Almost like a flea market, merchants had
tables offering animals, oil, wine, salt, and other items. Moreover, moneychangers exchanged foreign
currencies to the acceptable coinage, charging as much as a 10–12% convenience
fee. Additionally, locals carried their
wares through the courtyard of the temple as a shortcut to other parts of the city. With the high priests bringing in a tidy
profit on this commerce and the poor being fleeced, we can understand why Jesus
overturned tables. He demands purity in
His temple!
The Lord’s temple is to be prayerful. Jesus quotes from Isaiah 56:7 to demonstrate
the purpose of the temple, and Jeremiah 7:11 to condemn everyone’s use of
it. Rather than establishing a bazaar,
God’s people should draw near to Him in prayer for communion and meditation
(cf. Pss. 65:4; 27:4). His people
include more than national Israel, so prayer should be available for everyone,
regardless of ethnicity.
The Lord’s temple is to be propositional. Both vv. 17–18 mention Christ’s teaching, and
it declared the truth of God’s Word. The
temple should be somewhere to learn, and we do that through the precepts and
propositions of Scripture.
Sadly, the temple was destroyed in ad 70. Still, we can
consider these truths in our churches.
Too many set up shops and merchandize the faith. May our goal be to establish houses of prayer
and propositional teaching, not houses of wares!
