Jesus Cleanses the Temple Bible Stories Jesus Drives the Money Changers from the Temple

This tale takes place towards the end of Jesus' life, at the time of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem for his final Passover, known as the Last Supper. Passover is one of the most important Jewish holidays, and has been celebrated since the time of Moses. To remember how Moses led his people from Egypt through the desert and back to Israel. During Jesus' lifetime, it was very common for people from all across the land of Israel to make their way to the holy city of Jerusalem in order to celebrate this holiest of times. Jesus too made the journey to Jerusalem for Passover. He and his followers journeyed across the land in order to make it to Jerusalem in time for the holiday. However, while most pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem were doing so with excitement, looking forward to seeing family and friends and celebrating the holiday, Jesus went towards Jerusalem with a very different mindset. You see, Jesus knew that soon he would have to sacrifice his life for the good of mankind, and that this journey was to be one of his last. Across the land people spoke of Jesus as the King of the Jews, and people knew that the As they neared the city of Jerusalem, Jesus and his followers made a quick stop outside of a town called Bethphage. For many years, the Jews believed that their Savior would arrive riding an animal of peace. While horses were used for war and fighting, donkeys were used for farming and were a peaceful animal. And so Jesus told his two disciples, Untie the donkey and take it with us. Fear not. If anybody sees you and asks why you are untying it, simply tell them the Lord needs it. I promise you that they shall understand, and there will not be a problem. The two disciples knew that they should trust whatever Jesus told them, and so they made their way off into the town. Sure enough, as they entered the town of Bethphage, the two disciples quickly found the young donkey that Jesus had spoken of. They lost no time getting to work untying it, and soon brought it with them back outside of the town, where Jesus was waiting. When they arrived back, Jesus was pleased to see that they had found the animal he had spoken of. The two disciples placed their cloaks on the back of the donkey for Jesus to sit. Jesus continued the last leg of their journey to Jerusalem. Come followers, we are almost there. After not long, the group arrived at the gates of Jerusalem. Jesus then made his triumphant entrance into the city as the king of the Jews. He entered the city, and crowds gathered and lined the streets to greet him. The people recognized Jesus as the Messiah that they were promised, and called out the victory cry of Hosanna, which means, save now. Hosanna! They took their cloaks and jackets and laid them on the ground in front of Jesus' donkey to show their respect and worship. Other people grabbed large branches of palm trees and waved them in celebration as Jesus made his way through the city. Soon, people everywhere were waving these giant palm trees in celebration. This was the beginning of the Christian celebration known as Palm Sunday, which is still celebrated by Christians all around the world today. Once Jesus had made his triumphant entry into the holy city of Jerusalem, he headed towards the Great Temple. The Great Temple had long been a place of pilgrimage for the Jews, first built thousands of years ago by King Solomon, only to be destroyed and rebuilt again by Herod the Great King, just before Jesus himself was born. Like many other pilgrims, Jesus wanted to visit the temple for Passover and offer his worship to God. Him and the disciples made their way through the busy streets of Jerusalem until they reached the temple. The Great Temple is just ahead. Let us offer our love and devotion in the holiest house of the Lord. When Jesus and his disciples entered the temple, they were surprised with what they found. The temple was supposed to be the holiest of places, the house of God, and yet everywhere they looked, there were merchants selling their goods, money changers exchanging gold for cash, and animals that were being sold to be used as sacrifices for God. It was clear to Jesus and the disciples that these vendors and money changers were using all the fact there were so many visitors come to visit the temple for Passover as a way to make lots of money. Jesus could not believe that these folk would disrespect the worship of God by simply trying to make money in his temple. Worshippers brought animals and sacrificed them to show their gratitude to God, but these corrupt temple leaders only cared about creating a business opportunity to profit from. Although Jesus was normally calm and peaceful, this was too much. Suddenly, and to the surprise of all those around him, Jesus grew angry. How can this be? The temple is supposed to be a holy place, the home of our Lord. This temple was built so that we may show the Lord our love and devotion, and yet you have turned it into a den of thieves. With this, Jesus picked up a bunch of cords from a nearby merchant's table and turned it into a whip. He turned to the vendors and money changers and made sure they understood he would not stand for their disrespect for God. How dare you disrespect the house of the Lord and turn it into a den of thieves? The people in the courtyard were shocked. This was Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Holy Savior, and he was angry. The disciples too were shocked. They had always known Jesus as a kind and patient leader, and to see him so upset was something they never expected. As Jesus whipped all the money and gold and other goods from the tables, the vendors began to flee. Be gone from here! Enough of this disrespect towards God! As the vendors ran from Jesus' show of righteous anger, he turned his attention to the cages full of animals that were going to be sold as sacrifices. He began to set them all free and encouraged them to run from the table. Go! Be gone from here! There will be no more sale of animals in the temple of God! The religious leaders were furious with Jesus for his bravery to defy them. They watched in anger as the common folk fell in awe of Jesus. As he cleansed the temple of sin, more and more common folk came to the temple. They also wished to see this in the flesh, this mighty man of Jesus, who had the bravery to stand up to the religious leaders and cleanse the temple of their greed. From far and wide, the sick and poor came to see Jesus in the temple. There he practiced God's work by healing the sick and teaching lessons about the importance of God's love. But the righteous leaders were watching. Jesus' popularity made them angry, as they feared he would soon have more power than them. They were made mad by the love that the people had for him, and jealous of his holiness and ability to perform miracles. And so, although Jesus had passionately cleansed the temple of wrongdoing, this was to only be the beginning of Jesus' struggles during his time in Jerusalem, as soon after the religious leaders would look to take out their revenge. But at least for those days of Passover, Jesus had restored order and holiness to the temple of God by cleansing it of sin and greed. The end.