Journey With Jesus 365ናሙና

Malachi 3:1 declares, “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple.” This prophecy points to John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus, and to Jesus Himself, who came to His temple. The next verse asks, “But who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fuller’s soap.”

Dr. H.A. Ironside explains that what may have begun innocently—providing lambs for visiting Passover guests and exchanging money for foreign travelers—had degenerated into greed and corruption. The marketplace in the temple had become a hub of commercialism, dishonoring God and undermining the sanctity of worship. The bleating of sheep and the cooing of doves disrupted the solemnity of the Lord’s house, as merchants sought only to enrich themselves. By commercializing sacred practices, they obscured spiritual truths and made the house of God a place of business. This blatant irreverence provoked Jesus to assert His authority as the Lord of the temple.

Jesus’ indignation was justified. The ruling priests mandated the use of special temple currency for offerings, profiting from the exchange. Travelers from distant lands had to purchase sacrificial animals at inflated prices. Those selling cattle, sheep, and doves were profiteering, reducing sacred rituals to a means of personal gain. In doing so, they stripped the temple of reverence and overshadowed the spiritual lessons that pointed to Christ.

When Jesus cleansed the temple, He confronted this mockery of worship. In His later cleansing, He declared, “It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13). With righteous anger, He drove out those who turned the temple into a marketplace. The words of John 2:17, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up,” reflect Psalm 69:9, affirming that this psalm partially prophesied the Messiah’s actions. Jesus’ actions restored the temple’s sanctity, emphasizing that true worship is not about empty ceremonies but a reverence for God.

Why do you think Jesus’ response to the corruption in the temple was so passionate and immediate?

What does the phrase “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up” teach us about prioritizing God’s holiness in our lives?

How might you apply the lesson of cleansing the temple to your personal spiritual life? Are there “marketplaces” of distraction or sin you need to remove to make room for true worship?