Jesus did not cleanse the Temple of commerce

 

At the mention of capitalism, many on the left refer to Jesus' cleansing of the Temple as evidence that Jesus opposed not only capitalism, but commerce. They are in good company. Philosophers since Aristotle have despised commerce and considered it evil. Church fathers baptized Aristotle's economics and for 1,500 years declared that commerce condemned those who practiced it to hell. BTW, Aristotle despised craftsmen like Joseph and Jesus, too. 

Then, astronomers began to prove Aristotle's astronomy wrong and opened a crack in veneration of the pagan philosopher. Theologians at the University of Salamanca during the Reformation drove a truck through the crack by distilling the principles of capitalism from natural law with Biblical support. 

Were they wrong? Didn't Jesus condemn commerce when he made a whip and used it to drive the merchants and money changers from the Temple? No. Jesus often used merchants as examples of good disciples in his parables. He used them as examples of evil, also. In the same way that what one eats doesn't make one clean or unclean, neither does one's profession. 

The selling of animals in the Temple was established as a convenience to Jews who had to travel far to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices. Deuteronomy 14:23-26 describes the process for tithes which would be similar to that for other sacrifices: 

"Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always.  But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the Lord your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the Lord will choose to put his Name is so far away), then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose. Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice."

By the time of Jesus, Jews were scattered across the Roman Empire and nations to its east, especially Babylon. They could offer sacrifices only at the Temple in Jerusalem, but traveling weeks carrying sheep or oxen to sacrifice would be hard and expensive. And the worshipper risked having his sacrifice rejected by inspectors at the temple because the Torah required that animals have no blemishes. So, the high priest established markets where worshippers travelling from great distances could carry only money and purchase inspected animals guaranteed to be free of blemishes for sacrifice in the temple. But what made Jesus so angry that he began and ended his earthly ministry by cleansing the Temple of such commerce? 

Socialists ignore what Jesus said. He condemned the trade because, he said, "The Scriptures declare, 'My Temple will be called a house of prayer,' but you have turned it into a den of thieves!" Jesus drew their attention to a well known passage in Jeremiah 7:9-11:

“Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, 'We are safe'—safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord."

As in other passages, Jesus indicted the High Priest's family with committing the same evil of the Jews in Jeremiah's day, whom God would cause Babylon to conquer, deport its people, then destroy the Temple. 

Josephus, a priest, summarized the corruption of the priesthood. The office of High Priest was sometimes bought through bribery, with candidates offering large sums to the ruling authorities for the position. High priests, and the families they controlled, diverted tithes and offerings intended for other priests and for the temple itself to their own enrichment. The High Priest families controlled the money-changing and animal-selling operations within the Temple precincts, known as the "booths of Annas." They charged exorbitant prices for sacrificial animals and currency exchange services. Some high priests surrounded themselves with gangs of thugs who engaged in violence against ordinary priests and the general populace to enforce their control and seize resources.

The High Priest had become similar to a mafia don who oppressed the people. That's why the people approved of Jesus cleansing the temple. Jesus did not condemn the selling of inspected animals in the Temple to be used as sacrifices in the Temple, which was necessary for worshippers travelling great distances. He condemned the evil in the High Priest's family that caused them to reject him and steal from the people.