Jesus Turns Over Tables and Gets Away With It.
First Judea visit of Jesus' Ministry (April, AD 27).
Four events in Judea are recorded in Jesus' early prophetic ministry, before he moved his residence from Nazareth to Capernaum:
1. As a child in the family of Joseph and Mary, Jesus regularly visited Jerusalem during the Passover festival (Luke 2:41). But in his first Passover visit as a prophet, he entered the temple grounds and overturned the tables of moneychangers and other merchants who were making a profit off the holy day event (John 2:13-22).
This is sometimes held up as an example of righteous anger, defending the ability of Christians to be angry without sin. But Jesus did not just go to the temple and discover something wrong that made him angry. What he saw in AD 27 was the same scene that he had encountered every Passover since he was a child.
No, his actions were preplanned and methodical. Jesus as a Prophet could not stand by while something very wrong was going on in the temple. This was planned civil disobedience against the temple authorities (not the merchants), to point out that they were in the wrong. (Possibly, his actions could be used as a defense for civil disobedience by Christians today.)
There is no chance that the money-changers and the sellers of doves and sheep and cattle were doing something that was not permitted by the high priests of the temple. The ground of the Jerusalem temple was one of the most highly regulated places in the Roman Empire, just as it is today. More than permission, these merchants were almost certainly paying the high priests for licenses to conduct their business on hallowed ground. A significant money stream was flowing from these activities into the hands of the temple authorities.
These high priests were highly educated in the contents and application of holy scripture. They already knew that the temple was an inappropriate place to conduct business, especially in the holy days of unleavened bread--the Passover. But they had let that slide in favor of gaining income for themselves. Greed was more profitable than piety.
Still, Jesus was raising a ruckus and had to be stopped, so the high priests and temple police could protect and maintain their authority. Probably objections to the merchants had been raised by Pharisees in the past. But we can tell that the priests knew that Jesus' activities were a prophetic action, by the question they asked him: "What sign do you show us as your authority for doing these things?" In other words, "If this action comes from God's rule, then prove it."
Jesus' answer befuddled them. He said, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." Jesus was talking about his own body as the temple of God, which the priests and cops missed. Probably they had rushed Jesus with drawn swords in order to stop him. This led Jesus to fear a premature loss of his life, so he told them the consequences if they were to strike him down with the sword.
They responded in confusion, "It took forty-six years to build this temple. How can you...?" Here ends the incident. Jesus must have turned his back on them and walked away. Perhaps this was preferable to the priests to striking him down, or even worse, to try him before the high court. Such a trial would have exposed the greed of the priests: better to ignore this if Jesus would just go away.
So Jesus got away with defying the authorities! No repercussions came from this event at the time, except that Jesus began to be known as a person who might be a prophet. Jesus remained in Judea for a time with no opposition that would make him a fugitive, as shown in three more events:
This is sometimes held up as an example of righteous anger, defending the ability of Christians to be angry without sin. But Jesus did not just go to the temple and discover something wrong that made him angry. What he saw in AD 27 was the same scene that he had encountered every Passover since he was a child.
No, his actions were preplanned and methodical. Jesus as a Prophet could not stand by while something very wrong was going on in the temple. This was planned civil disobedience against the temple authorities (not the merchants), to point out that they were in the wrong. (Possibly, his actions could be used as a defense for civil disobedience by Christians today.)
There is no chance that the money-changers and the sellers of doves and sheep and cattle were doing something that was not permitted by the high priests of the temple. The ground of the Jerusalem temple was one of the most highly regulated places in the Roman Empire, just as it is today. More than permission, these merchants were almost certainly paying the high priests for licenses to conduct their business on hallowed ground. A significant money stream was flowing from these activities into the hands of the temple authorities.
These high priests were highly educated in the contents and application of holy scripture. They already knew that the temple was an inappropriate place to conduct business, especially in the holy days of unleavened bread--the Passover. But they had let that slide in favor of gaining income for themselves. Greed was more profitable than piety.
Still, Jesus was raising a ruckus and had to be stopped, so the high priests and temple police could protect and maintain their authority. Probably objections to the merchants had been raised by Pharisees in the past. But we can tell that the priests knew that Jesus' activities were a prophetic action, by the question they asked him: "What sign do you show us as your authority for doing these things?" In other words, "If this action comes from God's rule, then prove it."
Jesus' answer befuddled them. He said, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." Jesus was talking about his own body as the temple of God, which the priests and cops missed. Probably they had rushed Jesus with drawn swords in order to stop him. This led Jesus to fear a premature loss of his life, so he told them the consequences if they were to strike him down with the sword.
They responded in confusion, "It took forty-six years to build this temple. How can you...?" Here ends the incident. Jesus must have turned his back on them and walked away. Perhaps this was preferable to the priests to striking him down, or even worse, to try him before the high court. Such a trial would have exposed the greed of the priests: better to ignore this if Jesus would just go away.
So Jesus got away with defying the authorities! No repercussions came from this event at the time, except that Jesus began to be known as a person who might be a prophet. Jesus remained in Judea for a time with no opposition that would make him a fugitive, as shown in three more events:
2. John's gospel notes that during the Passover festival, Jesus performed miraculous signs and gained many believers (John 2:23-25).
3. During this period Jesus' ministry became known to Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the powerful Sanhedrin council of the Jews, reputed to be the richest man in Jerusalem (John 3:1-21). Nicodemus owned farmland in Galilee, and was interested in the activities of Jesus the Galilean. After meeting Jesus, Nicodemus probably worked in the background to assist Jesus against the Sadducees--the priests who controlled the temple.
4. After leaving Jerusalem and before returning to Galilee, Jesus spent time in Judea with his first disciples. They were baptizing his followers under the authority of Jesus (John 3:22, 4:1-2). During this time Jesus was preaching the same message as John the Baptist: "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand" (Matthew 4:17).
One year later, Jesus would visit Judea during Passover again, but the results would be very different.
This is part two in an eight-part series on the visits of Jesus to Judea.
Check back next week for the next episode!
One year later, Jesus would visit Judea during Passover again, but the results would be very different.
This is part two in an eight-part series on the visits of Jesus to Judea.
Check back next week for the next episode!
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