Jesus Stops Trading in the Temple
Welcome to Day 296 of our journey with Jesus. Today, we see what happened when people met Jesus. The main truth for today is this: Jesus stops trading in the temple and challenges people who have turned a place of prayer into a place of wrongdoing. Let’s begin.
Current details of the journeyView the calendar, Episode and passage
Jesus in Action
Mark 11:15–19
Step 1 of 5
- Day 296 Meet You are here
- Day 297 Listen
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Day 298 Discover Coming next
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Day 299 Question Coming next
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Day 300 Respond Coming next
See what happened when people met Jesus.
Yesterday Jesus’ authority was challenged; today He acts with that authority inside the temple itself.
Jesus enters the temple and begins driving out those buying and selling there. He overturns the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling pigeons, and He will not allow merchandise to be carried through the temple.
My House Shall Be Called a House of Prayer.
Jesus explains His action with Scripture. He quotes Isaiah’s vision of God’s house as “a house of prayer for all the nations.” Worship is meant to turn people toward God, not become a system that obscures Him.
A Den of Robbers.
Jesus then invokes Jeremiah: “But you have made it a den of robbers.” He is not merely objecting to noise or inconvenience. He condemns a religious environment in which sacred activity has become compatible with corruption.
Authority in the Temple.
Jesus does not ask permission from the chief priests before acting. His intervention provokes their hostility because He behaves as One with authority to judge what is happening in God’s house.
The Crowd Is Astonished.
The leaders seek a way to destroy Him, while the crowd is astonished at His teaching. The road to the cross now passes directly through Jesus’ confrontation with corrupted worship.
Tomorrow, listen carefully to the Scriptures Jesus uses to explain why this worship has become intolerable.
Consider this.
What does this encounter reveal about Jesus?
Notice the encounter
Read Mark 11:15–19 and watch what Jesus does when worship has been distorted.
