Read Matthew
21:12-13 and Mark 11:15-18. Who were the moneychangers and what were they
doing that angered Jesus?
Based on the
reading of Exodus 30:12-16 every
male 20 years of age and older had to pay the “temple tax” every year. The temple tax was known as the Jewish
half-shekel, a gold coin.
Exodus 30:16 – “ And thou shalt take the atonement
money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the
tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of
Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls.”
The purpose of the tax from the commentary of John Gill - “then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord,
when thou numberest them; which was not done yearly,
nor was it perpetual; we have but two instances of it after this until the
times of David, Num_1:2 yet it seems to have been a yearly tax or
tribute, in the times of Christ; see Gill on Mat_17:24,
Mat_21:12; and in the Misnah is a whole
treatise called "Shekalim", in which an account is given of the time
and manner of collecting this ransom money, and for what uses, and who were
obliged to pay it, and who not; on the first of Adar (or February) they
proclaimed concerning the payment of it, on the fifteenth the tables were set
for that purpose, and on the twenty fifth the proper persons sat in the
sanctuary to receive it:
that there be no plague amongst them when thou numberest them; as there was when David numbered them; which some have thought was
owing to the non-payment of the ransom money after mentioned; the Septuagint
version is, "no fall", the ransom of souls by Christ preserves them
from a total and final fall by sin into everlasting ruin and destruction; or,
"no death" as the Targum of Onkelos, for redemption by Christ secures
from the second death, and even from a corporeal death as a penal evil.
(w) Misn. Shekalim, c. 1. sect. 1, 3.”
- from the commentary of John Gill
The purpose
of the tax was for the maintenance of the wilderness tabernacle, and later the
Temple in Jerusalem.
It became
known as the “temple tax”, and in Jesus time the requirement was it must be a
gold half-shekel that was used to pay the tax.
Since this was not the common form of money used, the people had to
convert their (usually Roman) coins into the half-shekel. Only the half-shekel would be accepted for
the tax. No other form of payment would
be accepted.
The
Pharisees made it mandatory to collect this tax, and could even seize someone’s
property if they did not pay.
One month
before Passover (Adar 1), messengers were sent out to remind Israelites of the
tax. On Adar 15th, money
changers opened stalls across the country to convert the coins or goods the
people had into the half-shekel.
By Adar 25th,
the stalls of the money changers were moved within the city of Jerusalem and
the outer court of the Temple. If anyone
other than a priest did not pay the tax, legal proceedings could be launched
against them to confiscate lands or goods for payment.
Jesus paid
the tax for Peter and Himself (though likely not on this occasion), through a
fish! (Read Matt. 17:24-27)
This tax
brought in much money for the temple.
The money changers added a surcharge (just like banks charge interest
and fees today) for their service.
The money
changers working in concert with priests and Temple authorities had worked out
a system in which sacrifices that were offered had to be approved by them. To avoid difficulties, men bringing
sacrifices were wise to simply purchase a lamb, goat, dove or bull from the
money changers. This practice of having
sacrificial animals for sale within the Temple grounds was never provided for
in the Law.
It’s good to
remember that the Pharisees were “lovers of money”. (Luke
16:14) Also that the love of money
was the “root of all evil”. (1 Tim. 6:10)
So looking
back at Matt. 21:12-13, Jesus was
angry because a commercial, for-profit operation had been set up within the
temple grounds, and was preying on those faithful believers seeking to obey the
Old Covenant.
So we might
ask, how does this example apply to us today?
The Temple
of the Old Covenant is not the
equivalent of any church buildings today.
No church building or sanctuary is comparable to the Temple. Why?
The Temple
was created specifically for the
practices of the Old Covenant and to help teach Israel how to worship God as
well as the price of sin. Nothing
written in the New Testament advocates giving money to support buildings that
would house the Church. So while
Christians may well give money for buildings that the church will use today,
that giving is entirely voluntary. The
tithe system is no longer applicable, as it was part of the Old Covenant. If you give today, give generously and
wisely, as you are led of the Holy Spirit.
However, always remember you are under no scriptural compunction to give
to any specific persons or buildings.
It’s a choice.
The Temple
under the Old Covenant was a place the Israelites could come to encounter
God. Today, believers in Jesus Christ
are described as the Temple of the Holy Spirit, as well as the body of
believers. (1 Cor. 6:19-20, Eph.
1:22-23, Col. 1:18)
There is
some powerful symbolism involved with Jesus driving the money changers out of
the Temple.
-
It’s symbolic of Jesus Christ, (the second Adam)
doing what the first Adam did not.
Casting down Lucifer’s false ideas.
-
It’s also symbolic of casting down and out
erroneous thoughts and ideas in the temple of our hearts and minds. (2 Cor. 10:4-5)
-
The buying and/or selling of religious or
spiritual value is compared to MYSTERY BABYLON, the Mother of Harlots in Rev.
18:9-20. So when we see similar ideas
crop up historically like the Roman Catholic practice of selling indulgences
(paying money for documents that will forgive a person of a certain amount of
sins) or modern churches using guilt to compel persons to tithe claiming to do
otherwise is sin, we can safely equate those ideals with a historically evil
system opposed to God.
-
It’s symbolic of our responsibility to
aggressively protect basic moral principles of scripture. Christians should always be humble, loving
and gracious, but intolerant of moral and
spiritual lies.
-
Jesus Christ told Israel that His body was
symbolic of the Temple itself. (John
2:19) “For where your treasure is, there
is your heart.” (Luke 12:34)
It should be
remembered this is the only time in scripture when Jesus used violence against
anyone. Clearly this issue angered the
Lord, and still does today.
Financing Ministers Today
It should
also be mentioned since there is no priesthood for believers to support today
(we are the priesthood – 1 Peter 2:5-9), local churches concentrate their
financial giving on ministries. That is,
those who serve the Kingdom of God in various ways, from preaching, teaching
and many other provisions.
The
scriptures also give us a guide for pastors in the early church. Jesus and His disciples were supported by
followers, but also were involved in doing some work for their needs as it
involves fishing. This work may have
been a regular contribution to their finances.
Paul was
“bi-vocational”. He supported himself in
most instances through tent-making, but also received some donations for his
ministry needs. The idea of a set
payment (salary) for pastoral service is never addressed in the
scriptures.
Various
methods have been used for pastoral support throughout church history. These include pastors who are only supported
by contributions (famously George Mueller and his orphanages), pastors who
contribute a certain percentage of their salaries back into missions (A.W.
Tozer) or back to their church (Rick Warren).
One common denominator is that most pastors who accept a salary make
sure the amount of pay is open knowledge to their congregations.
