“Wise Fools” John 2:13-22; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Sermon “It is ...

David Lee Hulsey, Jr. March 29, 2009
V14-16 are actually one long sentence in Greek text
(creates a mood of urgency and haste, underscoring
the intensity of Jesus’ actions)
14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep,
and doves, and the money changers seated at their
tables. 15 (And) Making a whip of cords, he drove all
of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the
cattle. (And) He also poured out the coins of the money
changers and overturned their tables. 16 (And) He told
those who were selling the doves, “Take these things
out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a
marketplace!”
Reason for money changers and selling animals
• We have misconceptions of this scene. In the
musical Jesus Christ Superstar, I remember this
scene where one of the tables in the Temple had
guns, knives, grenades, and all other kinds of
weapons that were being sold. It’s a little
extreme.
• While most of us might think that the Jews have
simply started using the Temple as a marketplace
for venders, those who involved are actually
involved for worship related reasons
• Since Passover was a pilgrimage feast, many of
those coming to worship in the Temple would have
journeyed a great distance and would not have
brought animals with them. They needed to buy
animals in Jerusalem in order to participate in the
temple worship.
• Similarly, the temple tax could not be paid in reek
or Roman coinage because of the human image
(the emperor’s head) on these coins, and foreign
coinage had to be changed into the legal Tyrian
currency in Jerusalem.
• So the sale of animals and the changing of money
were necessary if the worship was to proceed.
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