From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part one of a series.

Jesus came back to the Temple on Monday morning, and performed one of His mightiest and most significant works. It is a work that has daily relevance in the life of every believer, because you are God's New Covenant temple.

Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."

Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.' "

And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.

Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?"

But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me: The baptism of John - was it from heaven or from men?"

And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet." So they answered that they did not know where it was from.

And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things." (Luke 19:40-20:8)

Putting Together the Gospel Chronology

In his Gospel account, Luke under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit records our Savior's entry into Jerusalem (19:29-44) and the events that happen next, beginning in verse 45, without a break. But we understand from the parallel account in Mark's Gospel that something else happened between these two events, which the Gospel of Luke does not record.

We read in Mark 11:11 that after He entered Jerusalem, Jesus and the disciples went into the temple area. They looked around at the magnificent buildings, and observed the things that were happening in the temple area. But because it was late in the day, Jesus and His disciples went back to Bethany, about two miles away, to spend the night. Mark 11:15 tells us that Jesus came back to the temple area the next day - in other words, on Monday. Jesus came to do two things. He cleansed the temple, and He taught in the temple.

We also know from the Gospel of John (2:13-17) that this was not the first time Jesus had cleansed the temple. He did it at the beginning of His public ministry, and three years later He did it again at the end of His ministry.

Why Two Cleansings of the Temple?

Why did Jesus do this, not once but twice? To answer that question, we need to understand what went on in the temple area. The area that is referred to in Luke 19:45 was the Court of the Gentiles. This was a large outer court where devout Gentiles, who could not come into the temple proper, could come to pray. The Court of the Gentiles was actually larger than the inner temple area, which was restricted to the Jews. Writings at the time of Christ tell us that the temple area was over 35 acres, and the Court of the Gentiles occupied about 10 acres. Archaeological excavations in modern times have confirmed this. The area that Jesus cleansed, on the Monday after His triumphal entry on what we now call Palm Sunday, was no small place.

What was the intended purposed of this area? Under the Mosaic Law it was supposed so be a quiet area, devoted to prayer and the worship of God. But in Jesus' day, under the authority of apostate religious leaders, this area was being used for an entirely different purpose. What was going on? To what, exactly, did our Lord respond in vehement, violent anger? We shall see as we continue.

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