15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.
Having seen the disgrace taking place in the temple courtyard, Jesus took swift and decisive holy action that created a scene of pandemonium.
15 When He had made a whip of cords,
Malachi predicted that there would be a sudden cleansing of the temple in order to purify religion in Israel (Mal 3:1-3).
The “whip” here was used for herding large animals. The synoptics do not refer to Jesus’ whipping of merchants in the temple, which is another indication that this is a different cleansing of the temple.
He drove them all out of the temple,
Jesus used force to resolve the issue in this case. “All” is masculine and implies that He drove out the merchants.
with the sheep and the oxen,
Jesus not only drove out the merchants in the temple but also their animals.
and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.
The Lord turned over the money-changing tables, spilling money on the ground. Jesus was not out of control with His anger. He was angry, but He did not sin (Eph 4:26).
PRINCIPLE:
Jesus is the ultimate answer for the sin problem.
APPLICATION:
Some may view Jesus’ action of cleansing the temple as showing Him to be a radical revolutionary. No doubt many thought that in Jesus’ day. Jesus was neither a revolutionary nor a defender of the establishment. He was not attempting to establish a utopia. He did not seek to destroy temple worship at this time; He merely sought to reform it. Later, He would be the fulfillment of all the type significance of the temple. No sacrifice of any animal could ever put a man right with God; only the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross could do that.
