Mark tells us that, when Jesus came into the Temple compound at Jerusalem, he immediately cast out them who bought and sold and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and of those who sold doves. One can only imagine the ruckus this caused, but who could fault Jesus for doing what he did? It was one thing to seek Jesus’ life, but it was another matter entirely to have proof of his wrongdoing in order to follow through with their desires. Jesus’ point in casting out the businessmen was the Temple was supposed to be a house of prayer, but the Jewish authorities had made it a marketplace for profit. We know this, because, first, the businessmen couldn’t have set up shop within the Temple compound upon their own authority. This had to be done with the permission of the legitimate authorities over the Temple, namely, the chief priests, and perhaps high-ranking Pharisees. Secondly, they didn’t do such a thing out of kindness toward the businessmen but for their own profit. We know this because, when Jesus asked for a coin to settle a dispute between him and his enemies, they readily showed him a Roman coin with the image of Caesar thereon (Mark 12:13-16). If the coin was readily available, at least one of the Jewish authorities had it with him, implying he was paid by one of the businessmen for the privilege of doing business in the Temple, and he was paid out of the foreign coins the moneychanger gathered from the Hellenist Jews seeking Temple currency.
Mark’s account of Jesus cleansing the Temple (Mark 11:15) represents the second time in three days that this was done (cp. Matthew 21:12-13). Any fair-minded person would agree that Mark, at first, shows Jesus entering Jerusalem immediately after he had come from Jericho (Mark 11:1; cp. 10:32, 46, 52). Jesus then left Jerusalem to go to Bethany (Mark 11:11), and probably after a full calendar day had past (i.e., the Sabbath day) he returned to Jerusalem. However, his second entry was made from Bethany (Mark 11:15; cp. John 12:1, 12-15). It is this entry that would come to be called Jesus’ Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem, and it occurred after he cursed the fig tree, which was done near Bethany (Mark 11:12-14). Moreover, as is supposed by most modern scholars, this entry took place on what we would call Sunday morning, the very day we celebrate as Palm Sunday, today. If this is so, then logic demands that the previous day was the Sabbath (what we call Saturday), and Jesus couldn’t have come into Jerusalem from Bethany on the Sabbath, because Bethany was more than a Sabbath day’s journey to Jerusalem.[1]
After casting out the moneychangers and those who bought and sold, the text says Jesus wouldn’t permit anyone to carry anything through the Temple compound (Mark 11:16), because such a thing wouldn’t be respectful to God, whose house this was. It would be similar to someone walking through another man’s home to save him the trouble of walking around the city block. Such things as the smell of animals (including their excrement), the loudness of business conducted in a marketplace and the interruption of folks taking shortcuts through the Temple were not conducive to meditation and prayer (Mark 11:17). The whole idea of the sacredness of the House of God was lost for the sake of profit and convenience. How could anyone find fault with what Jesus did?
Nevertheless, the righteousness of Jesus’ deeds was lost on the Jewish authorities, who had been embarrassed and exposed to the people for their wrongdoing. They all the more sought an opportunity to arrest Jesus and take his life, and it was only their fear of the people (Mark 11:18), who were impressed by what Jesus did, that prevented the Jewish authorities from carrying out their evil plans, and, since Jesus didn’t stay in the city overnight (Mark 11:19), neither could they carry out their plans under the cover of darkness.
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[1] See an earlier study of mine: A Sabbath Day’s Journey and Jesus.
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