7. Amazed with Jesus when He Cleansed the Temple
7. Amazed with Jesus when He Cleansed the Temple.
“Life without wonder – radical amazement – is not worth living. It is the beginning of our happiness. Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement… get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible. Never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.” (Abraham Joshua Heschel).
I Stand Amazed | Celtic Worship ft. Steph Macleod
Jesus Christ engaged in a ministry of amazement, astonishment, wonder. Everywhere He traveled, He left people astounded and in awe. He caused a big stir wherever he went, and people left in His wake were amazed at who He was and what He was able to do, whether from His unusually wise teaching, His authoritative exorcisms, His unprecedented healings, His clever and insightful conversations, His dramatic miracles. It seemed everyone marveled at Jesus, despite His best efforts sometimes to be off the radar. There are three Greek synonyms that mean complete astonishment or radical amazement: ekplesso, thaumazo, and existemi. The differences between these three words, though, are fascinating. Are those of us who follow Jesus now, are we also amazed and astonished with Jesus?
“And the people were astonished (“ekplesso”) beyond measure, saying, ‘Everything He does is beautiful (“kalos”), and is done with excellence!” (Mark 7:37).
(1.) ASTONISHED: “ekplesso”; a strong Greek word for astonished; amazed; dumfounded; awestruck; overwhelmed at something extraordinary; struck out of one’s senses; takes your breath away, even to the point of panic. There were at least fifteen gospel events in which the Greek superlative “ekplesso” was used to communicate a radical amazement, astonishment, wonder at Jesus. Jesus was met with overwhelming astonishment after His Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 7:28); by His hometown friends as they rejected Him (Matt. 13:54); after His teaching on the inadequacy of wealth (Matt. 19:25); after His conversation with the Sadducees about heaven and the resurrection (Matt. 22:33); at His synagogue exorcism (Mark 1:22, 27); after His healing of the deaf and mute man (Mark 7:37); after He whipped the moneychangers in the Temple (Mark 11:18); at His brilliant level of understanding with the rabbis at just 12 years of age (Luke 2:48); after casting out a demon with just a word (Luke 4:32, 36); at the exorcism of a demon-possessed boy (Luke 9:43).
“And behold, a man from the crowd shouted out, ‘Master, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child! A spirit seizes him and suddenly he screams out and it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth! It mauls him and will scarcely leave him!’ Jesus answered, ‘Bring your son here to me.’ And even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him down to the ground and completely convulsed him. But Jesus severely rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the child, and then restored the boy to his father. And all were completely astounded (“ekplesso”) at the evidence of God’s mighty power, His majesty and His magnificence. While they were all marveling (“thaumazo”) at everything Jesus was doing…” (Luke 9:38-43).
(2.) MARVELED: “thaumazo”; another strong Greek word that means… marveled at, astonished by; amazed at; filled with wonder to the point of being bewildered; being awestruck in admiration. There were forty-four passages in the gospels in which people were greatly amazed by Jesus, astonished to the point of awed by Him. Included in the group of people who were completely amazed, “thaumazo’d” by Christ: the shepherds, Mary and Joesph, the disciples, the Pharisees, various crowds during His ministry, and even Pilate himself was astonished by Jesus and marveled at Him. People were amazed by everything from the angelic baby announcement, to various prophecies in Jesus’ young life, to the calming of the storm and the withering of the fig tree; from His miraculous exorcisms and healings to His teachings that always were on point and what were needed at the time.
“Then a blind and mute man under the power of a demon was brought to Jesus and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the crowds of people were overwhelmed with astonishment, stunned with amazement and practically out of their minds with wonder (“existemi”), and said, ‘This cannot be the Son of David, the Messiah, can it?” (Matt. 12:22-23).
(3.) FLABBERGASTED: “existemi”; an extreme word that means to be out of one’s mind with amazement; crazy with wonderment; a stunned astonishment so strong that one is beside oneself; to be overwhelmed so as to be bowled over; literally, to remove from a standing position. This word is used seventeen times in the gospels, including when Jesus healed and forgave the paralyzed man dropped through the ceiling of Peter’s house; when Jesus raised a young girl from the dead; when Jesus calmed the storm and casually climbed into the boat with His disciples; on the road to Emmaus when the disciples heard about the empty tomb from the women. Existemi is also used when the family of Jesus thought He was crazy, going out of His mind.
I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)
“When the time of the Jewish Passover was near Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and in the Temple He found people selling cattle and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting there. Making a whip out of cord, He drove them all out of the Temple, sheep and cattle as well, scattered the money changers’ coins, knocked their tables over, and said to the dove sellers, ‘Take all this out of here and stop using my Father’s House as a market! Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves!’ Then His disciples remembered the words of Scripture: ‘I am eaten up with zeal (“zelos”) for your House.” (John 2:13-18); “And the chief priests and the religious scholars heard of this and kept seeking some way to destroy Jesus, for they feared Him, because the entire multitude was struck with astonishment and were completely amazed (“ekplesso”) at what He did and said.” (Mark 10:18); “When the chief priests and the scholars of the Law saw the wonderful and marvelous things (“thaumazo”) that Jesus did, and the boys and girls crying out in the porches and courts in the Temple, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ they were indignant.” (Mat. 21:15).
Zeal in New Testament – zelos (dzay-los) = The Greek word that means spiritually fervent to the point of being hot, seething; the root word refers to boiling water, a glowing solid, or something that is so hot it is bubbling to the surface.
Zeal in Hebrew Bible – qinah (kin – naw) = the Hebrew word that means intense fervor, fiery passion, an emotion that is greater than mere anger.
Boiling Mad. Jesus was indeed deeply moved when He saw the Temple being desecrated with cattle, sheep, doves, and dishonest money changers in the Temple courtyard. In fact, He was seething, He was boiling mad with righteous indignation. Various translations put this down as a fiery passion that consumed Him, a zeal that ate Him up and devoured Him. The Hebrew word for zeal and for jealousy come from the same root word and are linked in intensity and purpose. Jesus was zealous on behalf of the Father. Jesus knew that the marketplace in the Temple insulted God, kept others from worship, and so Jesus took it personally for the Father’s sake. Jesus was consumed in jealousy for the Father’s honor.
Advocate for the Non-Jews. The area of the Temple being used as a marketplace was the Court of the Gentiles. It was the only precinct in the entire Temple that allowed non-Jews to come from all over the world to worship the God of the Israelites. With all the commerce being conducted, and all the animals and furniture and crowds of people doing business, the Gentiles were being excluded from worship. Jesus vehemently rejected this idea, and strongly believed that excluding the Gentiles was offensive to God, and violated the sanctity of the Temple. Jesus well-understood the importance of Gentiles hearing the Word of the Lord and worshiping. Jesus was serious about having the Temple welcoming to non-Jews. The Court of the Gentiles must be taken back for proper worship and prayer. With Jesus, it was as good as done. The non-Jews couldn’t have found a better advocate.
Loan Sharks and Traffickers. Here’s the problem. Jesus has seen that Temple use has become defiled through its compromise with commercialization. He wants the Temple to return to its roots, pure and holy, a place set apart for Yahweh and prayer. The Temple has become sullied, and Jesus is taking this very personally. The merchants are overcharging for animals purchased for sacrifice. They are charging exorbitant prices for their oxen, sheep and doves. Temple-goers don’t have a choice but to pay up if they want to make sacrifice in order to follow the Law of Moses. What’s going on is a racket, and everyone knows it, but nobody can do a thing about it. On top of that, the Temple doesn’t allow Roman coins to be used in the Temple commerce, since the head of Caesar is on the coin, which would defile the Temple. So there are profiteers taking advantage of this, money changers who deal in exchanging Temple coins for those forbidden Roman coins, and overcharging in the exchange. Once again, what can one do to get around that? Nothing. So the poor who come to the Temple are exploited, and then are excluded if they can’t afford the prices. If they decide to pay the exorbitant prices, they have very little left for their daily needs. Also, the Temple raked in the profits through the Temple taxes that everyone had to pay to conduct business. The Temple made out like bandits in that tax system. There were dishonest and disingenuous profits everywhere in this process. In modern terms, this is called an organized crime syndicate, and it continued because the Temple had all the authority in this case. Jesus exploded when he saw this whole dishonest scenario. It insulted God, it tainted the Temple, and it was unjust to the poor and the Gentiles. The whole system was corrupt and it was done with impunity. It’s easy to see why St. Jerome described Jesus this way as he thought about the cleansing of the Temple… “For a certain fiery and starry light shone from his eyes, and the majesty of God gleamed in his face!” According to Scripture, Jesus purified the Temple in this way twice… first as a warning at the beginning of his ministry as recorded in John, and later as a final judgment close to the end after the Triumphal Entry as recorded in Matthw, Mark and Luke. If He had lived any longer, He no doubt would have done it a third time. That’s how much He must have hated anything that violated the purity and sanctity of the Temple, especially if it was unjust, dishonest, and exclusive.
Righteous Indignation. Watching Jesus in anger mode, the disciples remembered Ps. 69:9. It has been translated in various ways. “Zeal for your house has eaten me up.” “My passion consumes me for your house.” And even, “Concern for God’s house will be my undoing,” which is very interesting. He was expressing a righteous anger that is alien to us other humans. We are told not to be angry, and for good reason. Jesus has an utterly pure heart without mixed motives. He has God’s heart. He can express all the anger He wants, because it will never devolve into sin. In matters of justice, especially, we can feel a spark of righteous indignation that truly does reflect the heart of God. But it seems wise to be careful and watch ourselves when that happens. For most of us, it is a slippery slope from righteous indignation to unrighteous indignation. Our hearts are not pure enough, our motives are mixed and our emotions tainted. Scripture tells us very clearly to confront injustice. But our hatred for an injustice can turn quickly to a hatred for the people involved and an activism that devolves into destruction. We are wise to refrain from following Jesus into the temple-cleansing business.
The Word. In the midst of His fury, Jesus quoted two verses from the Hebrew Bible. Isaiah 56:7, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” And Jeremiah 7:11, that His house has become a “den of thieves.” We just assume that Jesus had the Word of God on the tip of His tongue as if the Word was put there by osmosis. As if by virtue of Jesus being Messiah, He had merely been downloaded Scripture, through no effort of His own. The fact is He was raised in an orthodox Jewish home and He had thus been raised in Scripture from infancy. He had to learn the Word like any other person… Study, discussion, prayer, memorization. Jesus had been exposed to His Bible since birth, and He had gone to the trouble of memorizing it. By the time He was thirty, He could quote any verse for any occasion. He worked hard to learn Scripture. The entire Hebrew Bible was probably hidden in His heart.
Safe for the Needy. How does one describe the personality of Jesus? There’s so much we don’t understand about how He operated from one moment to the next. The “Fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23) does indeed give us a picture of His personality, but not the whole picture. For example, here we find Jesus with a scary flash of fire in His eyes. He is extremely frustrated and angry. He is consumed by zeal, a “fiery passion.” And yet, immediately following His display of righteous temper in Matthew 21:14-15, we find Him welcoming the blind, the crippled, and many children! One moment He is fashioning a whip to use on merchants, and the next moment He is tenderly healing the blind and the crippled, and appreciating the praises of children. He was a person to avoid one minute, and then a safe place the next. How does one explain that? What would that look like? The personality of Jesus is never described fully in the Gospels. We are even more left in the dark if we don’t study all those scenes in which He was “deeply moved.” But in this incident we see quite a lot. Being both God and man, His personality was pretty much indescribable.
The Holy Critique. As N. T. Wright once said, “When Jesus purified the Temple, He was providing a signpost to God’s future.” After Jesus disrupted business and cleared out the Temple, the outraged Temple leaders asked Jesus a question. Who gave Him the authority to do such a thing? It is curious that the Temple had their own Temple guards, and priests, and scribes, and law scholars, all watching this whole event in the Temple. And yet they seemed dumfounded and frozen during Jesus’ tirade. Here was this upstart rabbi acting like a king. He was in control of the scene, disrupting Temple business, wiping out their money-making system, and in a sense rebuking the whole Temple priesthood for cooperating in this system. He very intentionally upstaged the Temple, hinted at the future futility of animal sacrifice, and He pointed to God’s future for His followers. Yet the leadership all just stood there and didn’t lift a finger to stop it. Roman soldiers were certainly standing around as well and listening to the huge ruckus, but there was no attempt on their part to intervene. Everyone seemed paralyzed. Finally, when the cleansing was finished, someone had the obvious question for Jesus. Who gave you the authority to do such an audacious thing? Jesus decided to not state the obvious, that He had God’s authority, since they wouldn’t have believed that any way. Jesus decided to be coy and gave them a non-answer. Jesus chose to leave them all scratching their heads.
What About Right Now? After His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, where did He head first thing? The Temple, His Father’s House for prayer and worship. It makes sense, then, that, as Peter says in 1 Peter 4:17, “Judgment begins with the household of God.” It seems to be a pattern… Jesus judged the Temple first back then, and apparently He will judge the Church first now. If Jesus judges the Church now the way He purified the Temple back then, let’s consider these factors: (1.) Awareness. His eyes were wide open back then, and they will be wide open once again. Nothing escapes His attention. The same should be regarding us who are ‘in Jesus.’ Be aware of what is going on in the Church. Cultivate the eyesight of the Lord and notice what is going on around us. Is there anything that is disrupting or interfering with prayer and worship in our church? Anything that is proving to be a distraction, or is frustrating the work of the Holy Spirit? (2.) Courage. Jesus had the bravery to follow through on His convictions of what is right and what is wrong. He was not passive or fearful. There will be times believers will need to courageously confront those aspects in Church which conflict with biblical morals or gospel virtues. Anything less is cowardice, which has no place in a follower of Christ; (3.) Scripture. What seemed to infuriate Jesus the most was how it violated the words of Scripture. The Word was His reference point and established the grid with which He judged things in the Temple. Is this true now? Do we consistently hold up the Scripture as our reference point in the life of the church? If not, there needs to be a spiritual correction, if not a serious conversation, perhaps even a righteous confrontation; (4.) Holy Stubbornness. In Mark’s rendition of this incident, he mentioned that Jesus even went so far as to block the way of anyone who wanted to return and do the same thing… “He stood in the way.” (Mark 11:16). He kicked out the animals and loan sharks, and then he refused to allow anything or anyone to enter that would dishonor the Father again. Jesus just stood there, probably with His hands on His hips, daring anyone to try that again. This wasn’t a mere momentary cleansing in a fit of pique. He didn’t allow a repeat of all that outrageous behavior in the Court of the Gentiles. He wanted the Gentiles to return, to worship and pray as the Father intended. He wanted to make sure the Temple leadership got the point of His hands-on critique. (5.) Interaction. Amazingly, once the temperature was turned down, Jesus engaged in a conversation with the Temple leaders. Do we do the same thing in our differences of opinion in the church? Do we candidly put our cards on the table and lovingly discuss what needs to be discussed with the grace of Christ? (6.) Servanthood. It is astounding that Jesus ministered to the physically needy and to the children immediately after this rather wild expression of zeal. Jesus can’t even help Himself in showing compassion. It is at the core of His character and purpose. Are we more focused on our differences in the Church than on serving the needy around us? Are we approachable like Jesus, even after a confrontation?
Another Temple. Each of us has a body which is also a temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and everything mentioned above regarding the church is also true of seeing our body as sacred, a worshipful place given to us with which to honor God and which enables us to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice (Romans 12). Jesus through His Spirit seeks to come to each of us and purify it from any earthly pursuits that would dishonor God or keep us from living into His purposes. The Lord wants to purify our hearts like He purified the Temple Court, keeping us clean from that which is unholy, distracting, and anything which will interfere with our life of worship and reverence.
John 2: 13-21 Jesus Cleanses the Temple (youtube.com)