Biblical Discussion Literature & Language Essay Paper

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Biblical Discussion
The cleansing of the temple is a biblical narrative that illustrates Jesus Christ chasing away the sellers and money converters from the temple in Jerusalem (Coulter, 60). The events of the purging of the church are available in all the official gospels in the New Testament. I the cleansing of the temple, Jesus and the followers travelled to Jerusalem for the Passover feast where he expels the business people from the church claiming that they had converted the Lord’s house to a trading center full of corrupt people. According to Coulter (61), the Bible depicts Jesus as a kind, loving and gentle. However, his action of whipping the business people in the church indicates that the temple is a house of prayer. The synoptic gospels illustrate the events leading to Jesus chasing the sellers away from the temple (Garnett, 59).
As illustrated by Garnett (60), the New Testament gospels of Matthew 21.12-13; Mark 11.15-26 and Luke 19.45-46 illustrates how Jesus purified the house of worship. According to the narratives in these biblical books, the temple court was full of tables, livestock and doves that were on sale. The old time forex business involved the exchange of greek and roman coins for Jewish and Tyrian shekels (Garnett, 61). In all the three gospels, the money changer dominated over trade in the temple since livestock such as pigeons, sheep and oxen could only use the coins from the temple. The animals were for church sacrifices, and the merchants had a habit of taking advantage of staunch pilgrims who had come from far to worship God. However, Jesus takes serious action against people who were defiling his father’s house. In all the three accounts of Jesus cleansing the temple, Jesus tells the business merchants that they have turned his home to a den of robbers (Garnett, 63).
Mathew 21:12-13 does not illustrate the location of the temple (Coulter, 63). On the other hand, Mark 11.15-26 indicates that the temple was in the city of Jerusalem. When Jesus went into the temple, he began chasing away the business people. As indicated by Coulter (64), he threw away the tables of those who were changing currency and the chairs of the dove merchants. However, Mark 11.15-26 indicates that Jesus took his time to teach them the writings about the temple. “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers” (Mark 11:17). The chapter illustrates how the teachers of the law began plotting to get rid because of congregation response (Couler, 70). Luke 19.45-46 does not even give the location of the church. The author in these verses does not illustrate the specific items that the merchants were selling in the temple. Luke 19.45-46 generally indicates that Jesus drove out the sellers and does not say if there were any money changer, unlike Matthew 21.12-13 and Mark 11.15-26. “It is written,”Jesus demonstrated, “‘My house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it ‘a den of robbers” (Luke 19:46).
Garnett (65) indicated that Matthew 24; Mark 13 and Luke 21.5-38, also known as the Olivet discourse, relates the prophecies made by Jesus Christ about the temple and His return. Also, the three synoptic gospels of the New Testament illustrates his disciples Peter, James and John on Mount Olives, asking about the timeline for the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem. Also, in Matthew 24; Mark 13 and Luke 21.5-38, Jesus foretells the end of times saying that nobody knows the day or the hour. In these instances, Jesus tells the disciples that many false prophets will come claiming to be the messiah and deceiving people (Garnett, 66). Moreover, Jesus loops in his disciples on how nations will turn against each other and brothers betray their relatives (Garnett, 70). In all these cases, Jesus explains ...