Jesus and the money changers

[JesusHChrist]

[CindysRain]

John Chapter 2
13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,

14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;

16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.


I was taught that this whole temper tantrum had to do with the selling and buying in god's house.

But then who knows? This is the same man who threw a tantrum over a fig tree because it only had leaves and no fruit.

[John S]

Jesus seemed quite put out over the money changers at the temple, pretty much his only act of violence, curiously.

However, in Matthew 19, when asked about the 10 Commandments;




18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.





In view of that, I am hard pressed to see where the money changers were screwing up. Am I missing something, or is Jesus, for lack of a better term, inconsistent ?

He was pissed at them because they were doing business on, what was supposed to be, a holy place. In fact, it was the holiest place in all of Judaism at the time.
In showing that times haven't changed much, the conservative religious leaders got angry at Him, and this was one of the reasons why they made sure that He was killed - along with all of the liberal stuff that He was preaching.

[ShaMan]

I'm pretty sure Jesus was their bookie, and he was sending a message to anyone else who didn't pay.

[Minimalist]

In fact, it was the holiest place in all of Judaism at the time.

Not the Court of the Gentiles.

Whoever concocted this absurd story knew damned little about the functioning of the temple.

[Welsh cake]

Besides, the Court of the Gentiles was one of the outer areas of the temple and literally meant that non-jews could freely enter it.

What a greedy f**ker that god of the jews is.

Not only does he want jews worshiping him, but now everyone else too?

He better not force them all to eat at the same table together like "equals" or something, or I'll get really mad. ;P

-- seems like sufficient cause for executing him by the manner they did, which was a punishment reserved for the worst of the worst, and included political adversaries.

Times haven't changed.

You can believe whatever the hell you want. But screw with the church's income and revenue, and they'll literally crucify you.

[Crossless2.0]

Assuming there was some kind of demonstration in the outer precincts of the Temple, and given the way the story is told in the Gospel accounts, I've never really understood Jesus' motivation. What -- the Temple was to be defiled by graven images? What exactly was the "wrong" committed by the money changers? They performed a necessary function.

[John S]

Assuming there was some kind of demonstration in the outer precincts of the Temple, and given the way the story is told in the Gospel accounts, I've never really understood Jesus' motivation. What -- the Temple was to be defiled by graven images? What exactly was the "wrong" committed by the money changers? They performed a necessary function.

...but not on temple property. This was SUPPOSED to be holy - and therefore off limits to business being performed there.
In today's terms, it would be like speculators on Wall Street doing their business in churches, with all of the screaming and yelling.
Is there a place where you would find this kind of business being performed there to be offensive?

[Purplundy]

[ShaMan]