We usually think of Jesus as a kind and gentle person. And rightly so.
Yet on one occasion he was consumed with holy anger. That was the day when he
cleared the Temple square of mer- chants and marketeers. He made a whip from
cords. He drove cattle and sheep out of the Temple. He overturned the tables of
the moneychangers and ordered the men who sold pigeons, “Get out of
here!” Single-handed he chased them out. No one could resist the power of
his determination.
Why was Jesus so furious? What had aroused his anger? He said: “It is written in the Scriptures that God said, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for the people of all nations’ ” (Mk 11:17). Notice the stress on “the people of all nations.” The buying and selling was not going on in the inner courts — the court of women and the court of Israel — where the Jews offered their prayers. The market tents had been set up in the outer court, the court for the Gentiles, the non-Jews. Foreigners who came to pray in the Temple were not allowed to enter the inner courts. They could only pray in this place — a square which had now been turned into a marketplace!
Jesus was angry because non-Jews could not say their prayers peacefully. He felt this so deeply because God had specifically promised that non-Jews who joined the covenant would not be treated as second-class citizens. Listen to these words from the book of Isaiah.
A foreigner who has joined the Lord’s people should not say, “The Lord will not let me worship with his people....” The Lord says to such a man, “If you honor me by observing the Sabbath and if you do what pleases me and faithfully keep my covenant, then your name will be remembered in my Temple and among my people longer than if you had sons and daughters. You will never be forgotten....I will bring you to Zion my sacred hill, give you joy in my house of prayer, and accept the sacrifices you offer on my altar. My Temple will be called a house of prayer for the people of all nations” (Is 56:3,4-5,7).
This was a beautiful reassurance. Jesus was angry because the business going on in the Temple belied God’s promise. The court for the foreigners was no longer a place dedicated to prayer. It had been turned into a “hideout for thieves.”
Let us consider the incident carefully. First of all, from a reading of the text in Isaiah we can see that the short line which Jesus quoted, “My house will be called a house of prayer,” is truly the heart of the whole passage. To understand what Jesus meant with the quotation we have to know the whole Old Testament passage. This often applies to short quotations in Jesus’ words. Usually we have to study the complete scripture passage to which Jesus is referring.
Another thing we notice is that Jesus was familiar with the text of Isaiah, that is, when Jesus came across the market scene in the court of the Gentiles he did not have the time or the opportunity to study the scriptures. No, seeing what was going on, he remembered the promise in Isaiah. Immediately he realized the contrast between what God was saying in Isaiah and what was actually happening in the Temple. Seeing that contrast made him angry! So we know from this that Jesus knew the Isaian text by heart, that it was one of the scripture passages dear to him.
How did Jesus learn scripture? In his days no one could afford to possess private copies of the Old Testament books. People learned the text because on every Sabbath a portion of Torah, the Pentateuch, and selections from the prophets would be read out. The reading was done from the Hebrew text with free translations in Aramaic. That is where Jesus learned the Old Testament passages. At times he, like other members of the community, may have been called upon to do the reading. He may also have stayed behind in the synagogue after the service was over to do some private reading and study. But he did not make any notes, nor did he have his own collection of bible scrolls.
When Jesus heard a particular text that struck him as being important, he would memorize as much as he could. People were much more used to doing this than we are. He would then reflect on the passage in the course of the week and work out its implications for his kingdom. During the years Jesus spent in Nazareth he built up in this manner a “treasury,” a mental storeroom, of important scripture texts. They were his own selection of texts, and he gave them his own interpretation. We can be certain of this, because when he started his public ministry, we find him making use of this treasury of Old Testament texts.
Jesus actually refers to this when talking to the apostles:
“This means, then, that every teacher of the Law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who takes new and old things out of his storage room” (Mt 13:52).
The teacher in Christ’s kingdom has many old treasures in his storeroom. But they turn out also to be new because of the new understanding he imparts to them.
Jesus’ example shows us how to derive the most benefit from scripture. Even though we are now privileged to have the whole printed text continuously at our disposal, we, too, cannot possess the whole Bible at once. Not all texts will be equally telling to us. So we too should build up a treasury, a storeroom of select passages that are dear to us. Whenever a text has made a deep impression on us, when we have reflected on it and somehow made it our own, we add it to our selection. That is a very good way of gradually assembling our own collection of “gems” from scripture. We can do this by noting these texts in a special “treasury booklet” or by marking the passages in our bible.
After this useful diversion, let’s return to Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple. We saw that he was angry because non-Jews, foreigners, could not pray in the Temple in accordance with God’s promise. This brings me to another observation. The Old Testament was full of prejudice against non-Jews. Only the Israelites were God’s chosen people. Especially in the older sections of the Bible God almost appears to be irrationally partial. He always favored the Jews and was biased against foreigners.
Isaiah 56:1-8 — in which God says foreigners are welcome in his Temple — was selected by Jesus precisely because it heralded a new approach. It is clear from the gospels that Jesus felt no prejudice against other nations. The Roman officer and the Syro-Phoenician woman are held out as model believers. Jesus stayed in a Samaritan village and said his Father would accept true worship from anyone. Samaritans also appear as examples of neighborly charity and gratitude. Jesus, therefore, strongly believed that all people from all nations should belong to his kingdom. That is why Jesus rejected the Old Testament texts that betray a pro-Jewish bias and gave special prominence to the promise of salvation to all.
If we keep this concern of Jesus in mind we also understand the original way in which he could handle the Old Testament. Isaiah 23:1-18, for instance, contains a condemnation of Tyre and Sidon, the two wealthy merchant cities north of Palestine. It announces punishment and destruction.
Howl with grief, you people of Phoenicia!...The Lord has stretched out his hand over the sea and overthrown kingdoms. He has ordered the Phoenician centers of commerce to be destroyed. City of Sidon, your happiness has ended (Is 23:6,11-12).
The Jews knew this prophecy well. Perhaps they discussed among themselves when God would execute this judgement. Jesus too had reflected on the prophecy. But he understood that in it God condemned Tyre and Sidon for their sins and unbelief, not because they were not part of the chosen people. That is why Jesus can turn the prophecy against the Jews themselves:
“How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible for you too, Bethsaida! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would long ago have put on sackcloth and sprinkled ashes on themselves, to show that they had turned from their sins! I assure you that on the Judgment Day God will show more mercy to the people of Tyre and Sidon than to you” (Mt 11:21-22).
In another Isaian prophecy God describes how he will humiliate the pride of the king of Babylonia. King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven.... You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead (Is 14:12,14-15).
Jesus applied this text to the town of Capernaum.
“And as for you, Capernaum! Did you want to lift yourself up to heaven? You will be thrown down to hell! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would still be in existence today! You can be sure that on the Judgment Day God will show more mercy to Sodom than to you!” (Mt 11:23-24).
Jesus reproaches his contemporaries for their unbelief. At the same time he underlines that God will judge all nations equally.
Jesus shows the same preoccupation in the parable of the vineyard. The owner rents it out, but the tenants refuse to pay the share of the harvest they owe him. Eventually the owner sends his own son, whom they decide to kill. The parable clearly points to Israel, for according to Isaiah 5:1-7, Israel was God’s vineyard.
“Israel is the vineyard of the LORD Almighty;
the people of Judah are the vines he planted.
He expected them to do what was good,
but instead they committed murder” (Is 5:7).
The Son, sent by the owner as a last attempt “at least they will respect my son,” points to Jesus himself. Jesus gave an outline, therefore, of salvation history which the Jews would apply to themselves.
But then Jesus introduced a new element. In the Isaian prophecy God had announced punishment: Wild animals would eat the vines and trample them down, the vineyard would be overgrown with weeds, no rain would fall, etc. Jesus brings his audience to another conclusion.
“Now, when the owner of that vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” Jesus asked.
“He will certainly kill those evil men,” they answered, “and rent the vineyard out to other tenants, who will give him his share of the harvest at the right time.” “And so I tell you,” said Jesus, “the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce the proper fruits” (Mt 21:40-41,43).
The kingdom of God will be taken away from Israel and given to believers of other nations who will produce the proper fruits. This was a new development not foreseen in Isaiah 5:1-7 and not suspected by the Jews, but clear to Jesus. His kingdom would cover the whole world and not just the Jewish people.
Jesus found a confirmation of this wider vision in another Isaian oracle which he certainly applied to himself. It began:
The Lord says,
“Here is my servant, whom I strengthen—
the one I have chosen; with whom I am pleased.
I have filled him with my spirit,
and he will bring justice to every nation” (Is 42:1).
It was this text which dominated Jesus’ thinking during his baptism in the Jordan, and when he had his ecstasy on the mountain. He was conscious of this text while exercising his healing ministry (Mt 12:15-21). In a manner of speaking, Isaiah 42 expressed the way Jesus conceived his own vocation. And the universality of his mission was clearly contained in that oracle:
“He will bring justice to every nation” (v. 1).
“Distant lands eagerly wait for his teaching” (v. 4).
And especially,
“Through you I will make a covenant with all peoples;
through you I will bring light to the nations” (v. 6).
Jesus knew that his mission extended far beyond the narrow confines of Palestine.
Let us recapitulate what we have seen regarding Jesus’ way of studying the Old Testament. He selected certain passages which he found particularly meaningful for reflection and prayer. These he stored in his memory as a precious collection he could draw from. He used texts often in a new form, interpreting them in the new light that came from his kingdom.
The apostles learned from Jesus the same creative approach to scripture. The Isaian and Deutero-Isaian texts Jesus applied to himself were now understood in their full redemptive teaching. Jesus’ openness to non-Jews was now expressed in deeds: in suppressing the Mosaic laws that would hinder the conversion of those not familiar with the Jewish past (Acts 15). This is how Jesus wanted it to be. He wanted the word to be like a seed — ever growing to maturity and producing marvelous fruits.
We too should approach scripture in this way. We should build up a collection of favorite texts. And we should always be prepared to make the word speak to us with a new message in a new situa- tion. For the word creates life:
“My word is like the snow and the rain
that come down from the sky to water the earth.
They make the crops grow
and provide seed for planting and food to eat.
So also will be the word that I speak —
it will not fail to do what I plan for it;
it will do everything I send it to do” (Is 55:10-11).
