(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better…and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see how)
Focus Question:
Why did Jesus overturn the tables of the money changers?
Intro:
Remember the phrase in the book of Revelation, “Let anyone who has ears listen?”
Today’s focus question — Why did Jesus overturn the money tables? — is about a familiar story in the Bible where the main idea is often missed and it therefore gets misused.
So, if you’ll join with me prayerfully sitting at Jesus’s feet, may we have ears to hear.
New Testament segment:
Passage: John 2
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 25
Words: ~537
As usual, I wish I had more time to dive into this, so you will have to suffer me summarizing what I read across multiple commentaries.
You probably have heard that the impetus for selling sacrificial animals in the temple was because the Jewish regulation at that time was that you had to bring a sacrifice…and it was easier to travel to Jerusalem with money and buy an animal. Commentators agree on this.
What might be interesting, however, is the context that is missed if we’re not looking at the whole Bible. The selling was happening in the outer courtyard where Gentiles could go. So this marketplace activity that was happening inside the temple was disruptive of, if not preventative of, their worship. And how many times have we read that God’s heart is for all people? That he desires hearts, not sacrifices? And how many times have we read that purity of our hearts and worship is what God desires and requires?
There are several potential allusions to OT prophecy about the zeal of the Messiah. For instance
For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. Mal 3:2b–4, ESV
So why does Jesus overturn the tables of the moneychangers? As one commentator sums it up
Jesus insists on a different priority for activity in the temple(1)
And as I often do, I’ll add one twist in our final Bottom Line segment.
For our OT segment today we’re at the point in history, about 586BC, when Jerusalem is about to fall to the Babylonians (and we’ll hear about that tomorrow). Today’s passage, then, is part of a broader section about God’s judgment on the southern Kingdom of Judah where Jerusalem is located.
Old Testament segment:
Passage: Jeremiah 37-38
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 49
Words: ~1542
Wisdom segment:
Passage: Proverbs 16:29-17:5
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 10
Words: ~159
The bottom line:
Why did Jesus overturn the tables of the moneychangers? Because God is deeply concerned with all people and desirous of their proper worship. Here’s the twist.
Was Jesus making a comment that doing business, buying/selling is wrong? No. That doesn’t jive with the whole of Scripture.
And here’s a biggie in today’s culture: Was Jesus making a revolutionary statement to challenge those in power, perhaps even justifying riotous behavior? Uh, no. It was potentially a foreshadowing of the consequences that religious leaders will receive for failing to lead the flock rightfully — and we see that theme in many places in the Bible. But was that the point of the passage? No. That’s reading into something that isn’t there. The point wasn’t about social revolution, it is about the priority of proper worship.
Love you!
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
(1) Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Jn 2:15–16.