The Priority Of True Worship Series

LUKE 19: 45-48 [JESUS’ LAST WEEK SERIES]

THE PRIORITY OF TRUE WORSHIP

[Malachi 3:1-6]

The expelling of the traffickers from the Temple was on the day after Jesus’ triumphal entry. Jesus comes into the temple, the ultimate place of religious significance in all Jerusalem, and finds worship being disrupted and disregarded by the business transactions taking place so He once again tries to bring restoration and renewal. [Apparently Jesus cleansed the temple twice—once at the beginning of His ministry (John 2:13–22), and again at the very close of His ministry (Matt 21:12–13; Mark 11:15–17).]

His strong reaction points out not only the Sanhedrin’s resistance to change their money-making schemes but also to its importance to Jesus as it was one of His final public act on earth. We may learn from the repetition of this cleansing: that outward reformation of religious corruptions [though of small and passing worth] is necessary so that nothing hinders true worship. The solemn lesson is that God desires pure worship in the inner most man (C.I.M.).

The area of the temple appointed for the Gentiles to worship God had become a den of thieves rather than a place where contemplative prayer was stimulated. Jesus then put the temple to its proper use, teaching daily amid increasing opposition from the authorities and strong receptivity from the crowds. The people were amazed at His teaching and liked to listen to Him, whereas in contrast the chief priests, leaders, and teachers of the Law wanted to kill Him.

[Luke’s record of the cleansing of the temple lacks the vivid detail in Matthew 21:12–13 and Mark 11:15–17. He mentions the importance of the temple as a house of prayer (v. 46), though he omits the reference to the nations (Mark 11:17). Verses 47–48 are not in Matthew and are different in form from Mark 11:18–19.]

I. JESUS CLEANSES THE TEMPLE, 45-46.

II. JESUS’ TEACHES IN THE TEMPLE, 47-48.

In verse 45 Jesus intentionally purges the temple so that He may return it to its intended purpose of prayer, worship, and teaching. “And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling,”

As the first cleansing was on His first visit to Jerusalem (Jn 2:13–22), so this second cleansing was on His last. The temple area was always crowded during Passover with thousands of out-of-town visitors. The religious leaders crowded it even further by allowing money changers and merchants to set up booths in the court of the Gentiles (Mk. 11:17). They rationalized this practice as a convenience for the worshipers and as a way to make money for temple upkeep.

The temple tax had to be paid in local currency, so foreigners had to have their money changed. The money changers often would charge exorbitant exchange rates with commissions being 12 ½ per cent (John, F. F. Bruce, p. 74). The people were also required BY Mosaic Law to make substitutionary sacrifices as offerings for theirs sins. “Those who were selling” refers to the sale of animals for sacrifices (Mark 11:15). Because of the long journey, many could not bring animals. Some who brought animals would have them rejected for imperfections. So animal merchants had a thriving business, a business they were permitted to move into the temple court yard.

It was profitable to the sellers, and no doubt to the priests, who were probably silent partners in the concern, or received rent for the ground on which the stalls stood. And so, being convenient for all and profitable to many, the thing became a recognized institution.

The religious leaders did not seem to care that the court of the Gentiles was so full of merchants that foreigners found it difficult to worship. And worship was the main purpose for visiting the temple. It was the one place that Gentiles could come and pray but there was no atmosphere nor room for prayer. They turned worshipers into attenders and the place of worship into a place of worldliness. No wonder Jesus was angry!

Jesus was angry at the dishonest, greedy, practices of the money changers and merchants, and He particularly disliked their displacement of worship in the temple grounds. They were making a mockery of God’s house of worship. Jesus’ decisive and strong actions reinforced His rebuking words.

Jesus was obviously angry at the merchants who exploited those who had come to God's house to pray and worship. There is a difference between uncontrolled rage and righteous indignation, yet both are called anger. We must be very careful how we use the powerful emotion of anger. It is right to be angry about injustice and sin; it is wrong to be angry over trivial personal offenses.

[This system of buying and selling animals for sacrifice didn’t just make the temple a den of robbers. It also led the people into mere formalism. “A pilgrim traveling to Jerusalem could go to the temple, buy an animal, and offer it as a sacrifice without ever having anything to do with the animal. This led to an impersonalization of the sacrificial system. The commercial system was apparently set up in the area of the temple which had been designated for devout Gentiles to pray and so was disrupting Israel’s witness to the surrounding world.”] [Martin, J. A. (1985). Luke. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 254). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.]