Blog post : No Room for "All Nations"

World Missions: The Heart of God

Commentary on Mark 11 -- How is Jesus driving the money-changers out of the Temple in Jerusalem related to world evangelism?

"[Jesus] said to them, 'The Scriptures declare, "My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,1" but you have turned it into a den of thieves.'" -- Mark 11:17

Rarely does the story of Jesus driving merchants and money changers out of the Temple result in reflections about world evangelism. That is lamentable, given that Jesus quoted Isaiah 56:7 as the reason for His actions: "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations."

Conversations on the cleansing of the Temple almost never mention Isaiah's "for all nations" phrase. One reason may be that only Mark records the entire verse from Isaiah. However, by ignoring those last three words of Isaiah 56:7, we may well miss what was really going on that day.

The core issue that day in Jerusalem may not have been just corrupt and abusive commerce, as bad as that was. The central issue may have been that the Court of the Gentiles had been taken over by such activity. This basically evicted non-Jews from the Temple, meaning that the Temple could no longer be "a house of prayer for all nations."

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all place Jesus' purifying of the Temple on Monday of Holy Week. On Friday of that same week, Jesus died as a sacrifice " for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). Because of this, as Jesus entered the Temple at the beginning of Passover Week, a concern for all people on earth was likely weighing heavily on Him. Maybe He was already formulating in His mind the exhortation He would give His followers about preaching the gospel " to all creation" (Mark 16:15) and being witnesses "to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

What thievery had the money changers in the Temple committed?

Given what Jesus was going to face later in the week, isn't it logical that His heart would have been focused that Monday on "all nations"? That would have made Him especially sensitive to the Court of the Gentiles being occupied by money-changers and sellers of animals and birds. The price-gouging and currency-exchange fraud certainly desecrated God's holy Temple. However, what may have pushed Jesus to the boiling point was seeing the Gentile area usurped and turned into "a den of thieves" (a phrase from Jeremiah 7:11). With the Gentiles squeezed out of the "Court of the Gentiles," the Temple could no longer serve as "a house of prayer for all nations." Their place to worship God had been stolen from them.

Jesus' life on earth begins in Bethlehem with a plaintive "no room in the end" story. Isn't it ironic that at the end of his earthly life, Jesus faced another "no room" sign?

The "No Room for Gentiles" sign was put in the Court of the Gentiles not long before Jesus' arrest and crucifixion barred the way to the Temple for many of those for whom He was about to die! Is it any wonder that our Savior's emotions boiled over that day? Shouldn't ours do the same when something keeps "all nations" from hearing the call to worship their Creator?

Reflection Questions

  1. What is the significance of the phrase "for all nations" in Isaiah 56:7? Can it be said that Jesus' reference to Isaiah 56:7 reflected His passion for world evangelism?
  2. Why do you think that conversations about Jesus' cleansing of the Temple frequently omit the phrase "for all nations" from Isaiah 56:7? How important is the phrase "for all nations" in reflections on the cleansing of the Temple?
  3. What was the ultimate result of the Temple Court of the Gentiles being taken over by money exchangers and sellers of animals and birds? How does this relate to the call to evangelize people in all nations?
  4. Should the "no room" sign at the end of Jesus' earthly life bring to our minds the "no room" sign at the beginning of his earthly life? What do these two "no room" messages in Jesus' life say to the cause of world evangelism?

1In the Bible, the word "nations" does not mean political entities like China, India and the USA. Rather, it means people groups or societies in which people speak the same language, have the same culture, and live in or have originated in the same area. "Nations" is synonymous with the plural word "peoples." In other words, nations in the Bible means all of the people groups of the world other than the people of Israel.

    -- Howard Culbertson,

This blog post on a world missions Bible passage is one of more than three dozen blogs in the "Heart of God" series published in Engage, a monthly online magazine.

Background: The presence of money-changers in the Temple area

The money-changers described in Mark 11 were there in the area of the Temple to provide what was deemed a necessary service for the Temple worshipers. Here are two reasons why:

  1. Temple Tax: Every Jewish male was required to pay a half-shekel Temple tax annually. This tax had to be paid in the sacred currency, not in the Roman or other local currencies in use at the time. The money-changers provided the service of exchanging these currencies for the required Temple currency.
  2. Purchasing Sacrificial Animals: People came to the Temple to offer sacrifices, and it was often more practical for them to purchase the animals needed for sacrifices at the Temple rather than bringing them from their homes, especially if they were traveling from afar. Money-changers were often involved in these transactions as well.

Background: The Court of the Gentiles

The "Court of the Gentiles" was a prominent area in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. It was the outermost courtyard of the Temple complex and was accessible to non-Jews or Gentiles. Here are six things we know aobut it:

  1. The Court of the Gentiles was was a place to accommodate Gentiles who wished to visit the Temple but who were not permitted into the inner courts that were reserved for Jews.
  2. Gentiles who were drawn to the monotheistic beliefs of Judaism or who wished to pray to the Jewish God could do so in the Court of the Gentiles.
  3. The Court of the Gentiles served as a symbol of openness. It signaled that the Jewish God welcomed all people, regardless of their ethnic or religious backgrounds.
  4. The Court of the Gentiles also functioned as a place for teaching and learning about Judaism. Jewish scholars and religious leaders would often engage in discussions and debates with Gentiles who visited there.
  5. The Court served as a meeting point for people from various cultures and regions. This cultural interchange was noteworthy for the individuals involved and reflected the cosmopolitan character of Jerusalem in the First Century AD.
  6. This outermost courtyard of the temple complex was big. Some estimates are that it covered an area of approximately 35 acres (about 14 hectares). By comparison, the Lincoln Memorial Landscape and Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., covers 30 acres. The Lincoln Park Zoo in New York City sits on about 33 acres.

Sadly, money changers and sellers of sacrificial birds and animals had taken over this special space, leaving no room for "all nations" mentioned in Isaiah 57 verse that Jesus quoted.

painting of Jerusalem Temple site

Image source: https://www.etsy.com/listing/768991323/jewish-temple-the-soul-of-jerusalem

Noteworthy Quotes on the Relevance of Mark 11:17 to World Evangelism Efforts

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