The Incident In the Temple

There is the common misconception that the incident in the temple actually took place the last week of Jesus' life. However, it actually took place on an earlier visit to Jerusalem. The so-called "cleansing" of the temple was not a coup or takeover of the temple as some authors believe, nor did it have anything to do with the sacrificial rites and ceremonies that took place in the temple. Jesus had no concern to gain power or purify rituals. His concern was the abuse of money and trade. Every male Jew was suppose to spend a certain proportion of his income in Jerusalem and most pilgrim Jews would have arrived with foreign currency. This is what Jesus saw in the temple, and this is what angered him so much. There were traders all over the place blatantly serving Mammon instead of God, with the permission, and possibility for profit. Jesus' compassion for the poor and oppressed overflowed once again into indignation and anger. According to John (2:15) Jesus used a whip. This is something I personally did not know, and find very interesting. It makes me wonder if there was any physical rioting in the courtyard there, and if any of the Roman guards took a position. Had there been such a raucous, certainly there would be some documentation in the Gospels, or simply in the history books.
There was no doubt that when Jesus was preaching in the temple, he spoke of the "kingdom" as the new kind of temple. His overwhelming influence on people was something that I am sure worried the authorities greatly. Suddenly, Jesus had become a figure of national importance, and he gained such stature by simple making his point in a few impacting situations.
Jesus would give instructions to his deciples about the "kingdom." Such as the structure, and God as the ruler. Jesus would have some kind of leadership role under God, and Twelve of his followers were expected to take the responsiblitiy to spread the good news throughout the lands and to help make the new and improved "kingdom" well known.
- Christopher Marcheschi