“JESUS CLEARS THE TEMPLE”
Season 5: Easter
Episode 2: “Jesus Clears the Temple”
Today’s Bible Bite: Matthew 21:12-17
Video Story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1mB1aTeN0E (Sharefaith Kids – Matthew 21)
“‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” (Matthew 21:13)
After Jesus rode into Jerusalem with the people praising him as the king, he visited the Temple—the place where people were able to worship God. But when Jesus got there, he became very upset. Because this was during the Passover, many people had travelled to Jerusalem to be able to worship at the Temple, but others saw this as an opportunity to make a lot of money. Merchants set up booths to exchange money and set up stalls filled with animals for people to buy to sacrifice. Not only were they turning the Temple, a place to worship God, into a market to buy things, they were being dishonest—cheating people by overcharging them and providing animals that weren’t the best quality.
When Jesus saw all of this, he made a short whip then began tipping over the tables and chasing out the animals and merchants from the Temple. Of course, this made many people angry with Jesus, but he didn’t care. He had every right to be indignant and chase them out, “my Temple is to be a place of prayer, but you’ve turned it into a den of thieves!” Once things settled down, people who were sick came into the Temple and Jesus healed them and he taught them about God and his love. He reminded people how God’s Temple was supposed to be used.
Think about it...
• Jesus went to the Temple after riding into Jerusalem. Why do you think he went there?
• Jesus became angry at the things people were doing in the Temple. What did he do?
• Sometimes we get angry when we see people mistreating others or disrespecting God. We can’t just make a whip and chase the bad guys away, but what can we do?
• Jesus didn’t stay mad. After he made things right, what happened next?
Prayer: Thank you, God, for Jesus’ example. Help us to remember to always show you respect in how we treat you and others. Help us not to be like the greedy merchants, but like the people who wanted to hear Jesus teach.