Daily Devotional For Monday, January 19, 2026
Good morning Southside. The Lord is good and He is good all the time. We are making our way through the Gospel of Matthew. Today we come to Matthew 22:12-17. Because this is such a packed passage on Jesus cleansing the Temple, we are going to take several days to cover it:
“And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. (13) And He said to them, ‘It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.” (14) And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. (15) But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they became indignant (16) and said to Him, ‘Do You hear what these children are saying?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?’ (17) And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there” (NASB).
It is amazing how Jesus started His ministry as well as how He ended it. This is the second time He has cleansed the Temple. The first time was at the beginning of John’s Gospel in John 2:13-25 (at the beginning of His ministry). Here in Matthew is the second time (see also Mark 11:15-18 and Luke 19:45-48 who record this second time) which is at the end of His ministry. Jesus entered the Temple and He was furious. This Temple was actually the 2nd Temple built. The first one, built by Solomon, was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. A second Temple was reconstructed in 516 BC on the same site under Zerubbabe and Ezra and greatly expanded by Herod the Great. This one was eventually totally destroyed by Rome in 70 A.D. Most scholars think this second Temple was still under construction, renovation and expansion when Jesus entered it. The third Temple is yet to be built according to the prophecy found in Ezekiel 42:13.
Why does Jesus get angry? You have 2.5-4 million Jewish pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem as required by the Old Testament Law to celebrate Passover. God had originally commanded that the people bring animals from their own flocks for their sacrifice (see Deut. 12:5-7). But according to the Old Testament Law, the animal could have no defects (see Lev. 1:2-3). Over time the greedy religious leaders figured out that they could turn these Festivals into a money making enterprise to pocket themselves with wealth. So, they always rejected the animals brought and forced these pilgrims to buy one of theirs.
When pilgrims arrived, they had to pay a Temple tax in Temple currency only. Since most came with Galilean or Roman currency, they had to exchange their money for Temple shekels. The reason was that both Galilean and Roman currency had on their coins the image of the emperor, who was worshipped as a god. The religious leaders consider this blasphemous. That cost them 1 day’s wage. Then they had to pay the Temple tax which was 2 days’ wages. So, now they are up to 3 days’ wages. All animals brought by these pilgrims had to be “inspected” for defects and blemishes. That inspection was ¼ day’s wage. Since they always failed, then pilgrims had to buy an animal from the Temple stock. This cost them around 3 weeks’ wages. So, now the average pilgrim has paid 3.25 weeks’ wages to celebrate Passover.
We know from Josephus, a contemporary Jewish historian at the time of Jesus, that Annas, a former high priest, was running this along with his son-in-law Caiaphas. Josephus says the people were aware of this and had a nickname for Passover. They called it “Annas’ Bazaar.” Jesus got mad at the extortion that Annas and his family were doing – all in the name of God. Annas was sort of like a first century mob boss with his own mafia. This is why when Jesus is arrested, they take Jesus to the mob boss first – Annas, not Caiaphas. Any time you cross any Mafia, you get killed. Jesus exposed this and since this was the second time He did this, they are not going to let Him do it a 3rd time.
In addition to this, Annas and his family had set up the sale of all these animals in the Court of the Gentiles. This meant that when Gentile converts came to celebrate Passover, there was no place on the Temple grounds for them to do this. They were barred from going into the Court of the Jews. In cleansing the Temple, Jesus quoted from Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11. Worship of God had become a den of robbers and thievery.
Reflection Assignment: The question for us today is this: Is the modern church any different? We have stores and shops in some churches today to sell merchandise with that church’s name and logo printed on them as a means to market that church. Is this turning that church into a “den of thievery?” Would Jesus today do the same in these churches? Is the church about marketing herself or is it about spreading the Gospel and making disciples? The early church and the Gospel spread through no marketing schemes. It spread the testimony of changed lives. The early church did not have a building, or by-laws or a budget, but what they did have was the backbone to spread the Gospel without any of these. You and I are here today because they did not depend upon marketing techniques, but upon their Master Jesus Christ.
Scripture To Meditate On: 1 Peter 3:15, “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (ESV).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I never want to be ashamed of You nor unprepared to tell others of my faith in You. I do not need any marketing techniques. I have the most powerful force in the universe in me – Your Holy Spirit. Please give me opportunities to share You and the Gospel wherever I go. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly