Note that Jesus specifically concentrated on two groups: the moneychangers and those who sold doves. This might seem like a simple case of three against one, and thus easily settled. A gospel is an account that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. But some may have thought that the presence of Gentiles, viewed as inherently unclean, was no more and no less defiling than the presence of animal dung. Jesus not only drove money changers from the temple, but he also cleared out those who were selling animals. The temple action occurs at the start of John’s Gospel and thus at the beginning of Jesus’ public. [2] Jerusalem was packed with Jews who had come for Passover, perhaps numbering 300,000 to 400,000 pilgrims.[3][4]. Jesus Christ and his disciples journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of Passover. During the Jewish high holidays, priests that changed money and sold sacrificial animals infiltrated the holy precincts and charged extortionate prices; this is the reason why Jesus drove them out of the temple. | Donate, https://www.bibleodyssey.org:443/en/passages/main-articles/jesus-and-the-moneychangers, Commerce and the Temple in First-Century Jerusalem, Aspects of Historicity in the Fourth Gospel. This page was last edited on 19 October 2020, at 13:55. Among the canonical Gospels, only John places the saying about the temple being destroyed and rebuilt on the lips of Jesus, and John alone places the saying in the context of Jesus’ temple action. The words attributed to Jesus in Mark 11 focus on the status of the temple, according to the prediction of Isa 56:7, as a “house of prayer for all peoples,” while the version in the Gospel of John focuses on the temple turning into a marketplace, possibly alluding to Zech 14:21. Harold W. Attridge on the events that led to Jesus' execution. That Christ's followers had indeed entered the Temple, and in fact the Holy of Holies,[24] is also claimed by Epiphanius, who claims that James wore the breastplate of the high priest and the high priestly diadem on his head and actually entered the Holy of Holies,[25] and that John the Beloved had become a sacrificing priest who wore the mitre,[26] which was the headdress of the high priest. from the Court of the Gentiles, which warns non-Jews not to go any further into the Temple, on fear of death. [18] E. P. Sanders and Bart Ehrman say that Greek and Roman currency was converted to Jewish and Tyrian money. As stated by Köstenberger & Kellum (page 114) there is some uncertainty about how Josephus referred to and computed dates, hence various scholars arrive at slightly different dates for the exact date of the start of the Temple construction, varying by a few years in their final estimation of the date of the Temple visit. And what motivated Jesus to drive money changers and sellers of animals out of the temple courts? Most historians agree that an actual occurrence lies behind this story in the Gospels. ", Learn Religions uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. The Gospel of John places the story of Jesus’ action in the temple toward the beginning of Jesus’ public activity, while the other Gospels place it toward the end. One of the first acts of the First Jewish-Roman War was the burning of the debt records in the archives. "Landry, David. [7][8][9][10] Temple expansion and reconstruction was ongoing, and it was in constant reconstruction until it was destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans. The second temple in Jerusalem was the central place of worship for the Jewish people from ca. In John’s version, Jesus actually takes the time to make a whip from cords (John 2:15). Because Jesus drove out people and animals that were essential, many scholars view his action not as a cleansing of the temple but as a symbolic act predicting its destruction. This phrase incorporates a phrase from the Psalm 8:2, "from the lips of children and infants," believed by followers to be an admission of divinity by Jesus.[1][5]. They began to plot a way to destroy Jesus. His followers remembered a passage from Psalm 69:9: "Zeal for your house will consume me." Bible scholars think this incident happened at Solomon's Porch, the outermost part on the east side of the Temple. And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. What Is the Significance of Jesus Cleansing the Temple? Temple Mount and the Money Changers. The common people were impressed by Jesus' teaching, but the chief priests and scribes feared him because of his popularity. "[6][7], In the Antiquities of the Jews, first-century historian Flavius Josephus wrote that (Ant 15.380) the temple reconstruction was started by Herod the Great in the 18th year of his reign 22 BC, two years before Augustus arrived in Syria in 20 BC to return the son of Phraates IV and receive in return the spoils and standards of three Roman legions (Ant 15.354). fo ... View more, 21and every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be sacred to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and use them to boil the flesh of the sa ... View more. [20], In 2012, Andy Alexis-Baker, clinical associate professor of theology at Loyola University Chicago, gave the history of the interpretation of the Johannine passage since Antiquity:[21]. John 2:13-16 is a story that introduces Jesus as a prophet in the tradition of Jeremiah. In actuality, since Matthew and Luke follow Mark’s structure, it is a case of Mark versus John. John 2:13 states that Jesus went to the Temple in Jerusalem around the start of his ministry and John 2:20 states that Jesus was told: "Forty and six years was this temple in building, and you want to raise it up in three days? will be accepted on my altar; Nevertheless, most historians follow Mark’s placement, with the Romans taking an interest in Jesus as a result, setting in motion the events that lead to his arrest and crucifixion. And since Mark and the other Synoptic Gospels only narrate one visit of Jesus to Jerusalem, they could not have placed the event earlier without changing that framework. The narrative occurs near the end of the Synoptic Gospels (at Matthew 21:12–17, Mark 11:15–19, and Luke 19:45–48) and near the start in the Gospel of John (at John 2:13–16). In this account, Jesus and his disciples travel to Jerusalem for Passover, where Jesus expels the merchants and consumers from the Temple, accusing them of turning the Temple into "a den of thieves" through their commercial activities. (verb) To change one's beliefs, practices, and self-identity to those of a religion. As he cleansed the Temple of greed and profit, Jesus quoted from Isaiah 56:7: "My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers." The scene is a common motif in Christian art. By using Learn Religions, you accept our. [11] Given that it had taken 46 years of construction to that point, the Temple visit in the Gospel of John has been estimated at any time between 24–29 AD. Service or a religious vocation to help others. The cleansing of the Temple is a commonly depicted event in the Life of Christ, under various titles. If the selling of animals occurred anywhere within the temple precincts, it would have been in the outer court called the Court of the Gentiles. Belonging to the canon of a particular group; texts accepted as a source of authority. According to the apocryphal Narrative of Joseph of Arimathea, Demas, one of the two robbers who were crucified with Christ,[28] stole the 'secret deposit' of Solomon from the Holy of Holies, an act which Judas blamed on Christ: He [Demas] made attacks upon the rich, but was good to the poor…And he set his hand to robbing the multitude of the Jews, and stole the law itself in Jerusalem, … And to Caiaphas and the multitude of the Jews it was not a Passover, but it was a great mourning to them, on account of the plundering of the sanctuary by the robber … Judas says to the Jews: Come, let us hold a council; for perhaps it was not the robber that stole the law, but Jesus himself, and I accuse him.[29]. St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine agree that Jesus performed a similar act twice, with the less severe denunciations of the Johannine account (merchants, sellers) occurring early in Jesus's public ministry and the more severe denunciations of the synoptic accounts (thieves, robbers) occurring just before, and indeed expediting, the events of the crucifixion. When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Professor, Butler University. There are a number of later embellishments to the narrative of the incident that are generally regarded as legendary or polemical by scholars. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. Jesus was so filled with anger at the desecration of the holy place that he took some cords and wove them into a small whip. Bible scholars think this incident happened at Solomon's Porch, the outermost part on the east side of the Temple. Animals leave behind messy droppings, and dung was considered to defile sacred space. He is the author of "Hope for Hurting Singles: A Christian Guide to Overcoming Life's Challenges. Triumphal Entry in the Synoptic Gospels, or It was not the animal vendors and money-changers he criticised as much as the Temple establishment who allowed it. Historical Tradition in the Fourth Gospel, The Jerusalem Temple and Early Christian Identity, Key Events in the Life of the Historical Jesus, From Jesus to Christ: The Origins of the New Testament Images of Jesus, Jesus and the ‘Cave of Robbers’: Toward a Jewish Context for the Temple Action”, The John, Jesus, and History Project-New Glimpses of Jesus and a Bi-Optic Hypothesis. Claims about the Temple cleaning episode in the Gospel of John can be combined with non-biblical historical sources to obtain an estimate of when it occurred. 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