Matthew 21:12 – 17

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

12 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves.

13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’

14 Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

15 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant

16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?””

17 Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.

It is to be noted, it was not wrong to buy and sell animals to be sacrificed (Deuteronomy 14:24 – 26) in the temple. It was not wrong to buy and sell money, because those who came from other countries would not have the correct currency to make offerings in the temple. The problem was they were set up for business in an area, the temple courtyard which was restricted for religious services only. So Jesus drove them out of the restricted area of the temple.

Isaiah is writing of the restoration of the Jews to their home country following the 70 year Babylonian captivity. But some of the words in the prophesy also refer to the time of the church. Because the merchants were taking advantage of the foreigners who came to Jerusalem from a distance to celebrate the Passover, Jesus referred to them as thieves because they were jacking up their prices to do what was known as profiteering.

Jesus shows his work was far different than those who were profiting from others needs, Jesus was fulfilling the needs of the unfortunate by healing their infirmities.

The children were speaking these praises of Jesus with a loud voice, The chief priests and scribes were envious of the attention He was getting so they complained about it.

These envious Jews wanted Jesus to quiet the children's praise of Him. Jesus quotes (Psalm 8:2[Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.])

The simple childlike trust the little one's faith of the existence and the goodness of God is a very sweet characteristic which we can see in this world, even one who is young enough to still be nursing on its mother's breast will show characteristics which can only be evidence of the fact they are part of the creation of a loving Creator who is the All-mighty and eternal God.

Jesus then left the temple in Jerusalem and went to Bethany for the night. Bethany was a small village about two miles away. It was the home of Mary, Martha, and their brother who was raised from the dead by Jesus, Lazarus. Jesus was always welcome in their home, but we are not told this time if He resided with them.