Why Did Jesus Cleanse the Temple?

Originally posted by @ghost-of-a-duke
That's ToO's main focus, to let the words of Jesus speak for themselves.

How have you missed that?

I notice how he is more than content to allow them to speak for themselves when they don’t say something he is comfortable discussing.

Originally posted by @divegeester
I notice how he is more than content to allow them to speak for themselves when they don’t say something he is comfortable discussing.

Or perhaps some things dont need reply

Originally posted by @karoly-aczel
Or perhaps some things dont need reply

Go back to your “extremities of truth”, I’m sure there you will find whatever it is you are looking for.

Originally posted by @thinkofone

Concerning Mark 8:4

"And Jesus said to him, See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them." (Matt. 8:4)

The NT writers didn't seem to think this one through.
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That's absurd.
You cannot specify which passages are NOT of His ministry while He walked on the earth. So you opt for informing us which passages they did or didn't think through.

They seem to have put Jesus into the perverse position of asking the man to carry out the deception of going to the priest to be cleansed of leprosy as a way of hiding how he was actually cleansed.
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Mark records what Jesus did, and ThinkOfOne doesn't agree or approve of what Jesus did. It doesn't jive with your imagined "inside understanding" of Christ's ministry.

Mark is believed to be a recorder for Peter.
Most likely this is what the Apostle Peter taught of what Jesus said and did.

You think Peter and Mark do not understand as well as you Christ's words and deeds? This is pure delusion.

Also, you really need to think through the nature of the supposed "miracles".
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"Think through" is your euphemism for "DISBELIEVE".

Eventually, you may just have the courage to say I should "think through" aka "DISBELIEVE" His death and resurrection.

I've contemplated the "signs" of Christ much more than you have. You wish to assume that I have a Sunday School mentality for reasons that give you false comfort.

Two final points for this post:
1.) Peter specifies that Jesus was attested to by God by means of signs and miracles. He reminded the Jews in Jerusalem of the recent events of Christ's work.

"Men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus the Nazarene, a man shown by God to you to be approved by works of power and wonders and signs, which God did through Him in your midst, even as you yourselves know - " (Acts 2:22)

2.) Among other things Jesus taught the people to do what the law teachers taught but not to live as they lived.

" Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in Moses' seat;

Therefore all that they tell you, do and keep; but do not do according to their works, for they say things and do not do them. " (Matt. 23:1-3)

This contradicts your theory that Jesus would not tell the ten lepers or the healed man to go offer the required Levitical offering.

Until He came to be give His life a ransom as the Lamb of God, He taught them to do what the law of Moses commanded, but not to live as the hypocritical religionists did.

Originally posted by @romans1009
God was never Ok with sacrificing people on His behalf. Where’d you get that?

The bible, remember Abraham? And jesus, his own son FFS.

Originally posted by @kegge
The bible, remember Abraham? And jesus, his own son FFS.

There is a disconnect between logical reasoning and uh, feeling. Ages old.

Sometimes I distrust logic. Sometimes I distrust feelings.

Originally posted by @apathist
...
Sometimes I distrust logic. ...

According to logic, the fast mammal cannot catch up to the slow reptile. We were forced to invent maths about this!

Originally posted by @kegge
The bible, remember Abraham? And jesus, his own son FFS.

Abraham never sacrificed Isaac; nor did God intend him to. It was a test of his faith and God stopped Abraham from doing it when He saw Abraham was willing to do it and was, in fact, going to do it.

Jesus Christ was not a human being. He was fully man and fully God and His decision to lay down His life was His own.

Originally posted by @thinkofone
An important reason that Jesus cleansed the temple was because the late OT prophets had revealed that God no longer wanted sacrifices. God wanted loyalty instead. Yet this important reason rarely if ever gets mentioned.

The entire sacrificial system had been abrogated, yet people were carrying on as if sacrifices were still of value to God. Jesus unde ...[text shortened]... ce.

Why do you think that this important reason rarely if ever gets mentioned by Christians?

Because Jesus wasn't there to stop the sacrifices.

He was there to stop the merchants from making profit off of the sacrifices.

They were selling animals to be taken to the Temple for sacrifice. People would come (often from long distances) and it was well-known what the Temple required for sacrifice (whether several birds or one larger animal, depending on the severity of the sins being expunged) and so the merchants kept these animals on hand, making them available for those who had no animals or who had traveled far to make their sacrifices. The moneychangers (another service provided by the merchants) were exchanging currencies for these Temple visitors for a 'fee', i.e. a profit, usually at usurious rates. THIS is what Jesus was protesting. These moneychangers were making an obscene profit at 'his Father's house', turning it into a "den of robbers".

But, since you do not worship regularly, or even believe in God(!), you wouldn't know any of this. This is one reason why you need to pay attention to more than just the 'red letters'. Better yet, get thee to a church, or at the very least, some fellowship. Perhaps if your understanding of Jesus was deeper than just what he "claimed with his mouth", you would no longer be embarrassed by mistakes like this thread.

Originally posted by @suzianne
Because Jesus wasn't there to stop the sacrifices.

He was there to stop the merchants from making profit off of the sacrifices.

They were selling animals to be taken to the Temple for sacrifice. People would come (often from long distances) and it was well-known what the Temple required for sacrifice (whether several birds or one larger animal, depe ...[text shortened]... at he "claimed with his mouth", you would no longer be embarrassed by mistakes like this thread.

What makes you think that I'm unaware of the typically wildly speculative rhetoric that Christians often attach to the incident?

Where did Jesus say that He was there to "stop the merchants from making profit" or that money changers were "making an obscene profit"?

If "den of robbers" only applies to merchants and money changers, then why drive off the buyers as well?

You're not understanding what Jesus was saying in Matthew 21:13.

Originally posted by @divegeester
Go back to your “extremities of truth”, I’m sure there you will find whatever it is you are looking for.

I'm not looking for anything other than to better my life. Your advice goes unheeded again

Originally posted by @apathist
There is a disconnect between logical reasoning and uh, feeling. Ages old.

Sometimes I distrust logic. Sometimes I distrust feelings.

Paranoia is a good thing just dont let it control you

Originally posted by @thinkofone
What makes you think that I'm unaware of the typically wildly speculative rhetoric that Christians often attach to the incident?

Where did Jesus say that He was there to "stop the merchants from making profit" or that money changers were "making an obscene profit"?

If "den of robbers" only applies to merchants and money changers, then why drive off the buyers as well?

You're not understanding what Jesus was saying in Matthew 21:13.

What is the name of your god?

As a proponent of the teachings of Jesus...when he said he was sent by God, do you think he was correct?

Originally posted by @divegeester
What is the name of your god?

As a proponent of the teachings of Jesus...when he said he was sent by God, do you think he was correct?

Lmfao



Dont you get it? Obviously not