Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’” Matthew 21:12-13
“It is where the trade is being carried out rather than how that is the focus of His displeasure. And that means that the protest is directed not so much against the traders themselves but against the priestly establishment who had allowed them to operate withing the sacred area. Commercial activity, however justified in itself, should not be carried out where people came to pray, and a temple regime which encouraged this had failed in its responsibility.”
R.T. France in The Gospel of Matthew (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007) 784.
It is fitting that the eight day retreat calls for confession on Holy Week Monday as it is the day Jesus cleansed the temple. France notes that the cleansing of the temple was sending a message to the religious establishment. The temple was to be a place of prayer, not commercial activity.
Let us draw the parallel to our own lives. We are to be people of prayer who are not preoccupied with commercial activity, which would demonstrate slavery or servitude to money. Our bodies are the temple of God. Our hearts are sacred areas, yet we allow sin to occupy space. So, how do we experience the cleansing of Jesus?
I think we follow the examples of Nehemiah (in Nehemiah 1:5-11) and Ezra (in Ezra 9:5-7). They were ordinary people, a house slave and a teacher, who confessed the sins of their people and included themselves. Let us confess our sins together on behalf of our people wherever we serve to experience cleansing.
For my part, I think of the seven deadly sins of Proverbs 6:16-19 as an outline or guide for prayer. These seven are the things that the Lord hates: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride. I also think of 1 Timothy 6:10 which presents greed or the love of money as a root for all manner of evil.
Essentially, in putting the money changers and merchants in the place of prayer, the religious leaders were exhibiting greed or the love of money rather than love of God. Each of us must be temples of God who remain people of prayer rather than people consumed with money which leads to all sorts of vices.
Father, forgive us for our disordered desires. Cleanse us of gluttony and self-centeredness. Free us from greed and the love of money. As we commune with you in prayer remind us that You are all we need. Awaken us from sloth. Rid us of wrath and envy. Wash away our pride. Do this by your Spirit, we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.