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Luke 19:47–48
“[Jesus] was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.”
In studying the New Testament, we see that the first-century Jews lived in a sorry state, religiously speaking. Certainly, the use of the temple as a place of commerce shows how desperate the problem was. The Jewish religious leaders had not kept the temple accessible to those who wanted to come and worship the covenant God of Israel, the one true Lord and Creator of all. Instead, they had allowed the Court of the Gentiles to be filled with money-changers and sellers of animals, and Jesus drove them out in His zeal for God’s house (Luke 19:45–46). What began as a good service to those who made the Passover pilgrimage had corrupted worship, and it demonstrated the hypocrisy of the religious leaders who made a pretense of religious devotion but were insufficiently pious to make sure that others could also praise God in the temple. John Calvin warns us, “As robbers in their dens sin with greater hardihood, because they trust that they will escape punishment, so by means of a false covering of godliness hypocrites grow more bold, so that they almost hope to deceive God.”
Having purified the temple by casting out those who made it a place of unrestrained commerce, Jesus continued His teaching ministry by providing instruction to people daily in the temple (v. 47). The outer area of the temple complex had porticoes along the walls, which provided covered areas for people to gather. No doubt, Jesus did much of His teaching there. Matthew Henry points out the connection of our Lord’s teaching to the reform of worship, especially in relation to His cleansing of the temple. Henry writes that “it is not enough that the corruptions of a church be purged out, but the preaching of the gospel must be encouraged.” Jesus both removed erroneous practices and provided sound teaching in the Word of God. As we seek to reform worship in our own day, we must follow this example of removing error and giving biblical guidance.
Unsurprisingly, today’s passage tells us also that religious leaders and elders of the Jews did not take kindly to Jesus’ actions in the temple both to purify it and to give instruction (vv. 47–48). These men depended on the favor of the crowds for their position, and as we have noted, they knew that anyone who caused too much of a stir might invite the Romans to crack down on the people lest they start a rebellion. But Luke notes that they could not yet make a move against Jesus, for the people hung on Jesus’ every word (v. 48).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
The primary way to create lasting reform in the worship of God’s people is to provide them with sound guidance in the Scriptures. It is the task of teachers and elders in the church to give this teaching, and it is the job of the laity to make sure this occurs by receiving as leaders only those who are faithful to the Word of God in their lives and instruction.
for further study
- Leviticus 10:8–11
- Titus 2:1
the bible in a year
- Isaiah 16–18
- Ephesians 1
- Isaiah 19–23
- Ephesians 2–3