For the last 1,600 years, Christians around the world have remembered the final days of Jesus' life during Holy Week. Today is Holy Monday, which commemorates the day Jesus entered the temple in Jerusalem with a homemade whip in his hand (John 2:15).
Challenging the Corrupt Temple Regime
The temple was meant to be a place where pilgrims from all over the world could come to offer sacrifices and receive forgiveness from God. However, the religious establishment decided that the temple courtyard, a space usually reserved for non-Jews to worship God, should also serve as a livestock market for sacrificial animals. This ensured tighter control and higher profits for the Jewish elite who controlled the markets but hindered non-Jewish pilgrims from having a place to worship. Instead of prayers in various languages, the temple was filled with the braying of animals, the haggling of vendors, and the stench of manure. The worship of the nations was sacrificed so that some could profit. Angered, Jesus overturned tables and prevented merchants from moving through the courtyard, directly challenging the priorities of Jerusalem's religious establishment (Mark 11:15-16).
Jesus Restores God's Temple
With a captive audience, Jesus then quoted the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, saying, "Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers" (Mark 11:17). The crowd recognized the truth in Jesus' words. Israel's religious establishment had marginalized the worship of non-Jews for money. The temple was intended to be a place for all people to experience God's presence and forgiveness, and that was being taken from them. Publicly exposed and cornered, the religious elite plotted to kill Jesus (Mark 11:18).
Jesus as the Renewed Temple
But Jesus was not just a prophet exposing corruption; he was also acting with authority. He referred to the temple as "my house." Part of the reason Jesus took such dramatic action was because he was God, and God has the right to change, critique, and even tear down his temple if he wishes (John 2:18-22).
Holy Monday is good news because Jesus announces his intention to restore God's temple to its original purpose. The temple was meant to be a place where all people could make sacrifices and receive forgiveness. On Holy Monday, Jesus' actions demonstrated that he would put an end to a temple regime committed to greed and ethnic pride, allowing a better temple to rise and never exclude the nations again. Jesus himself is this renewed temple. His body is our temple, where forgiveness is offered to all people. In him, there is no room for merchants or money because his forgiveness is free.
Jesus as the Ultimate Sacrifice
When Jesus stopped the buying and selling of sacrificial animals, he was not only dooming a corrupt system but also offering himself as an alternative sacrifice. Overturning the tables was Jesus' way of saying that he was willing to be the sacrifice that granted all nations God's forgiveness.
Action Items
So, what can we do on this Holy Monday?