The Cleansing of the Temple

In the courtyard of the temple, Jesus denounces the way in which worshippers from abroad were being cheated by excessive rates of exchange.    Birds and animals required for sacrifice were sold at exorbitant prices.   The powerful benefited at the expense of the powerless.

In a burst of anger, he upturned the trading tables and scattered the gold coins.  Bird cages were knocked over, doors fell ajar, and the doves flew away.

This scene expresses a judgement on the religious sacrificial system as it was practised.  It had become commercialized and exploitive.   It was a supreme blasphemy that this holy setting, intended to be a place of prayer, had degenerated into a business-house filled with racketeers, where dishonest transactions were permitted and tolerated.  The old system of worship had to be destroyed in order that a new one might take its place.

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