John 2:13-17

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

John 2:13-17

When I went back to Toronto for my friend's wedding, I ended up going to his church on the weekend.  He goes to Grace Toronto, which is downtown.  He's a solid guy and he goes to a solid church and I was excited to go.  Well, the sermon was on this very passage and it was good.  In any case, some of this is from that sermon...

Jesus goes to the temple and finds people "selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there".  What does he do?  He makes a whip of cords and drives them out of the temple.  He also poured out the "coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables".  This is a pretty serious thing, so we want to ask, "why?".  Well, we read of what Jesus says in verse 16.

And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.”

John 2:16

The problem is that they have made God's house into a house of trade.  I always imagined this scene a giant zoo-like marketplace filled with all kinds of stands with things for sale and services being rendered.  At the sight of all this, Jesus must've been upset.  However, it is important to note that they may not have been all bad on their own.  What I mean is that, for example, selling oxen, sheep and pigeons is a meaningful service to be offered at the temple.  People come to make sacrifices and to sell these things for people to sacrifice just makes sense.  In addition, currency exchange was also important to pay for these things, which is why the money-changers were not necessarily doing something wrong.  Instead, they were offering a valuable service for people who wanted to buy animals for their sacrifice but may not have had the correct currency.

So, what was the problem?  Well, though those services may have been in their proper place, the truth is that God's house had truly become a house of trade.  In other words, God's house had turned from a place of worship into a place to do business.  Though those things were helpful for the purpose of worship, they had become the center or focus.  Now, this may or may not have been the case for some or most of the people who came to the temple.  People probably would've come to genuinely worship and offer sacrifice at the temple.  Who is at the center of this?  Jesus is talking to "the Jews" when they confront him later on.  It is the priestly authorities who are the primary offenders.  They are the one who authorized all of this and were ultimately profiting.

"They were using their religion (God) to serve their money making interest.  Religion was a cloak for their worship of mammon"

-Howard McPhee, Grace Toronto

So, Jesus, upset with what God's house has become, overturned table and drove them out.  Their sin is no different from what we face today.  There are many ways in which we use God or religion to serve our own purposes.  We may desperately want a raise or a new relationship or to be healed.  And so, we think that on the basis of God's love or our serving him, we should get those thing.  It doesn't always work that way and when things don't go our way, we get upset.  I've heard pastor Matt Chandler speak on this, addressing people growing up in the church being taught "if you do this, you'll get this", but without the gospel.  For them, God becomes a means to their own ends.  So, when things don't go their own way, they blame God, like he owes them or something.  In any case, all of this is wrong.  God is to be worshiped, not made to serve our own purposes.  He certainly is a giver of good gifts.  But to accept the gifts and ignore God is wrong.