Mark 11:16-18

The Voice

¹⁶and He physically prevented anyone from carrying anything through the temple.

Jesus (to those who were listening): ¹⁷Didn’t the prophets write, “My house will be called a house of prayer, for all the people”^[a]? But you have made it into a “haven for thieves.”^[b]

At the temple, Jesus responds in shock to the scene before Him. He acts decisively and with great emotion against those who have turned God’s house into a place where pilgrims are exploited. He has a message and, like the prophets of old, this message is better seen than heard. Because the temple leadership has allowed profiteers and merchants to set up shop in the court of the Gentiles, they are making ridiculous profits. For the people who come long distances to worship, it is a normal practice to have merchants selling animals for the pilgrims to sacrifice. What is not normal and what is immoral is where and how they transact business. Jesus takes issue with robbers profiteering in His Father’s house.

¹⁸The chief priests and the scribes heard these words and knew Jesus was referring to them, so they plotted His destruction. They had grown afraid of Him because His teachings struck the crowds into astonishment.

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