And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers!”And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.and he saith unto them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer: but ye make it a den of robbers.
4 sermons cite this verse
… overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And he said to them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. Historically, these money changers, this is, by the way, the second time Jesus did this, the first time is in John 2. He did it at the beginning of his ministry and then at the end. And what was happening is the money changers were people that were taking advantage of people who had traveled a great distance, and instead of bringing sheep to sacrifice, they would sell the sheep at home, bring the money, expecting to be able to buy sheep here at the temple. And the prices would be hiked up because of supply and demand and taking advantage of the people that were there. Anyway, Jesus turned the tables over and cleansed the temple. I want you to look at it again. Jesus went into the temple of God, drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. …
And I say this just for authenticity's sake. Matthew chapter 21, verses 1 to 17. Matthew covers this from his eyes, Matthew. And then Mark's gospel, Mark 11, verses 1 through 11. Mark sees it and records it through his eyes. And then Dr. Luke, medical doctor, the gospel of Luke. Luke from chapter 19, verses 29 onward, he records it. And that's the chapter or the book I've selected for today. And then, of course, John chapter 12, verses 12 to 19. John records it from his eyes. Why is this important? I don't want to get too much into this, except that the Bible says that before two or three witnesses, the truth shall be established. Which, by the way, if you're an attorney, or maybe you're a judge, or maybe you're involved in law, did you know that our jurisprudence of the United States of America is founded upon the biblical requirement of you not being able to be convicted without multiple witnesses? Did you know our founding fathers got that from the scriptures? …
… and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, it is written, my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of thieves. Father, in the name of Jesus. God, we need you this morning. I need you this morning. Father, our desire is to hear from you. Posture our ears. Posture our hearts. Posture our hearts, Father, that there would be a great level of transformation in us. God, that we would be free today, that we would be empowered today to go into the earth and do the work that you have called us to do. God, we recognize that you are already here, and we thank you that you dwell among us. And we thank you that your Holy Spirit is within us. We love you and honor you today. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. As you take your seats this morning, can you just look at your friend next to you and I want you to say to them, don't make me crash out. …
… selling doves. And He said to them, It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you're making it a robber's den." That's righteous indignation. That's godly anger. Righteous anger is that anger that is against evil, particularly that evil which strikes against the glory of God or some other person. In the case of Jesus' action at the temple, He was defending the glory of His Father. In the case of the man with the withered hand, He was defending the right of that man to receive compassionate healing. Righteous anger is always in the cause of someone else. It may be God, or it may be someone else. It's not selfish. It's not self-focused or self-centered. Any evil, any sin directed at God's person or God's Word or God's will or God's kingdom deserves and has the anger of God. God is angry with the wicked all the time, all the time. He's angry with injustice. He's angry with immorality. He's angry with ungodliness. …