And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers” (Matthew 21:9–13).
All of the gospels record an account of Jesus clearing out the temple. Matthew records this event immediately after his triumphant processional into Jerusalem. Mark puts the cursing to the fig tree between the processional and the cleansing of the temple (Mark 11:15–19). John includes this event at the beginning of his gospel and includes the detail of Jesus fashioning a whip to drive out the animals. Whether this means Jesus cleansed the temple twice or that John preferred writing by topic over chronologically is unknown. I lean toward the latter view (John 2:13–17). Luke’s account provides more dialogue leading up to the processional. Some Pharisees demand that Jesus rebuke his disciples but he responds that if they remain silent, the stones would cry out.
As Jesus draws near the city, he weeps over Jerusalem (Luke 19:45–48). Then he enters the temple and drives out all who sold and bought there. He references well-known prophets (Isaiah 56:7, Jeremiah 7:11), saying, “My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers” (Matthew 21:12–13). We can’t hail Jesus as King and expect him to leave things as they are.
We can’t hail Jesus as King and expect him to leave things as they are.
Search our hearts and reveal where we are submitting to you fully and where we are holding back. We trust that you know best. It’s all yours, have your way.
