Sin in the Temple

February 27

In two verses, Matthew captures the image of Jesus overturning the moneychangers’ tables, as well as evicting all buyers and sellers from the Temple. The Temple was supposed to be a “house of prayer,” He said, but they had turned it into a “den of thieves.” (Matthew 12:12–13) What a rebuke! So, what exactly was going on here?

Matthew highlights two things: those buying and selling and those exchanging money. We’ll look at the second one first.

Exchanging Money

Jewish worshipers often traveled considerable distances across the Roman empire to worship in Jerusalem. When they arrived, they had to pay the Temple Tax, along with other tithes, offerings, and alms. It was quite expensive. Because Roman coins had idolatrous images on them, it was also offensive to pay with pagan coins. To remedy the problem, people set up tables where they could exchange Roman currency for honorable Jewish Temple money. Of course, this exchange came at a price, and the “convenience fee” was exacted during the exchange. This transaction was quite lucrative. The money-changers were notorious for using differing weights and unjust measures. (Proverbs 20:10, 23). In Leviticus 25:36, God had condemned taking financial taking advantage of other Jews, but it seems that the last concern of these people was adhering to the Law.

Buying and Selling

Because many Jewish pilgrims traveled great distances, it could prove very difficult to maintain a healthy, unblemished animal to sacrifice at the Temple. Think about it: What if, while traveling many miles, a perfect sheep broke its leg on the way up the slopes to Jerusalem? Suddenly, the worshiper would no longer have a suitable animal for sacrifice. (Leviticus 22:22)

Some entrepreneurs made it convenient for those pilgrims by having unblemished animals in-house and ready for purchase. But again, with a “convenience fee.”

Exchanging money with unjust weights and measures, price gouging the sale of sacrificial animals, and at the head of it all was a former high priest—Annas! To make matters worse, he was the father-in-law of the current high priest, Caiaphas. (John 18:13) An entire process designed by God Himself to point the Jewish people to the Messiah had been utterly defiled, turned into exactly what Jesus had labeled it: a den of thieves.

All of this took place in the Court of the Gentiles. But why is this detail important? The Jewish Temple consisted of several courts: the Court of the Gentiles, Court of the Women, and Court of the Men. Women could not go into the Court of the Men, and Gentiles could not go into either the Courts of the Men or Women.

Now do you see? The only thing the Gentiles knew of worshiping the Jewish God was what they saw in the Court of the Gentiles. They knew nothing of the Jewish God. What they did know, however, was that the place dedicated to His worship was filled with corruption, extortion, and all manner of deceit, and the victims were those just there trying to honor the Lord—the true worshipers.

This made Jesus mad, and rightfully so!

Application

William J. Toms said, “Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some person ever reads.” That’s very true. Many unbelievers will never open a Bible. So, we may be their only representation of the Gospel.

Now, that’s a sobering thought, isn’t it? So, if someone never reads a physical or digital Bible, what will they know about God based on what they see in you and me?

© Copyright 2026 Craig Beaman