Gospel Art Picture Kit
Matthew 21:12–15; Mark 11:15–17; Luke 19:45–46; John 2:13–16
And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables. John 2:15
First Cleansing
When Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover, He entered the temple and found men selling oxen, sheep, and doves; He also found moneychangers buying and selling there. He was upset to find this happening in the temple, so He made a whip of small cords and drove out the men and animals. He poured out the moneychangers’ coins and overturned their tables, saying, “Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise [business]” (John 2:16; see also John 2:13–15).
Second Cleansing
Three years later, when Jesus made His final entry into Jerusalem, He went into the temple and again found moneychangers irreverently doing business there. Again He drove them out of the temple, overturning their tables and chairs. He also stopped them from carrying their baskets and other containers through the temple. “It is written,” He said, “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13; see also Matthew 21:12; Mark 11:15–17; Luke 19:45–46; James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 527–28).
After Jesus had cleansed His holy house, He healed the blind and the lame who came to Him there. Children, seeing what Jesus had done, cried, “Hosanna to the Son of David” (Matthew 21:15; see also Matthew 21:14).
Summary
On two different occasions, Jesus went to the temple in Jerusalem and found men selling sacrificial animals and moneychangers doing business. He was upset to see the temple being used in this way. Both times He drove out the men and animals and overturned their tables.
Artist, Carl Heinrich Bloch
Used by permission of the National Historic Museum at Frederiksborg in Hillerød.
Print © 1992 and text © 2002 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA
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