Jesus Said The Temple is a Den of Thieves
September 22, 2019
Commentary
As Jesus and His disciples were leaving, Bethany for Jerusalem, the next morning, Jesus spotted a fig tree with leaves on it (vv. 12-13). He was hungry and because it had leaves it should have some fruit on it. (The fig tree usually has fruit when it displays its leaves). When He reached the tree He found nothing but leaves, so He pronounced judgment on it for professing what it did not have (v. 14). The teaching throughout the New Testament is that a person should be known by his fruits. (Matt. 7:16).
When they reached Jerusalem He went into the temple area and found them buying and selling (vv. 15-16). The Jew had to pay a temple tax of one Phoenician sheckle a year which was approximately two days’ wages for a working man. In order to get the proper coin, the people had to exchange their Greek and Roman money; it is claimed that the moneychangers collected about 15% for the exchange. Doves were an important part of the sacrificial system (Lev.12:8; Lev. 15:14), but they had to be without blemish. They could be bought on the outside but the temple inspectors were sure to find something wrong with them. The ones approved by the inspectors and sold in the temple area often cost 20 times more. The poor people were being swindled by the temple leaders. Jesus said they had made it a den of thieves instead of a “house of prayer” (v.17). When the chief priests and the teachers heard what Jesus said they started looking for a way to kill Him (v. 18).
Application
If Jesus came to clean up my town where do I think He would start?
___City Hall___Church___My Room
Mark 11:12– 18 (NET)
12 Now the next day, as they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 After noticing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it. When he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
15 Then they came to Jerusalem. Jesus entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying in the temple courts. He turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 Then he began to teach them and said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have turned it into a den of robbers!” 18 The chief priests and the experts in the law heard it and they considered how they could assassinate him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed by his teaching.