Holy Monday: The Cleansing of the Temple
After His triumphal entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Jesus departed the city for the night to lodge in the nearby town of Bethany with his disciples. The following morning, they return together to the city, and Jesus enters the Temple where we see one of the most well-known stories from the Gospels unfold on this Holy Monday:
And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”
And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there. (Matt 21:12-17, ESV)
This is an incredible passage, offering us an amazing glimpse into the heart of Jesus. Three things that I see here worthy of our attention here on Holy Week…
1. Jesus is intolerant of religious hypocrisy.
As Jesus enters the Temple gates, He finds that this sacred place of worship has been overrun by merchants seeking to turn a profit. Rather than faithful sacrifices, people are there for fast sales. Instead of overflowing with worship, these merchants have come with hearts spilling out greed. The high priests and religious leaders have allowed this holy house of prayer to become a den of robbers.
How does Jesus respond to this? Fierce opposition. His gentle and lowly heart for repenting sinners that we see repeatedly in the Gospels is not present here at all. Instead, with fierce power, He steps toward these merchants and drives them all outside. He overturns their tables with the strength of his carpenter hands, scattering their supplies and coins to the floor. This portion of the Temple was thrown into utter disarray, with a stern rebuke from Jesus.
Why this response? What could have provoked such frustration and fierce reaction from our Lord? I think He tells us in his rebuke – these merchants have twisted the things of God into means of gain for their greedy souls. They are using God and His people as pawns in their schemes for profit. They may be sitting in the Temple of the Lord, but their hearts are far from Him. Their only desire is to use Him for their own selfish gain. It’s religious hypocrisy, and Jesus shows us here He has no tolerance for it whatsoever.
2. Jesus is compassionate toward the hurting.
Right after this rebuke, Matthew tells us that Jesus puts this newly purified space immediately to work for faithful ministry. The sinful sales have ended, and now fruitful ministry can begin. The blind and the lame come to Him, and He heals them all. Every. Single. One. His strong hands go to work, no longer to cast people out in great fury, but now to heal them in great love.
This reveals something beautiful to us about our Savior – Jesus is compassionate toward the hurting. Though He has fierce rebuke for religious hypocrites, He is compassionate, gracious, and merciful to all who come to Him in need. With unlimited divine power at His disposal, He pushes back their darkness and pain with his incredible miraculous interventions – creating worshipers in this holy and sacred space. The darkness of the Temple has been purified with His light.
3. Jesus is the Messiah to be worshiped and praised.
The last few verses of this Temple account from Matthew’s Gospel have long fascinated me. It appears that children who had accompanied their parents to the Temple began to mimic the praises they heard from their parents the day before, singing, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” As we saw yesterday, “Son of David” is a term that all first-century Jews would have understood to refer to the promised Messiah of the Old Testament prophets – the one who would come from the line of David as the eternal King of God’s people. Thus, the children are effectively singing out something like our modern song, “Jesus Messiah!”
Notice what happens next – the chief priests and scribes become indignant at this. Not believing that Jesus is the Messiah, they point these children and their song out to Jesus, expecting Him to stop this madness. But what does Jesus do? Nothing – He allows the praise to continue and says simply this – “Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise” (a reference to Psalm 8:2).
This is incredible! Jesus is being called the Messiah, and He not only doesn’t stop it, He effectively says, “This is good – the prophetic fulfillment of scripture!” Jesus is acknowledging that the children are indeed correct – He is the Messiah! He should be worshiped! Jesus is the King who has come for His people!
Jesus knew who He was, and he knew what He had come to Jerusalem to do – a deep work of purification. Yes, purification of the Temple where God’s people worshiped. But even more, He came to do this amazing purification in our hearts – the place where all sincere worship must truly begin. As we approach Easter week, let us purify our own hearts and worship Jesus with right praise for being the Messiah come to save us of our sins.
Pray – Thank Jesus for coming to purify us of our sin, making us fit for true worship. Ask Him to sanctify you of any religious hypocrisy as you come to Him with a sincere heart of need for grace. Pray that He would pour out his compassionate mercy on you more and more this week as we approach Easter.
Sing – If you are able, take some time to conclude your devotion this morning by listening and reflecting on the lyrics of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.