Bible Question: Did Jesus clean the temple twice |
Bible Answer: Hi The Scriptures make clear that Jesus did cleanse the Temple twice but in very different ways. The first was when as a young prophet having just commenced His ministry He was incensed at the noisy trading that was taking place which was affecting the possibility of reverent worship. In this case he drove out the cattle, overturned the tables of the money changers, and told those who sold pigeons and doves to take them out of the Temple. His main purpose was to stop the Temple being used as a shop. His cry was, 'Do not make my Father's house into a shop'. It was a temporary disturbance and was probably looked on as the action of a young hothead. Some years passed and the fears that He might do it again had died down. But this time His act was deliberately thought out and was a part of His proclamation of His Messiahsip. This time He surveyed the scene carefully before doing anything (Mark 11.11). This time He did not make the cattle His aim, but concentrated His actions on the traders involved in the activity. He drove out both buyers and sellers, and again overturned the tables of the money-changers, and this time he tipped over the seats of those who sold pigeons and doves as they had not heeded His previous warning. This time it was His own authority that was being extablished. And His accusation went deeper, for now He was more aware of what was going on. And He accused them of turning a house of prayer into a den of brigands. It will be noted that this time He ignored the cattle. The remarkable differences between the two accounts in spite of the venue and the cast being the same is quite remarkable. Best wishes Jonp |