Matthew 21:13

“My house will be called a house of prayer but you are making it a den of thieves.”

In this dramatic scene of Jesus entering the Court of the Gentiles of the the Temple we see into the heart of God. This Temple that King Herod built for the Jews (completed during Jesus’ lifetime) included an area in which “Gentiles” could come near to God.  However, it did not take long before the Jewish “temple business” spilled over into this space which meant that there was no longer any space for “Gentiles.”  Even sincere ones like the eunuch from upper Egypt.

Since ordinary money could not be used in the Temple for purchasing animals for sacrifice and that sort of thing, the Jewish “bankers”so to speak, exchanged Temple money for secular money. This was evidently a flourishing trade, so much so that the place designated for the Gentiles was now taken over by the money-changing Jews.

This provides context for the point Jesus made.  Jesus reminded them of what is written in Isaiah 56, “My house will be called a house of prayer for ‘all nations.'”

Is this not a challenge to all of us who look after or own, but have little compassion for everyone else? May God help us.