Money Changers In The Temple

Now days before the crucifixion and coming resurrection, Jesus has arrived at the Temple riding on the foal of a Donkey to the lauds and praise of the crowd. Already in motion, is the plot to “silence” him. This is not his first trip to the Temple, he has done so before.  On that occasion (John 2:13-25), Jesus saw things in the Temple that were wrong and not seeing the religious authorities doing anything about it, Jesus chased the perpetrators out.  Money Changers, people engaged in currency exchange and animals and birds that were for sale to those coming to Jerusalem to worship (John 2:16; Matthew 21:12). Now he enters the Temple again, and once again sees these same events (Matt.21:12-13; Mk. 11:15-18; Lke. 19:45-48). Now for a second time, Jesus chases these people out of the Temple.

In our world today, especially if we are not acquainted with the traditions, the Biblical Law and matters, we might wonder what the big deal is. Let’s look at some things together:

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    The temple, or the area being spoken of here is the “hieron,” in the outer courtyard. Not the sanctuary where only priests were allowed (the naos). This is commonly called the Court of the Gentiles as seen in the picture above.  According to Jewish tradition the Messiah will enter Jerusalem from the east. Jesus entered Jerusalem through the East gate (also referred to as the Golden Gate) as he came down from the Mount of Olives and entered the Temple (Lke 19:28-48)

     Money changers. Foreign money (Roman currency, Greek Currency etc.) was not allowed to be offered in the Temple. As such, the money had to be changed into the half-shekel of Hebrew currency. This would necessitate “money changers,” or what would be like an ancient ATM where you could exchange one country’s currency for another.  Ferrell Jenkins in his Travel Blog points out that it is generally held that the coin used by the Jews for the temple tax was the Tyre shekel, which after 19 B.C. was most likely minted in Jerusalem (cf. Hendin, Guide to Biblical Coins, 175). Alfred Edersheim, who wrote a book on The Temple: Its Ministry and Services, pointed out that the total sum derived annually from the Temple tribute was large.  

What was so wrong with this? Jesus exclaimed a quote from Isaiah, "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer,' but you have made it a den of robbers (Lk.19:46)." How so?  The act of the money changers in the Temple was a profanity of the Temple itself. The Temple was a house of Worship and prayer and the religious authorities had allowed merchants to come in and make what was to be a joyful experience, a solemn, prayerful and insightful experience into something of hardship and commerce.  They were a den of robbers because they were gouging people in the exchange of coinage and offering purchase of sacrificial animals at exorbitant rates. A lot like going to a theater today and having to pay $5 for a $1 cola.  

There are several warnings here. 

1. First, is that God’s assemblies, churches, temples are NEVER to be places where usury, or commerce. God’s house is always a place of worship, prayer, and communing with God.  
2. Second, man does not have authority to make God’s house something it is not. When we do, we face the wrath of God.

We would do well to heed these warnings, and work toward making worship the spiritual experience and learning that it was always meant to be.

Jim

Throw Up - Sometimes It's the Best Thing

“You must also rid yourself of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.”

Col. 3:8

Notice the word RID here. In the original language it means to put away from, throw away, be rid of, divest yourself of, PURGE! That’s strong language.  It has the same connotation as your stomach throwing up something that is sour, spoiled or poison.  Now notice what Paul says to throw up from your life as a Godly person. Anger, Rage, Malice, Slander, Filthy Language.

We all have a certain amount of emotional energy. In conversations involving conflict, you can use the energy to fix blame or to resolve the problem.  One, looks for an excuse, ANY excuse not to have to deal with the issue.  It will always be someone else, something else and never what I can do. It will never look for a solution because it is too busy trying feel important, blame others, blame things, blame situations – never look for ways to resolve or reconcile issues. So you've got to ask yourself what’s more important, to blame the other person or to resolve the conflict. Too often we choose the former because we feel it is easier.  It is a product of our society today – why fix something? Just go get a new one. However, that is not so easy when others feelings, emotions, - SOULS are at stake

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So, let’s consider Paul’s advice.  As a Christian, especially in conflicts there are things I need to throw away from me.

1. ANGER – the word here is the word from which we get passion, however here it is violent passion.  The idea is that we all know what it takes to set us off, or set something off. When in conversations with others that we know are going to be emotional – GET RID of anger before the conversation starts, or reschedule the conversation for another time when you can keep things under control.  Prov.17:14, “The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.”
2. RAGE – the word here again is passion, but it is used in the sense of the fierceness of a bull.  Other places in the Bible this is called “Gnashing of Teeth” when used in proximity to anger. Here Paul is using it in connection with anger as the two are cousins. When anger is chronic in your life, RAGE is not far behind. Rage is the out of control part of anger, and has no place in someone who seeks peace. To be a peacemaker you have to have the mind of God, and you can’t have that if you are given to rage.  Mat 5:9  "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
3. MALICE - is the vice which lies below anger and wrath, as a root or spring.  That is because this word rather than emotion, is directly associated with my intent.  It is one thing to be angry, another to fly into a fit of rage on an occasion. But to deliberately do either is malice and speaks to forethought. It is what leads to murder.  It has NO good in it and if you are harboring it, you are harboring Satan in your heart and not God.
4. SLANDER – The word here in the original language is blasphemy, as used in the since of vilifying someone. Saying things to make the other person look bad, lay blame, fault etc. Its brother is malice, because to do this involves forethought. Gossip is the 2^nd cousin as is backbiting. They all hang around together. This and its cousins were what drove the nails in Jesus’ hands.
5. FILTHY LANGUAGE - “abusive conversation.” This involves quite a few things, especially as borrowed from the above. The emphasis is that the language is intended to “abuse” rather than just be polluting. This is made likely by the words in context, anger, rage, malice, et.al. It is the same thing that Peter does in the courtyard while Jesus is undergoing his trial. He allows his language and oaths to become base and abusive so as to sound like the crowd and not be associated with Jesus. When we do it, it is the same.

The reason we need to focus ridding our lives and hearts of these things, is that they are all a form of judging. You’re not the judge. You can’t figure out anybody else’s motivation on anything, we don’t know our own motivations most of the time! Only God knows and only He can be the judge. We need to “..work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Ph’p.2:12)” and work on getting ungodly habits and things out of our own lives before we try to get something out of someone else’s. 

Jim

VENTING

Even the most level-headed among us deal with anger and frustration at some point. A common reaction? Venting. We've all done it. But what's the best way to handle being on the receiving end of someone's vent session? Harvard Business Review's Mark Goulston explains.

Disclaimer: It's probably not a good idea to read this before you eat.

I still remember how it felt when, as a medical student, I drained my first abscess in a patient. We called the procedure "I & D" which stands for "Incision and Drainage." (I told you not to read this just before you eat!)

When you do an I & D, you locate what is the most protruding and bulging part of the abscess, wipe it off with alcohol, then pierce it with a scalpel. At that point the pus comes out first, followed by any blood. After this procedure, you may put the person on an antibiotic. Over time, the wound heals from the inside out. If you don't drain the abscess first, and just start with the antibiotics, the undrained pus may prevent the wound from healing.

Today as a practicing business psychiatrist and CEO advisor, I've noticed that when you're faced with an upset customer, client, employee, shareholder, child, parent, spouse, or friend, it can actually feel like they're bulging with emotion and about to explode. Your instinctual and intuitive reaction may be to try to calm them down, urge them to cool off, suggest it's not worth getting so upset about. And sometimes that may work. But in cases where they're really upset, you may need to drain their emotional abscess just as you would have to do with a physical abscess. In those situations, asking them to calm down before they've vented will be about as useful as skipping straight to antibiotics before cleaning their wound.

And yet a lot of people don't know how to listen to someone venting. Usually, people take one of two attitudes. Option 1 is to jump in and give advice—but this is not the same as listening, and the person doing the venting may respond with "Just listen to me! Don't tell me what to do."

Option 2 (usually attempted after Option 1) is to swing to the other extreme, and sit there silently. But this doesn't actively help the person doing the venting to drain their negative emotions. Consequently, it's about as rewarding as venting to your dog.

The way to listen when someone is venting is to ask them the following three questions:

What Are You Most Frustrated About?

This is a good question because when you ask them about their feelings, it often sounds condescending. And if you start out focusing on their anger, it sounds as if you're coldly telling them to get a hold on themselves, which may work, but more often will just cause the pressure inside them to build up even more. However, asking them about their frustration is less judgmental and can have the same effect as sticking a scalpel into their abcess.

Let them vent their feelings and when they finish, pick any of their words that had a lot of emotion attached. These can be words such as "Never," "Screwed up," or any other words spoken with high inflection. Then reply with, "Say more about "never" (or "screwed up," etc.) That will help them drain even more.

What Are You Most Angry About?

This is where their emotional pus drains. Again let them finish and have them go deeper by asking them, "Say more about _________ ." Don't take issue with them or get into a debate, just know that they really need to get this off their chest—and if you listen without interrupting them, while also inviting them to say even more, they will.

If you struggle to listen when someone is venting because intense negative feelings make you feel upset yourself, try this: Look them straight in the left eye (which is connected to their right emotional brain) and imagine you are looking into the eye of a hurricane, allowing whatever they're yelling to go over your shoulders instead of hitting you straight in your eyes.

What Are You Really Worried About?

This is like the blood that comes out of wound following the pus. It is as the core of their emotional wound. If you have listened and not taken issue with their frustration and anger, they will speak to you about what they're really worried about. Again push them to go deeper by asking them: "Say more about ___________." After they finish getting to the bottom of it, respond with, "Now I understand why you're so frustrated, angry, and worried. Since we can't turn back time, let's put our heads together to check out your options from here. Okay?"

Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone

List Price: $24.95Amazon.com: $16.78Add to Cart

As I've written before, when people are upset, it matters less what you tell them than what you enable them to tell you. After they get their feelings off their chest, that's when they can then have a constructive conversation with you. And not before.

How to Listen When Someone is Venting | Harvard Business Review

Mark Goulston, M.D., F.A.P.A. is a business psychiatrist, executive consultant, keynote speaker, and co-founder of Heartfelt Leadership. He is the author of Just Listen and co-author of Real Influence: Persuade Without Pushing and Gain Without Giving In (Amacom, 2013). Contact himhere.