Journey to the Cross: Clean Sweep
Last week we began a sermon series on the last week of Jesus’ life. This week is traditionally called Holy week by the church. Last week Dennis talked about the events of Palm Sunday and Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This week we are going to talk about what happened on the following day. A day we now refer to as Holy Monday.
When we left off in the gospel of Mark, Jesus had used powerful symbols from Israel’s history as he enters the city and the people hailed him as king. Dennis explained last week that the people probably expected him to be a very different kind of King than Jesus is. It’s likely, based on Israel’s history that the people expected Jesus to raise an army and overthrow the Romans by force. But that’s not the kind of king Jesus is and he doesn’t act that way at all. In fact, his triumphal entry into the city, has a very anti-climatic end to it. Mark tells us that he visits the temple, looks around, and then leaves.
If the people were expecting him to raise an army and overthrow the Romans, it’s likely they were expecting that once he reached the temple, the center of communal life, he would give a rousing speech about conquering the Romans or rally the people together for a revolt. Instead he walks into the temple, looks around, and then heads right back out of the city.
Today we read the passage from the gospel of Mark that picks up the next morning. When Jesus comes back into the city the next day he heads straight for the temple. When he gets there he doesn’t teach as he has in the past, or engage in theological debates, or heal anyone, nor does he make any attempts to raise a revolt against the Romans. Instead he overthrows the moneychangers’ tables and the seats of those selling doves. It’s a disruptive and symbolic act that was sure to draw a lot of attention.
I think it’s worth noting that this is a pre-planned, thought out action. It’s not something he does spur of the moment in a bout of unchecked anger or rage. This is not Jesus’ emotions getting the best of him. He surveyed the temple the day before, and when he comes back, his actions are intentional and pre-planned. And not at all what the people would have expected. They would have expected him to express anger and discontent with the way things were. But they would have expected that anger to be directed towards the Romans. With this one act Jesus makes it really clear he is not going to be the kind of the King they wanted. And it would seem his anger is against Israel, not the Romans.
But why? Why does Jesus do this? To truly understand what Jesus was upset about, we need to understand a little of the history and culture. If you look at the sermon notes page in your bulletin, you will see that we included a diagram of the temple layout.(The image below was found at http://www.bible-architecture.info/Jerusalem.htm)
This is what the temple would have looked like at the time of Jesus. You’ll notice around outer edge of three sides of the temple is what’s marked as the Court of the Gentiles. Anyone, Jews and gentiles alike, were allowed to enter the court of the gentiles. But it you were a gentile you were not allowed to go any further into the temple.
There was a wall separating the court of gentiles from the Court of the women. On this wall hung signs warning gentiles that the penalty for passing this point was death. If you were a Jewish woman you were only allowed to go as far as the court of women unless you were giving a sacrifice to the priest to offer on your behalf. If you were bringing a sacrifice then you were allowed to go to the Court of the Israelites. It was here that worshipers handed over their offerings to the priest to be sacrificed. Men were allowed to gather in the Court of the Israelites at any time. Only priests were allowed into the Court of the priests where the altar was.
This whole area, called the temple mount was considered sacred. It wasn’t supposed to be treated like any other space. It was supposed to be treated with the utmost of respect and honor because it was believed that the physical presence of God resided in the Holy of Holies. That presence of God, meant this whole area was to be approached with the greatest level of respect and reverence.
In Jesus’ time there was an annual temple tax. All Jewish males over the age of 20 had to pay ½ a shekel each year to the temple. This tax is in addition to the normal tithes and offerings and was typically paid each year when they came to the temple for Passover. The tax was equivalent to about 2 days wages for the average laborer. Jesus didn’t really seem to have an issue with the temple tax and he even paid the temple tax himself.
The difficulty is the temple tax couldn’t be paid in any old currency. It had to be paid in the currency of the temple. It couldn’t be paid in roman currency or foreign currency because they had graven images on it and that couldn’t be presented as an offering to God. It couldn’t be paid in regular gold or silver either. It had to be the currency of the temple. If you didn’t have the right kind of currency, which most people didn’t, then you would have to exchange your currency for the right currency.
This is where the moneychangers come in. They were the ones you would go to if you didn’t have the right kind of currency to pay the temple tax. Just like modern day money exchangers, there was a fee for this currency exchange. This fee was the equivalent of about 3 hours wages. If you didn’t have exact change and wanted to receive change back then you had to pay another fee of about 3 hours wages.
These moneychangers weren’t set up outside the temple. They were setup inside the temple in the court of the gentiles. It would be like if we required you to pay your offerings in Calvary money and we set up tables all around the inside of the sanctuary. And then we charged you heavy fees for the exchange. The dove sellers were also setup in the court of the gentiles.
The dove sellers were selling doves that could be used as sacrifices in the temple. A dove or pigeon was the offering of a poor person, someone who couldn’t afford to offer a larger animal. This is what Mary offers as a sacrifice after Jesus’ birth. All animals, regardless of what type, that were offered as sacrifices had to be pure, without any defect or blemish.
The price for a dove on a street was about one days wages. But if you bought one off of the street it was likely that the priests would find something wrong with it and declare it unfit for sacrifice. Your other option was to buy one in the temple courts that had already been certified as pure and without blemish. But those for sale inside the temple sold for more than 20 times the price of a dove on the street. It would take almost a month’s wages to make the offering of a poor person. Most people couldn’t afford this exorbitant price. Those selling these sacrificial animals were essentially robbing the poor.
What makes matters worse is that a portion of the profits made by the moneychangers and dove sellers was given to the priests. The very people who are supposed to be looking out for the sanctity of worship and helping to nurture the relationship between God and the community are instead making a profit off the poor. The issue isn’t that the priests are getting paid. God makes provisions for the priests. The issue is that they feel like they need more and more. And that they are getting that money by cheating the poor. There is no way the moneychangers and dove sellers could have remained setup in the court of the gentiles without the permission of the priests. Not only are the priest permitting the fleecing of the poor, the priests actually received a portion of the money.
These are the priests! These people started off on the right path. They started out serving God and ministering to the needs of the people. But somehow money had become more important to the priests than serving God. They turned from that path and are now doing things that oppose the will of God.
I know there have been areas of my life that get off track. It happens little by little, almost imperceptibly at first. Then before I know it, I’m off the path. I’m not living how God expects me to live. What areas of your life have gotten off track? Maybe it’s money, or being a workaholic, maybe it’s ignoring your health or cheating on a test. Whatever it is, lent is a time for all of us to reflect on the areas. It’s a time for us to turn and to get back on track.
Not only does Jesus overturn the tables of the moneychangers and dove sellers, he also insists that no one carry vessels through the temple. The entire temple mount was considered a sacred area. But people were using it as a short cut. To cut through the court of gentiles drastically reduced the distance between the eastern part of the city and the Mount of Olives. It was much more convenient to cut through the temple than to walk the long way around. But that’s not what that space was intended to be used for. And it was a sign of disrespect for the presence of God.
But we all do that in some ways, don’t we? We all have areas in our lives that God intended to be sacred, and yet we misuse them. We treat them with disrespect, and do whatever is easiest or most convenient. What parts of your life have you treated as common and ordinary or as a means to an end rather than as something sacred? Lent is a time to reflect on that and to begin the process of making those areas sacred again.
After Jesus over turns the tables and prevents people from using the temple as a short cut, he quotes Isaiah (56:7) saying the temple should be a house of prayer for all nations. All nations. All this money exchange, buying and selling, haggling, and cutting through was happening within the court of gentiles. The only place the gentiles were allowed to be in the temple had now become a crowded and noisy place where the poor were cheated and the moneychangers and dove sellers were trying to make as big a profit as possible. Not exactly a prayerful environment.
In exodus (19.6), God tells Moses and the Israelites that they are to be a priestly nation. In other words, they are to bring other nations to know God. They are to live in such a way that their lives and conduct will bring others to know the God of Israel. But it’s clear Israel isn’t living into the purpose God intends for them. The priests are corrupt and the moneychangers and dove sellers are stealing from the poor. Not exactly the kind of example God wanted them to be to the other nations. They had strayed not only individually but as a community from the path God intended for them.
What kind of example does your life set? Does the way you live your life lead others to know God?
Lent is a time for self-reflection and self-examination. It’s a time to take a serious look at our lives and ask ourselves, what are the tables in my life that Jesus would overturn? What are the thoughts and deeds that need to be cleaned from your heart? God wants to help us set those things right. Lent is an opportunity for us to cry Hosanna, Save us, with the crowds. Only we get to cry Hosanna knowing the kind of King Jesus really is. I invite you to use this Lenten season to cry out to the Prince of Peace, the one who came to bring forgiveness and reconciliation.
Amen.
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