Jesus went up to Jerusalem on the occasion of the great feast – the Passover, where hundreds of thousands of Jews would assemble from all over the world. This was to sacrifice lambs recalling the lifting of God’s wrath from them on account of the Pascal Lamb. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. And without reconciliation worship is pointless. So Jesus had lifted or taken away their sin at Jordan symbolically. On their behalf he accepted the baptism of death, a sign that he bore the wrath of God. He knew deep down that he was the chosen Lamb of God.
When he entered the city and made his way to the temple court, He was not impressed by the splendor of the building, but was pondering the salvation of mankind by means of his sacrifice. Surprisingly, he found no sense of calm in that temple for worship. What he found was dust and clamor, the mooing of cows and the wrangling of the traders and the bleeding of the animals. He also heard the cries of money changers who were exchanging foreign currency into Jewish money, for pilgrims to pay their dues.
The noises in the temple indicated a belief that righteousness could be bought by money and special efforts. The pilgrims assumed that grace and righteousness were to be purchased by rituals and contributions, not yet aware that salvation could not be got by good works.
At this Jesus showed his righteous indignation. Zeal for true worship drove him to throw out the traders in livestock and scatter their money in the dust. We do not read that he struck anyone, but his voice spoke of the blows that God would inflict on those who would not yield before His majesty. There is no piety on earth that pleases God, apart from broken hearts surrendering to the Holy One.
Jesus grieved over the indifference of men towards the holiness of God. Such neglect and ignorance seen in superficial religiosity shows the darkness that shrouds hearts and minds, even though the Law had been given 1300 years before. At this Jesus demonstrated divine wrath and holy zeal to cleanse this center of worship. The center reflected the condition of the whole. He demanded the reform for the core of religion, for a radical change in man’s attitude to God.