From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 27 of a series. Read part 26.

Paintings, cinema, and television often depict Jesus as a weak, even effeminate, character. But that is not the Messiah of Scripture. The authentic Messiah is "the Mighty God" - a man's man, the champion of His people.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

As we consider the names given to Jesus in our study of the Scripture texts of Handel's Messiah, we next find that the coming Redeemer was to bear the name, "The Mighty God." The Hebrew term translated "mighty" in this verse speaks of strong masculinity. It is a term that we find elsewhere used of outstanding men who were valiant warriors, men of outstanding strength - men who were, in that sense, the champions of armies and nations.

The Mighty God in the Plan of Salvation

In the prophecy of Zephaniah, the same word is used as Jehovah speaks of the coming salvation of His remnant:

Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall see disaster no more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: "Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak. The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." (Zephaniah 3:14-17)

The Incarnate Messiah: The Mighty God-Man

The Lord Jesus demonstrated that the Mighty God, the incarnate Savior, was also a man of great physical strength, zealous on behalf of His people. Two of the most striking demonstrations of such might and power occurred at the beginning of His public ministry, and again at the end, when He cleansed the Temple not once, but twice.

The better-known account of Jesus' cleansing the Temple is recorded in Luke 19:45-48, and in parallel accounts in Matthew 21:12-13 and Mark 11:15-17. The event occurred on the day after Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem:

Then He went into the Temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying to them, "It is written, 'My house is a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.' " And He was teaching daily in the Temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to hear Him.

However, we know from John 2:13-16 that this was not the first time Jesus had cleansed the Temple. John records that He also did it at the beginning of His public ministry. Now, three years later, He is doing it again at the end of His ministry. He comes to the Temple area on the Monday after His Palm Sunday entry into Jerusalem.

The Temple Area: No Small Place

To understand both accounts, we need to understand what took place in the Temple courts. The area to which Luke 19:45 refers was the Court of the Gentiles. This was a large outer court where devout Gentiles, who could not come into the Temple proper, could come to pray and to worship at a distance. They were forbidden, on pain of death, to come any closer.

The Court of the Gentiles was actually far larger than the Temple building itself, and its Inner Court, which were restricted to the Jews. Historical writings at the time of Jesus' first advent tell us that the area occupied by Herod's Temple and its courts was over thirty-five acres, and the Court of the Gentiles occupied about ten acres of that space. Modern archaeological excavations have confirmed this. The area that Jesus cleansed was no small place.

A Place of Prayer Turned Into a Livestock Market

What was the intended purpose of this area? It was supposed so be a quiet area, an area devoted to prayer and the worship of God, a safe haven for the people of God.

But how was this area of the Temple being used in Jesus' days of public ministry? The Levites had turned it into an animal market. Jews who came from outlying parts of Israel or from foreign lands, who came to worship and offer sacrifices at the Temple, would wait until they got to Jerusalem to buy sacrificial animals to offer. They did this as a matter of convenience because it was too much trouble to bring animals on the journey with them.

So the Temple area itself, particularly the Court of the Gentiles, had become the animal market. Let us keep in mind that tens of thousands of Jews came to Jerusalem for Passover and the feasts that followed (Unleavened Bread and Pentecost). Because many of these people were Jews coming from foreign countries, they had to change their foreign money into local currency in order to buy an animal. So there were money-changers at the Temple - people who exchanged foreign currency. In other words, they were bankers.

We are told in contemporary records, by Josephus and others, that the family of the high priest ran this commercial operation. They had gone into the cattle and banking businesses. They sold sacrificial animals in the Court of the Gentiles at premium prices. They charged heavy transaction fees for exchanging money.

So this is the picture: In the Temple area, a ten-acre space that is supposed to be a quiet place of prayer and worship is filled with stalls of baying animals and their refuse, possibly thousands of shouting people, and no doubt arguments about prices. Instead of quiet, prayer, and worship, there is noise and chaos.

No Small Task

What did Jesus do? The Gospel accounts tell us that He threw out those who bought and sold, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers. The force of the original language is that He did it violently, and with anger.

This was no small task. Think of the size of the area. Think of the amount of buying and selling that was taking place. Think of this one Man, the Son of God, driving out these merchants and their animals, and turning over the bankers' tables. And as He did it He declared to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations', but you have made it a 'den of thieves.' " He was quoting from Isaiah and Jeremiah.

Jesus the Messiah: A Man's Man

These accounts tell us of the holiness of God, the reverence He is due in worship, the irreverent perversion of that worship by the Jewish rulers, and the fulfillment of prophecy concerning the Messiah's zeal for the house of God. But the Temple cleansing accounts also tell us something else important about our Lord himself. Sometimes Jesus is depicted in paintings - and today in motion pictures and on television - as a weak, even effeminate, character. But these Gospel accounts put the lie to that idea, and confirm another point of prophecy.

The man who cleansed the Temple was a man's man. He was physically capable of single-handedly driving out the merchants, the moneychangers, and their merchandise. Jesus the Messiah is a mighty man, like David of old, who said in Psalm 18,

By You I can run against a troop. By my God I can leap over a wall.

Jesus Christ is truly the Son of David. He was a mighty man of valor. Our God is the Mighty God, not a weakling. He has overcome our great adversary, the Devil. He has overcome sin and death.  Gentiles are no longer excluded from the Inner Court on pain of death. The Mighty God has made of one body both Jew and Gentile - all who come to Him by grace through faith. He is the great champion of His people, the Captain of our Salvation.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.
...
Look unto Him, ye nations, 
Own your God, ye fallen race;
Look, and be saved through faith alone,
Be justified by grace.

Next: The Everlasting Father

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