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.
“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.’”
The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 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.
“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’?”
And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
Matthew 21:12–17
One of the most well-known events from Jesus’s final week before his crucifixion is when He entered the temple and overturned the tables of the money-changers and the benches of those selling doves.
It is a picture of Jesus that stands out as unique compared to many of the other stories and accounts of his life that we know.
There are, no doubt, many spiritual lessons that we can learn from this story that is recounted in all four of the Gospels. For example, Christ’s passion that His Father’s House would be known as a “house of prayer rather than a den of thieves” is one we should consider all year long.
But as Good Friday and Easter Sunday arrive later this week, there is a new and different truth from this story that I want to point out. Maybe one you have not considered before.
Do you know what the Bible says occurs right after Jesus overturns the tables in the temple?
Look at our passage from Matthew again:
Immediately after the temple was cleared, Matthew tells us: “The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.”
Once the tables had been overturned, the people found healing. And a little later, the children came singing “Hosanna.”
Can you picture it? Thieves driven out of the temple. And the sick begin to find healing.
I don’t know what this Easter week is holding for you. Maybe your heart feels unsettled because of a broken relationship. Maybe your mind feels full of worry or anxiety. Maybe your soul feels distracted from Christ. Maybe your hope is holding on by a thread. Or maybe you’re carrying a burden you’ve been praying for God to lift.
But this story reminds us of the hope we can find in Christ. When space is cleared in our heart for the Lord, healing begins to happen.
Whatever might be filling your heart or mind this week—whatever might be stealing your focus or crowding out your time with God—let this be the moment you clear it away.
And in so doing, make space for Jesus.
Because the One who overturned the tables is also the One who brings restoration. And when He’s given room to move, He still brings healing today.
Happy Easter to each of you. He is risen!
Prayer
Jesus, thank you for your love and compassion. Thank you also for your power and holiness and design for life and the Body of Christ. Lord, if there is anything in my life keeping me from you, help me see it clearly and remove it with the same passion Jesus displayed in the temple. Make my heart your home for healing this Easter. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.