15 When Jesus returned to Jerusalem, he went into the
Temple and began to throw out those who were buying and selling there. He
turned over the tables of those who were exchanging different kinds of money,
and he upset the benches of those who were selling doves. 16 Jesus refused to
allow anyone to carry goods through the Temple courts. 17 Then he taught the
people, saying, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be called a
house for prayer for people from all nations.’ But you are changing God’s house
into a ‘hideout for robbers.’”
Because the Jewish people were expected to make all kinds
of sacrifices, they would bring their money to the Temple and buy what they
needed for their sacrifice there, such as the doves. I imagine that it was just
like scalping tickets to a rock concert; you would pay much more for your dove
at the Temple than if you bought one at home to bring with you.
18 The leading priests and the teachers of the law
heard all this and began trying to find a way to kill Jesus. They were afraid
of him, because all the people were amazed at his teaching. 19 That evening,
Jesus and his followers left the city.
With this kind of setup, the
priests were making a lot of money off of the people, money they should have
been turning over to the Temple, but which I am pretty sure they kept for
themselves. I can see why Jesus was angry with them, and why they didn’t like
Jesus so much.
27 Jesus and his followers went again to Jerusalem. As
Jesus was walking in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of the law,
and the elders came to him. 28 They said to him, “What authority do you have to
do these things? Who gave you this authority?”
29 Jesus answered, “I will ask you one question. If
you answer me, I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. 30
Tell me: When John baptized people, was that authority from God or just from
other people?”
31 They argued about Jesus’ question, saying, “If we
answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you
believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘It was from other people,’ the crowd will be
against us.” (These leaders were afraid of the people, because all the people believed
that John was a prophet.)
33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said to them, “Then I won’t tell you what
authority I have to do these things.”
(Mark 11 New Century Version)
Do these priests and other
church leaders sound like our politicians of today? Let’s not come up with the
right answer, let’s find the answer which pleases the right people. Has human
nature changed much in the last two thousand years?
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