“And when He was come into Jerusalem,
all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said,
this is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went
into the temple of God, and cast out all that sold and bought in the
temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats
of them that sold doves” (Matthew 21:10-12 Authorized King James).
It's important that we note the
significance of Jesus' first act upon entering Jerusalem during the
final week of His ministry. Matthew records in the 12th
verse of his 21st chapter that, Jesus purposely cleansed
the temple, as an act of divine authority. However, this was not the
first time He did so. In fact, in the 2nd Chapter of his
gospel account, John records a similar incident in which Jesus
cleansed the temple.
It's important, too, that we understand
that, chronologically, Matthew's record is a second confirmation of
His authority as the Son of the Living God. Yet, in neither case did
the Pharisees, or the other temple officials, seek to have Him
arrested, or taken before the Jewish court, the Sanhedrin, because
they feared the common people, who recognized, and acknowledged, Him
for Who He was.
Note, too, that, in both accounts, He
literally drove out all who bought and sold, thus defiling the temple
with their methods. In reality, His problem was not so much with
these errant merchants, as with the chief priests who were allowing
it, and with whom they were working in partnership, referring to them
as 'a den of thieves.'
Jesus knew that those religious
leaders, like their modern day counterparts, weren't truly interested
in truth, and were thus holding the multitudes in bondage to dead
rituals and powerless tradition. And, by these cleansing acts, Jesus
was setting the stage for the New Blood Covenant.
“And they that went before, and they
that followed, cried saying, Hosanna! Blessed is He who cometh in the
name of the Lord” (Mark 11:9 Authorized King James).
- John Knox
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