Does your temple not need cleansing? (Matthew 21:12–17)

[Stephan Choe]

August 9, 2026

Key verses 12–13:      “And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, ‘It is written, <My house shall be called a house of prayer,> but you make it a den of robbers.’”

Every house needs cleaning from time to time; some households even hire a cleaner for this purpose. In a figurative sense, every Christian, every church, and every nation also requires cleansing to set their relationship with God right.

Jesus comes to Jerusalem to die as the Passover Lamb for the sins of men. Before doing so, He visits the temple and drives out the merchants so that people can pray to God there undisturbed.

Although this cleansing of the temple took place two thousand years ago, we, too, constantly need such cleansing, for we are God’s temple, in which God’s Spirit dwells (1 Corinthians 3:16). Through this cleansing, God is to become the center of our hearts, our congregations, and our world. We therefore want to understand this cleansing well, so that we may serve God with all our hearts and experience His rich blessing.

1. The Cleansing of the Temple (12–13)

Jesus has come to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. The Passover commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.

Pilgrims from all over the world have flocked to Jerusalem for this festival, filling the city with people. A festive atmosphere prevails everywhere. The Passover lamb is presented and slaughtered on the temple grounds. The animal’s blood is collected and poured out at the base of the altar of burnt offering. Afterwards, the person who provided the animal may roast the lamb and share the meal with his family. He often invites other pilgrims as well, for the law stipulates that a group of about ten people should share a single lamb—a rule that primarily benefits the poor.

Pilgrims who have traveled from afar prefer to buy their sacrificial animals directly in Jerusalem. This offers locals the opportunity to sell livestock and earn money; consequently, they set up a market near the Temple. Yet competition soon arises. The High Priest realizes that this trade is a veritable goldmine. He strikes deals with the merchants and provides them with stalls in the Temple courtyard—an area belonging to the sacred Temple precinct that is actually intended for prayer.

Of course, sacrificial animals could also be purchased cheaply from merchants outside the Temple grounds. However, the Old Testament mandates that sacrificial animals must be without blemish. The priests inspect the animals, coolly declare them unfit for sacrifice, and direct the people to the authorized stalls. As a result, no one buys animals from independent merchants anymore, but only from the officially approved vendors. In this way, the trade evolves into a monopoly for the authorized merchants; they can charge whatever price they please. It is fraud—indeed, state-sanctioned robbery. Thus, the High Priests and priests have turned the House of God into a den of thieves.

Every visitor to the Temple is also required to pay a Temple tax of half a shekel. Unfortunately, foreign currency is not accepted as legal tender within the Temple precincts. Consequently, pilgrims must exchange their foreign money for Jewish coins at the money changers' stalls. Naturally, the money changers charge a fee for this service—a highly lucrative business.

Beyond the greed, there is also the problem of noise. Throughout the Temple precincts, the din caused by the shouting of merchants and the noise of animals is unbearable for the pilgrims. The atmosphere is not one of reverence but rather resembles that of a marketplace.

Why do people come to the Temple? To worship and pray to God, of course, to experience divine forgiveness and receive His blessing. Pilgrims bring animals to obtain forgiveness, yet the animal sacrifice alone is not enough. One must confess one’s guilt before God and ask for pardon; only then will God forgive the sin and bestow His blessing.

However, the pilgrims are outraged by the greed of the priests and merchants. The priests’ task is to help pilgrims experience forgiveness and communion with God; instead, through their greed, they block the path to that very forgiveness and communion.

So, what does Jesus do in the Temple?

"He drove out all who were buying and selling in the Temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them: 'It is written: "My house shall be called a house of prayer," but you are making it a den of robbers'" (12:13).

The Gospel of John reports the following: Those responsible for the trade confront Jesus and ask: "What sign can You show us as proof that You have the authority to do this?" Jesus answers them: “Destroy this temple, and I will rebuild it in three days” (John 2:19).

“What?” they exclaim. “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and You intend to finish it in three days?” (John 2:20).

However, by “the temple,” Jesus means His own body, for He is to be sacrificed once and for all as the true Passover Lamb for the forgiveness of the sins of all people. Yet three days later, He rises from the dead.

Because Jesus sacrificed Himself once and for all as the Passover Lamb, the temple in Jerusalem became unnecessary. Moreover, the temple was completely destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, so today we no longer have a visible temple. Christ’s sacrifice, offered once and for all, suffices for the forgiveness of the sins of all people. Now, we need only confess our sins and gratefully accept forgiveness through faith in Jesus’ sacrificial death. In this way, Jesus has taken away all our sins and cleansed us of all guilt. God warmly welcomes us as His children. He grants us eternal life, the Holy Spirit, and the Kingdom of Heaven. He is with us! This is truly a wonderful grace of God.

God’s Word also states in 1 Corinthians 3:16–17 that our body is a temple of God. It says there: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”

We no longer need to make a long journey to Jerusalem to worship God, for our body is God’s temple. Therefore, we can worship God wherever we happen to be. However, the temple first requires cleansing so that we may worship God with all our hearts.

How can we effectively cleanse our temple?

I would like to suggest three steps:

As a first step, we should seek out a quiet place and set aside sufficient time for this.

Our body is a temple of God—a house of prayer. Therefore, we need a place for prayer with a good atmosphere, as well as enough time each day for prayer, God’s Word, and fellowship with God.

Imagine an oil lamp burning without a fresh supply of oil: the existing oil is soon consumed, and the wick burns away. The same happens to a person who works without renewing their strength: they eventually become so exhausted that it is difficult to restore their health. They lose both strength and joy; they lack motivation and vision. Without sufficient prayer, God’s Word, and fellowship with God, we quickly become spiritually exhausted and ill. We also expend a great deal of energy through worry. Those who are spiritually exhausted lack the strength to serve God with joy; serving God becomes a burden to them.

How can we regain a joyful life and serve the Lord with joy and strength?

To do this, we must renew our strength. How can we achieve that?

We can renew our strength through times of rest, prayer, Bible reading, and fellowship with God.

Therefore, despite all our activities, we must take enough time each day for relaxation, prayer, Bible reading, and fellowship with God. We need to be renewed in faith, strength, and motivation. In this way, we allow ourselves to be filled anew with the Spirit of God. Then we will be spiritually fresh and strong, filled with joy and hope, and we will praise God and give Him glory.

As a second step, we must have an undivided heart for God.

If we wish to pray to God rightly, we must set aside distractions and pray with all our heart. We must pray to God with an undivided heart. We have various tasks to attend to. When we get up, we have to go to school, university, or work, leaving us little time for prayer. When we return home and have a spare moment, we are already exhausted; instead of praying, we simply want to relax. Of course, we need adequate time for relaxation and rest. Nevertheless, it is essential that we also set aside sufficient time for undisturbed prayer.

Homemakers are accustomed to handling a multitude of household tasks. When we begin the day with prayer, a thought might cross our minds about something that still needs to be done or tidied up. We might even turn to such a task in the middle of prayer, repeatedly interrupting our conversation with God. This prevents us from engaging in a deep dialogue with Him.

Such a prayer life resembles the atmosphere in the Temple when it was filled with animal merchants: people wanted to pray to God, but the noise of the merchants and animals made it impossible for them to focus on their prayers.

We urgently need a suitable time and place to pray without interruption. For this, we also need an undivided heart for God.

Imagine we are in the midst of a personal conversation with God when someone else approaches us to share an interesting piece of news. Could we truly focus on our conversation with God then?

A distracted, divided heart hinders our prayer. Therefore, we need an undivided heart for God in order to pray to Him properly.

Undisturbed prayer is a source of blessing. Before we pray, we should ask ourselves whether our hearts are preoccupied with a particular person or matter. We should ask God: "Do I have a whole heart for You right now? Can I focus on this conversation with You?"

As a third step, we are to confess our sins and allow ourselves to be cleansed of them by the blood of Jesus.

Sin is a major barrier between God and us. It must be overcome if we want God to hear and bless us. Therefore, we should confess our sins in prayer and let ourselves be cleansed by the blood of Christ.

Jesus Christ is angry when we sin and refuse to repent. Yet He is full of grace and willingly forgives us when we confess our sins and believe in His sacrificial death; for He came to die on the cross for our sins and to grant us forgiveness.

We should examine ourselves before God to see if we have sinned. If we realize that we have sinned, we should repent as soon as possible and accept forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ. He forgives us, no matter how grave our sin may be. Through the Holy Spirit, He completely wipes away our sin and remembers it no more.

A German missionary recounts his experiences in Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan lies between China and Kazakhstan—specifically, along China's western border. Once, the missionary struck up a conversation with a taxi driver and told him the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector who were praying in the temple. The Pharisee prayed: "I thank You, God, that I am not like other people—robbers, swindlers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all my income."

The tax collector, on the other hand, scarcely dared to lift his eyes toward heaven; instead, he beat his breast and said: "God, have mercy on me, a sinner!"

And God heard the tax collector's prayer, but not that of the Pharisee. After hearing the parable, the taxi driver retorted sharply: "It simply cannot be that God grants us forgiveness just like that!" He then listed the things he, as a Muslim, had to do in order to potentially be freed from his guilt.

Must we—as the taxi driver in Kyrgyzstan believed—perform good deeds to attain forgiveness and the Kingdom of Heaven? No! We do not necessarily have to present our good deeds to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Nor is it possible to be declared righteous before God through our good deeds. If we wished to be considered righteous based on our actions, we would have to be perfect—just as God is. Yet that is impossible for us.

God is full of grace. He laid all our guilt upon Jesus Christ and punished Him in our place. That is why Jesus Christ died on the cross. When we confess our sin and believe in Christ’s sacrificial death for that sin, God forgives all our sins and remembers them no more. Instead, He lovingly accepts us as His children and leads us into the Kingdom of Heaven after our physical death. This is God’s unmerited grace. This is the good news of the Bible. We thank God for His grace.

2. Jesus’ Healing in the Temple (14–17)

Beggars—including the blind and the lame—are always present in the outer area of ​​the Temple, the Court of the Gentiles. It is precisely these people who come to Jesus, and He heals them.

The high priests and scribes witness Jesus’ miracles. They also hear the children shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” This means, “Save us, O Messiah!”

The high priests and scribes are very angry and say to Jesus, “Do You hear what they are saying?” They want Jesus to forbid the children from shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David.”

But Jesus answers them, “Yes! Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise’?” (Psalm 8:3).

After this reply, Jesus leaves the place, goes to Bethany, and spends the night there.

Our Cleansing

We must clean our house or apartment from time to time. Yet it is not only our home that needs cleaning; we ourselves also require cleansing. And we need both outward and inward cleansing.

For outward cleansing, we should shower or bathe. For inward cleansing, we need prayer and repentance.

To pray, we first need a quiet place and sufficient time. Everyone should find a quiet place and a time of stillness each day to pray to God.

Secondly, we need an undivided heart toward God in order to pray properly. During prayer, we should set aside all other activities and focus entirely on prayer.

Thirdly, for inward cleansing, we must confess our sins and allow ourselves to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Our hearts then become completely pure. We experience forgiveness, God’s Kingdom, and His blessing. That is a blessed life.

May God bless you and grant you His Kingdom. Amen!