The Purity of Prayer

“He said to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer,” but you make it a den of robbers.’"—Matthew 21:13

God cares about prayer. He cares a great deal more about prayer than we do. Look at Jesus’ reaction to the pollution of the temple in our passage for today. The temple was the place where God met man. We are given a little peek into what had been going on in verse 12:  

“Jesus entered the temple 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.” 

Jesus went into the temple and did something that at first glance seems very un-Jesus-like. He made a whip of cords (John 2:15) and started zealously chasing off the moneychangers and those who sold oxen, sheep and pigeons. Why? And how is this done in love and to God’s glory?

When Jesus went down to Jerusalem, He was going to celebrate Passover (the time of year when the Israelites get together to remember what God had done in setting the Israelites free from slavery in Egypt). He arrived at the temple in Jerusalem to see corruption at its height. Jews were required to offer a perfect lamb at Passover. Other animals, such as doves, pigeons and cattle, were routinely used for various prescribed sacrifices (Leviticus 1:14; 22:19), and also would have been for sale at the temple (John 2:14). Religion had become big business, and people were cashing in! According to the secular historian Josephus, Caiaphas, the Jewish High Priest, had a pretty cozy relationship with the Roman rulers and since he oversaw the temple courts, he had to have known what was going on with the moneychangers. Sincere worshippers made their way to Jerusalem desirous to worship and make the required offerings, only to be met by some palms held out expecting a cash payment for goods rendered. It was time for some tough love, and Jesus took action quickly. He made a whip of cords and went at it, and as we observe this, we gain a powerful perspective on the purity and value of prayer. He turned over tables and chased out everybody, saying, “’My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” The temple was a holy and sacred place, set apart from everything else for one purpose, to commune with God.

Through Jesus’ cleansing of the temple, we see the value and purity of prayer, but we also get an awesome glimpse into the Person of God. As the Son of God, Jesus is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature”—Hebrews 1:3. He is God’s Son, and since the temple is God’s house, then it is Jesus’ house.

Imagine your father owning a house near the local college. Now imagine that your father is a believer and he wants to use the house for God’s glory, so he rents it out to some Christian kids involved in a ministry on campus. Now, imagine you show up to the house, expecting to see it used for the glory of God, only to discover that the guys had been using the house for prostitution. Would you be angry? Of course you would. Would it be justifiable? Of course—because it is your property, and you have full right to the ownership of the house. And they were polluting the home for which your father intended a God-honoring purpose. If you can feel the full weight of that illustration, then you are getting a picture of the indignation Jesus felt when He discovered the hypocrisy in His Father’s house of prayer.

We not only get a glimpse into God’s view on prayer, but we get a glimpse into the person of Christ. We see that He is divine, because He is showing God’s justifiable wrath. One of the perfections, or attributes, of God is that He is wrathful. How can this be? Because of Who He is! He must hate sin and respond accordingly to any slight to His perfection. God joyously delights in Himself, and whenever someone’s supreme delight is in something other than Him, they are being idolatrous. Therefore, it is imperative that God reveal Himself in all of His splendor and holy jealousy for His Person, by executing wrath on all who value anything more highly than He Who is completely righteous and perfect in and of Himself. When Christ showed wrath in cleansing the temple, He was within His full right to do so, and it was completely holy and loving for Him to do so, because He was showing that the way to dutifully delight in God was only through communion with Him. Anything else would be idolatry. Jesus was demonstrating God the Father’s feelings on the subject. He wants us to seek Him in the purity of prayer, not in religious showmanship and merchandizing, or in the perfunctory performance of heartless rituals and offerings. God desires our communion, not as though He needed it—He doesn’t—but because He delights in us, the objects of His divine love.

My brother or sister, I pray that we might learn God’s perspective on prayer and be on our knees, not as under obligation or guilt, but as in the duty of delight such as that of two young lovers, desirous of one another’s companionship. So, too, do we long for the purity of communion with Him in order that we might know Him and be fully known by Him. And may it all be for His glory. Amen.