Jesus drove the merchants out of the temple on two occasions. This time he drove them out during his last week on earth. Notice what he said to them as he sent them flying. “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”(Mathew 21:13).
First he called the temple “my house”. The temple of Solomon was made for God to inhabit. When Jesus called it his house, he was declaring both his divinity and his divine right to be worshiped.
Secondly he said it was to be a house of prayer. Prayer involves petition, praise, thanksgiving and worship.
Thirdly he said “you have made it a den of thieves.” Selling oxen, sheep and doves was not a problem. It was the fact that the merchants were over charging the worshipers.
We are now the temple of God. What is happening there? (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
