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Jesus Cleanses the Temple

¹² And Jesus entered the temple^[a] and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. ¹³ He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

¹⁴ And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, ¹⁶ and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,

¹⁷ And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

In this part of God’s Word, Jesus directly confronts the sin of treating God’s temple incorrectly. Today, we, as the church, can easily fall into these same mistakes. By taking a look at their mistakes, it can help us to avoid them. 

7 Crucial Mistakes of the Church:

1. Making a money grab

Matt. 21:12, 6:24-27, Ps. 50:10-11, 1 Tim. 5:11-18, 6:10, 1 Cor. 9:14, 2 Cor. 9:6-8

2. Over prioritizing ease

Matt. 21:12, Rom. 12:6-8, Col. 3:23-24, 2 Cor. 12:9-10, James 1:2-4

3. Just going through the motions

Matt. 21:12, 6:1-7, Hosea 6:6, Is. 1:11-12, 1 John 1:7

4. Neglecting to reach the lost

Matt. 21:12, 9:13, 28:19-20, Luke 15:1-32, 19:10, 2 Pet. 3:9

5. Forgetting about prayer

Matt. 21:13, 1 Thess. 5:17, Eph. 6:18, James 5:16, 1 Tim. 2:8, Col. 4:2

6. Overlooking Scripture

Matt. 21:14-16, 7:24-27, Luke 11:28, 1 John 2:3, John 14:15

7. Abandoning the lowly

Matt. 21:14-16, Luke 11:42, 1 John 4:20, Micah 6:8, Prov. 21:3, James 2:1-12

 

Reflecting on God’s Word

Getting Started

• Take some time to read over Matthew 21:12-17 and pray. 
• Have you ever read or heard about this before? What stood out to you as we were talking about it? 
• What surprised you as we talked about it?
• The church isn’t a building. It’s not a set of paperwork in an office. It’s not just the pastor. The church is made up of believers. Have you ever struggled with falling into one of these mistakes? What led to that?

 

Diving In 

1. Have you ever experienced a church that was in the midst of making a “money grab?” What happened? How can we prevent that from happening in the future?

 

2. The people in Jesus’ time wanted things to be easy. We’re no different today. How can you best remember that church isn’t about what’s easy, but what God is calling us to do? How does that change the way you view church? 

 

3. The people of Jesus’ time were used to their routine and going through the motions. How can you avoid just going through the motions? How would that improve your relationship with Christ? 

 

4. What the people were doing in the temple would have prevented people of non-Jewish descent from entering the temple. Many times today, we can make the same mistake, by making church difficult for those without a church background. How can you ensure that you’re doing everything that you can to make sure that church is a friendly place for outsiders to be, while still being able to share God’s truth with them? 

 

5. Jesus makes it clear that His house should be called a house of prayer. Read 1 Corinthians 6:19. How can you make prayer more of a priority in your own life? 

 

6. Jesus quotes Scripture to the people in the temple, something that the people should have been familiar with, yet they overlooked. How can you be sure to not overlook God’s Word, and uphold everything it says in your own life? 

 

7. Jesus heals those who need healing in the temple. By doing so, He shows the people what should be happening in the temple, yet the religious leaders become angry at Him. How can you avoid this same mistake? 

 

Applying the Scripture

What are your biggest takeaways from this passage of God’s Word? 

• What practical step(s) do you need to implement in your life to apply what God has taught you in this passage of Scripture? 
• How would applying this affect your life and your relationship with the Lord? 
• Who can you ask to keep you accountable to applying this to your life?

Open with prayer.

Go around and give everyone a chance to share about how the past week has been. What’s one highlight? What’s one lowlight?

If your small group has talked about it before, feel free to use this time to hold people accountable to what they’ve asked to be held accountable for previously, and go through the “missional” part of this discussion guide.

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Prayer Time:

Pray for each other in your small group to be faithful take the step(s) that you shared above. Pray for each other and the interactions that they have with those who don’t know Jesus. Pray that God would soften the people’s hearts to what He has for them. Pray that God would give everyone opportunities to share the Gospel.

Staying Missional:

Share spiritual/missional conversations you’ve had where you live, work, and play:

Who did you have a conversation with that took a spiritual/missional turn this week?
What questions did you ask to discover where God is at work in their life, even if they are not aware?
How were you able to share your story of life change or how you have experienced Jesus?
How can you be intentional this week with people where you live, work, and play to have spiritual/missional conversations if the opportunity arises?
Who in your life do you think could be discipleable or open to spiritual/missional conversations?

What’s next?

Discuss the next step for your small group. When will we gather again and what purpose will it fulfill?