“Turning (Over) the Tables”

A Sermon Based on John 2:13-22

Pastor Deb Troester, STHPC, March 3, 2024

When Joe and I lived in Tanzania, we often traveled to nearby Nairobi, Kenya, to visit some mission projects there. Once Joe was traveling there by bus. As they entered the outskirts of the city on a four-lane highway, suddenly a herd of cattle wandered out onto the road, completely blocking traffic. But the bus driver was prepared. He opened his glove compartment and took out a large leather whip. Reaching his arm out the window, he began to crack the whip over the heads of the cattle. Quickly the cows got the idea and moooved out of the road. Satisfied that the way was clear, the bus driver put away his whip and continued on as if nothing had happened.

We wouldn’t normally think of a bus driver leaning out the window to shoo away some cattle with a whip, but we don’t normally think of Jesus as wielding a whip either. Yet in today’s gospel, John tells us, “In the temple [Jesus] found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves and the money changers seated at their tables. 

Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, with the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.  He told those who were selling the doves, ‘Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!’” This story, appears in all four gospels, so it must have made an impression on the disciples. It makes an impression on us, too, partly because it seems out of character for Jesus, the one who told us to “turn the other cheek.” Why would he turn over tables and drive out animals with a whip?

Three times a year all adult Jewish males were supposed to come to the Temple to worship: at Pentecost, which marked the beginning of the wheat harvest; at Sukkoth (the feast of Booths), which marks the end of the harvest, and at Passover, which commemorates the Exodus of the slaves from Egypt. Passover was the biggest of these three festivals, and those who were not able to come to the other two would have made a special effort to go to the Temple then. People came from all over Judea and Galilee, and even from other countries.

They often came a week ahead of time to observe several days of purification before the customary sacrifice of a lamb, one per family. During this time, they would go to the Temple to pray or to hear teachings from famous rabbis, such as Jesus. Just before Passover would be the time when the greatest number of people would be present at the Temple. Jesus knew there would be a large audience that day when he went to the Temple.

Many of the ancient prophets performed dramatic actions, sometimes called prophetic gestures, to get people’s attention in order to teach them what God was saying to them. Ezekiel tied himself with ropes and lay on the ground to warn the people of Judah of the coming siege of Jerusalem and the Babylonian exile, when they would be taken away as captives, bound with ropes if they did not repent of their evil ways. Jeremiah smashed a pottery jug to pieces before the king of Judah to warn him that if the people did not repent, God would send armies who would destroy the country, just as he had destroyed the jug.

Jesus was doing something similar here. He knew that chasing the moneychangers and animal sellers out of the Temple grounds would have more of an impact than just telling people that what they were doing was wrong. While his actions could certainly be justified as righteous anger, I don’t think Jesus acted on impulse. He had been to the Temple many times before to attend the Passover observance, probably every year, beginning when he was 12. I don’t think he was surprised by what he saw there. That’s why he made a whip of cords beforehand. He knew what he was going to do, and he knew it would shock people, hopefully shocking them into changing their ways.

So why were there cattle, sheep, and doves for sale in the temple anyway? Couldn’t people just bring an animal from their own flocks to sacrifice? Actually, they could not. As we read in Exodus and Leviticus, the Law prescribed that the sacrifice must be “without blemish.” The High Priest and his family had figured out a way to make a profit from this requirement. They sold only animals that were certified by the priests as suitable.

If someone brought his own animal, they would be sure to find something wrong with it, so it became necessary to purchase the animal there at the Temple. Not only did the High Priest have a corner on the market, but the sacrificial animals were sold at an inflated price. This lucrative system was set up to fleece the faithful (pun intended).

In addition, all Jewish men were expected to pay a Temple tax annually. It was not a huge sum, about a quarter of a day’s wage at the time, but it had to be paid in the Temple currency. Roman coins had images of the Emperor on them. It was considered sacrilegious to present these coins as an offering since Emperors were often worshiped as gods, thus violating the commandment against idolatry. The Temple moneychangers charged an exorbitant fee to change Roman coins into the special Temple currency, so the Temple tax would end up costing twice as much. Jesus was angered by the injustice of it all: Pilgrims coming to worship God and celebrate a sacred festival were being cheated and taken advantage of in the Temple itself.

God’s law, “Do not steal,” was being violated. God was being dishonored, and Jesus wanted people to understand that in a way they would not forget.

Perhaps Jesus was also frustrated that some of the poorest people were being prevented from worshiping because the cost for a sacrifice had become prohibitive. For the poor who could not afford to buy an ox or a lamb, doves could be substituted. In Leviticus 5:7 it says, “But if you cannot afford a sheep, you shall bring to the Lord, as your penalty for the sin that you have committed, two turtledoves or two pigeons…” Yet, even the poorest people were being cheated, having to pay double or triple for the minimum sacrifice of a dove or pigeon. I am sure that Jesus was angry at this injustice.

Sometimes we need to be shocked out of our complacency. What was going on that day at the Temple, before Jesus arrived with his whip, was business as usual. No one thought it was strange or evil. It was the customary way of making a sacrifice. It makes me think of how people used to view slavery.

In centuries past, most people simply accepted slavery as the way things were. It took a few brave abolitionists many years to convince those in power that it should be eliminated. Their task was made more difficult because a number of influential people were getting rich off of the selling of other human beings. I sometimes wonder what practices we tolerate now in the 21st century that people will look back on later and say, “How could they not see that such and such a practice was hurting people or hurting the planet, or was dishonoring God?”

Systems like this usually develop slowly, and become ingrained in our way of thinking. That is what had happened at the Temple. When the laws of Moses were first given, the sacrifices were meant to be a way for people to draw near to God, to be assured that God forgave their sin. The Hebrews were a pastoral people, and nearly every family could bring a lamb or dove, or even a bull that could be sacrificed. This would have been an animal they had raised themselves; all year long they might think about how this animal was destined for sacrifice, that they were giving God something that had cost them time and effort.

But, as the years went by, people found a way to make money off of the system. Maybe it hadn’t started that way. Maybe the priests noticed that some people were not bringing their best animals to sacrifice, but the sick and lame ones, so they insisted on inspecting them, then they gradually started charging for the inspection. Then they just said that people had to buy pre-approved livestock from the Temple herds and flocks. Gradually the laws that had been made to draw people closer to God became barriers to worship, even keeping the poor from being able to worship in the Temple at all. Only the well-to-do could afford the Temple sacrifices. No wonder Jesus was angry! Lutheran pastor, Erik Parker writes: “What had begun as a means for the people of Israel to access God, was now a money making machine. It was a place for entrepreneurship, for making money. And the exclusive product being sold was God.” Does this happen today? I think you probably know the answer. Just think about certain TV evangelists, or certain news channels using quasi-Christian beliefs to boost ratings, or political figures claiming to be religious just to get votes.

Jesus wanted people to see that it was wrong to turn the worship of God into a money-making enterprise. Not only were the poor exploited, but the area used for this commercial activity was the Courtyard of the Gentiles, a place set aside for non-Jews to worship and pray, since they could not enter the Temple itself. Many “God-fearers” – people who followed the Jewish traditions but had not officially converted, came to Jerusalem for the Holy Days. The Ethiopian eunuch, mentioned in Acts 8, was one such person. But the noise of animals and shouts of the merchants in Court of the Gentiles would have made it impossible to pray there. As a result, Gentiles were excluded from any real opportunity to worship at the Temple. Jesus was angry not only because the priests were making money off of the faithful, but because there were those who were being left out, people whose spiritual needs weren’t being met, people who were excluded.

Jesus was always breaking barriers. When he saw injustice, he acted. Where some focused on profit, Jesus focused on people, especially those who were being excluded. Who is excluded today? People of a different race or religion? The unhoused? Immigrants? The LGBTQ community? People of a different political persuasion? The Good News is, Jesus welcomes us all – sinners and saints, privileged and poor. Jesus wants all of us to know that we are loved and valued by God, and that there is a place for everyone in God’s house.

What do we do when we see injustice? When we see that people are being excluded and their rights ignored? Jesus’ example challenges us to not just stand by and do nothing. May God grant us the wisdom to see injustice, even when it’s something our culture has come to accept as normal, and may God help us to respond. Amen.

©Deborah Troester 2024