Reflective Bible Study

Two times in Jesus’ ministry, we read about Him chasing people out of the temple. During the first time He threw people out of the temple, Jesus says an interesting phrase that is important for us to remember. While we often focus in on the second time Jesus cleared the temple (which happened during the week He was crucified), there is a unique quality that make’s John’s record of this temple cleansing important for us living today.

On coming up to Jerusalem and the temple for the Passover feast, Jesus enters the temple. “In the temple courtyard he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves. Others were sitting at tables exchanging money. So Jesus made a whip out of ropes. He chased all the sheep and cattle from the temple courtyard. He scattered the coins of the people exchanging money. And he turned over their tables.” (v. 14-15)

When reading this, we are quick to jump to the other gospels to look for an answer. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record Jesus’ quotation from the Old Testament where He says, “It is written that the Lord said, ‘My house will be called a house where people from all nations can pray.’ But you have made it a ‘den for robbers.’” (Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46)

We are quick to point out that dishonesty drove Jesus to clear out the temple, but these three gospels happen at the end of Jesus’ ministry. John’s gospel shares a different reason Jesus gives for this early-in-His-ministry temple cleansing.

John tells us in His gospel that Jesus told His reason to those selling doves. John says that Jesus said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” (v. 16)

Were the merchants in the temple being dishonest in John’s event? Probably, but here, Jesus does not mention anything to make us think this was His reason. Jesus’ reason for being upset is that these people were “turning [the temple] into a market.” (v. 16)

Jesus was upset by the commerce that was happening in the temple courtyard. This wasn’t outside of the temple, but on property that was owned by the temple and it would have been the first thing visitors would have seen when entering the temple. People who would be coming to pray and worship would have to weave their way through the crowds of merchants to simply find a quiet place to be with God.

Does Jesus hate commerce? Absolutely not when it is done in an ethical way, but in this passage we can find a key idea present for His actions here.

When we look at what God has done for us, and what Jesus has done for us, these are gifts we have been given. Life and salvation cost us nothing. God is a God who gives first, and if we choose to return, then we can choose to do so.

But commerce is all about exchange. Exchanges cost something. We give some money and we then get some item, object, or service. Commerce does not reflect God, but it does reflect society and social interactions.

Jesus is upset with the commerce in the temple because it was pulling people’s focus away from God. It was bringing what was common, ordinary, and typical of every day of the week into God’s home among people and implying that there is nothing distinguishing it from any other place one could go.

In a sort of similar way, churches today fill the role the temple and synagogues played in the first century. Churches today are places where we can go when wanting to feel closer to God. I wonder if we should pay more attention in our own lives and churches on this idea of distinguishing the common from the holy, and society’s commerce from God’s priceless gifts for us.

During one of the healing miracles that Jesus performed, we can find an interesting dialog that Jesus has with a couple of blind men. Matthew tells us in his gospel that these blind men found Jesus and were following Him crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” (v. 27)

Matthew doesn’t tell us how far Jesus traveled that day or at what point the blind men found Jesus, but when they ultimately came to the place they were going to stay the night, the blind men came up to Jesus to be healed. Jesus asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (v. 28a)

They both responded, “Yes, Lord.” (v. 28b)

On one hand, the answer to this question should be obvious. These men had followed Jesus crying out for mercy from Him. This would mean that they knew He was capable of healing them, and it would seem that they were pretty persistent with their desire to be healed. When Jesus asked them if they believed He is capable of healing their sight, the counter question back to Jesus easily could have been, “If we didn’t believe this, why would we have followed You here?

But on the other hand, I think this miracle might have a lesson for the disciples attached to it. These men clearly demonstrated their belief through their actions. They had followed Jesus requesting help for miles, and it is only after the trip had finished that Jesus acknowledges their presence. I am sure Jesus was aware of their presence before arriving. These men may have even been disruptive in their attempts to get His attention. However, it is only after Jesus arrives at the house they were staying that He comes over to talk with them.

The big key I see in this passage that makes me think this was a teachable moment for the disciples comes with what Jesus says as He is touching their eyes. “Then He touched their eyes, saying, ‘It shall be done to you according to your faith.’” (v. 29)

The proof for the blind men’s faith had been demonstrated in what they had done leading up to this miracle, and the result of their conversation with Jesus and His touch blended with this faith to give the ultimate result: “And their eyes were opened.” (v. 30a)

Jesus attached the effectiveness of this miracle to the faith of the men making the request. While faith isn’t directly visible in every miracle Jesus performed, we can see that faith is a key ingredient in many of Jesus’ healing miracles.

One lesson Jesus may be teaching here is that faith that is strong enough for miracles will also be a faith that is visible to others. Hidden faith is not a powerful faith. Powerful faith gives evidence for its existence. The blind men didn’t care who knew they wanted Jesus’ help, they simply followed Jesus asking for help until Jesus was ready to acknowledge them. Their persistence proves their level of faith.

The more I read the gospels’ record of Jesus’ temptations at the start of His ministry, the more amazed at the various nuances present in both the temptations Satan uses against Jesus, and the responses Jesus gives. One of the things that stand out as profound is the conditional nature of each temptation and this is because in each temptation, Satan phrases it as a challenge to who Jesus is.

Both Matthew and Luke include this little nuance in how Satan words his temptations, but for simplicity, we’ll just look at Matthew’s gospel. Matthew tells us that Satan’s first temptation was, “If you are God’s Son, order these stones to turn into bread.” (v. 3b)

The second temptation Matthew shares is, “If you are God’s Son, throw yourself down…” (v. 6a)

Matthew’s gospel concludes these three temptations by sharing the devil offering Jesus the world. Satan said, “All this I will give you, if you kneel down and worship me.” (v. 9)

In each of these temptations, Satan tries to plant doubt in Jesus’ mind regarding His mission. In the first two temptations, the challenge is for Jesus to prove that He really is God’s Son. In the third temptation, the challenge is for Jesus to abandon the mission of the cross. Satan essentially offers Jesus a shortcut, but the trap with this shortcut is that it would cause Jesus to sin, and by doing so, it would invalidate His ministry. The doubt that Satan tried to plant in Jesus’ mind with the third temptation is that the path of the cross would be too difficult to face.

What is fascinating about these temptations is that they echo the temptations Satan throws at each of us. All Satan needs to do is to challenge our status as children of God, which usually will either cause us to doubt God, or it will cause us to overreact and test God.

The temptations are powerful because while they try to cause sin, they are also trying to plant doubt. Too often, Satan’s temptations are successful at both causing sin and planting doubt, but when we know what he is up to, we can be one step ahead of his next attempt.

God gave Jesus to give His life for each of us. This allows us to be adopted back into God’s family. Never let a temptation plant doubt in your mind that God loves you and wants you back in His family!

To wrap up a section of parables, Matthew draws our attention onto three short parables Jesus shares. While these parables are often broken apart, with the first two separated from the third, it is only when we place them together that we see a bigger picture of what God wants to share with us.

While Matthew 13 starts with a parable designed to help us understand the other parables Jesus shared better, I think these last parables in this long set help us understand another key point behind many of Jesus’ other parables.

This concluding set of parables has the Kingdom of heaven being represented by a treasure hidden in a field that a man finds, by a merchant on the lookout for fine pearls, and by a fishing net that catches fish of all kinds. These parables are all connected by saying “Also” and they all describe a characteristic of one thing: The Kingdom of heaven.

But one parable is different from the others.

Part of the reason I believe these parables have been broken into two sections is because the third parable (unlike the first two) contains the explanation, and it isn’t a very pleasant conclusion for those who are not saved.

When we cut off the third parable and focus in on only the first two, we get the impression we must be constantly on the lookout for treasure and pearls, and that we must sell everything we have in order to acquire the treasure we find. There is an element of truth to this interpretation of the first two parables, but it stops us short of a powerful truth that the third parable brings.

If we focus in on the third parable in this set (the one focused on the fishing net), and we specifically look at how Jesus explains it, we see a parable that is shared from God’s perspective not ours.

This has the power to completely change how we look at any parable Jesus shared because if Jesus opens it by saying it’s about the Kingdom of heaven or the Kingdom of God, you can be sure God will show up – and the parable probably is given from His perspective and not ours.

This means that the first two parables can also be applicable from His perspective. God is working in a field and He finds a treasure. He sells everything He has to get that treasure. God is continually searching for valuable pearls, and when He finds one, He sells everything He has to get that pearl. God was willing to purchase all of humanity back through the death of His Son so that He could sort and save all who have chosen Him. Buying us back from sin cost God everything – and He would do it again because that is how much He values each of us!