Luke 19:45-48

Israel’s Failure – Ritual and Structured Injustice

Luke 19:45-48  -  Jesus Stops Activity in the Temple

The Significance of the Temple

The Jerusalem temple expressed in stone the religious structure of Israel. In the minds of people generally the Temple was the focal point and physical embodiment of their whole religious and cultural system. To attack the Temple was to do violence to Israel. To assail Israel was to attack God.

At the centre of the building, inaccessible to all but the Chief Priest, was the Holy of Holies, the traditional residing place of God. The Holy of Holies was situated within the Court of the Priests, into which no one other than priests could enter. At its entrance was the altar, where the priests offered the sacrifices. The Court of Israel surrounded the Court of Priests. Jewish males only had access to that area.  In its turn the Court of Israel was located within a larger area, the Court of Women. Outside that again was the external court, the Court of the Gentiles. 

The layout reflected Israel’s sense of progressive levels of holiness. No one judged to be “unclean’, including those with any visible physical defect, could proceed beyond the Court of the Gentiles. Any Gentile who sought entry beyond the Court of the Gentiles would have been killed.

Most Jews needed to purchase their animals for sacrifice, since they could not realistically bring them with them. Jews from the diaspora also needed to exchange their foreign money for the currency reserved for use in the temple. Facilities for buying animals and changing money were located in the Court of the Gentiles.

The outer courtyard of the temple covered a very large area. The outer walls would have measured about 500 by 300 meters. It was hardly likely that a single person could close down operations within such a sprawling area. Jesus’ action was not unlike his action of the previous day. It was more a kind of “street theatre”.

By driving out the traders Jesus symbolically stopped the whole sacrificial activity within the temple. He negated its prime purpose. This was a radical paralysis of the heart of Judaism.

His reasons were clearly spelt out in the two texts he cited - from Isaiah and from Jeremiah.

Isaiah had written: 

Isaiah’s vision, shared by Jesus, was of a temple where all were welcome, both the outcasts of Israel as well as foreigners. Such a vision was the opposite of what in fact it had become. Luke’s interest, however, seemed to focus more on the outcasts of Israel than on the foreigners, since he omitted from his citation Isaiah’s explicit reference for all peoples. Though he was writing for a community of foreigners, his community was not concerned any longer about their welcome within Israel. By the time Luke was writing, Israel had chosen to go its own way. Luke, however, was interested in the fact that Jesus saw a house of genuine prayer as open to outcasts. That issue was always relevant to the Christian community. 

Jeremiah’s concern was different: 

Jeremiah’s reference to the temple’s having become a den of robbers was not an indictment of those who were selling things there. The robbers were the leaders and others in Israel who had distorted the purposes of the temple and of worship for their own ends. It was not an indictment of worship, but of injustice that sought vindication under the guise of piety.

Jesus had no prior discussions with the chief priests, the scribes, and the lay aristocrats. They were not open to dialogue. But they were obviously not fools. They saw the challenge that Jesus presented to them. His public flouting of their honour and of their authority, even of their very roles, had alarmed them. They kept looking for a way to destroy him, but they could not afford to disturb the people. Festivals were always dangerous times in Jerusalem. People had time on their hands; their religious fervour was at fever pitch. They greatly disliked the Roman occupation and were critical of their leaders’ collaboration.

Next >> Luke 20:1-8