Matthew 21:12-17

Rachel Workman: ¹² Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. ¹³ He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”^[f]
14 The blind and the lame came to him in the Temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵ The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the children in the Temple shouting, “Praise God for the Son of David.”
But the leaders were indignant. ¹⁶ They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”
“Yes,” Jesus replied. “Haven’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘You have taught children and infants to give you praise.’^[g]” ¹⁷ Then he returned to Bethany, where he stayed overnight I kinda like this side of Jesus. Heaven knows it shows up way too often in me. This is the angry Jesus and with good reason. I know way too often my anger is unjust. Anger isn't a bad emotion as long as we keep it in check. When we give in to being angry we need to be sure the anger is just.

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John Burnett: 1 When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethpage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” ⁴ This ^[a]took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

⁵ “Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold your King is coming to you,
Gentle, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

⁶ The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, ⁷ and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on ^[b]the coats. ⁸ Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. ⁹ The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,

“Hosanna to the Son of David;
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord;
Hosanna in the highest!”  It is amazing to me how fickle the Jews were in this day.  Singing praises to Him and then yelling crucify just a few days before.  Then I think about those times when I, who has the Holy Spirit living inside of me, does the same thing.  Some days I am repentant and do what I am supposed to do and other days, I want to do what I want to do, and it usually involves some kind of sin.  I will sing Hosanna because, He keeps welcoming me back when I wander away.

¹⁰ When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee.”

¹² And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. ¹³ And He *said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ ^[c]den.”  Satan has done a good job of marketing Jesus as this effeminate man with Breck girl hair.  This passage proves the opposite.  Jesus was a man’s man and no one in the temple was willing to stand up to Him.  Jesus cleared the temple by himself and was as tough as any man who ever lived or died.  Just look at the punishment He took for you and I and then they made Him carry His cross up the hill to Calvary.  No average man could have done that, only Jesus.

¹⁴ And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant ¹⁶ and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” ¹⁷ And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there. 

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Mike Grimm:

¹² Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ¹³ “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

¹⁴ The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

¹⁶ “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

“‘From the lips of children and infants
    you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”

¹⁷ And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

The merchants and money changers had quite the racket going. They setup shop in the temple court where the Gentiles were to worship, therefore, pretty much crowding them out. These Gentiles came from all over the civilized world to worship God. The merchants SOLD sacrificial animals at jacked-up prices, taking advantage of those who had traveled long distances. Worshipers could only use special temple coins (I picture them like Chuck E Cheese tokens) to purchase anything from the merchants. These were available only from the money changers who would deceive the foreigners who didn’t know the exchange rate. Their commercialism in God’s house frustrated people’s attempts at worship. This, of course, greatly angered Jesus. We also see in John 2:13-17 just how displeased Christ was. So displeased, that he ran the merchants and money changers from the temple with a whip. This is a big problem with me concerning our churches today. They like to call it “fundraising”. Raffling off a wheelbarrow full of booze is not fundraising.

¹³ When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” (John 3:13-17 NIV)