Seminary
Matthew 21:12–16

Matthew 21:12–16

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

Jesus turning over a table of a money changer in the temple. Outtakes include images of Christ alone and with the crowd of merchants and buyers fleeing, people buying goods, and people looking.

While in Jerusalem during the last week of His life, Jesus cleansed the temple for the second time and healed those who came to Him. This lesson will help you feel an increased desire to treat the temple as a sacred place where you can feel the Savior’s love and strengthen your faith in Him.

Jesus cleanses the temple

What feelings do you have as you look at these pictures of the different rooms in the temple? You may want to write down your impressions in your study journal.

Baptistry of the Asuncion Paraguay Temple
Interior of of the endowment room in the Asuncion Paraguay Temple
Frankfurt Germany Temple . An interior image of the temple featuring the Sealing Room.
Cordoba Argentina Temple celestial room

Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover and visited the temple. Worshippers who came to Jerusalem needed to exchange their money for currency that could be used at the temple to purchase animals for the sacrifices that would be made in their behalf by the priests. Even though this business was necessary and served a good purpose, handling it at the temple was disrespectful and irreverent. Jesus responded to what He observed in the temple on two different occasions: once near the beginning of His ministry (see John 2:13–16) and once during the final week of His life (see Matthew 21:12–13).

Read one or both of the following scripture passages, looking for how the Savior responded to what He saw in the temple. You may also want to watch the video “Jesus Cleanses the Temple” (1:54), available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. This video depicts the account in John 2.

1:54

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

Jesus clears worldly merchandise from the temple courts in order to keep the temple a holy place.

  • What did you learn from reading these two accounts about how the Savior feels about the temple?

  • Why do you think the Savior responded the way He did to what was going on in the temple?

  • What truths did you learn from the Savior’s words and actions in the temple?

President Russell M. Nelson taught about the sacred nature of the house of the Lord:

Official portrait of President Russell M. Nelson taken January 2018

The temple is the house of the Lord. The basis for every temple ordinance and covenant—the heart of the plan of salvation—is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Every activity, every lesson, all we do in the Church, point to the Lord and His holy house. …

… Our Redeemer requires that His temples be protected from desecration. No unclean thing may enter His hallowed house. Yet anyone is welcome who prepares well.

(Russell M. Nelson, “Personal Preparation for Temple Blessings,” Ensign, May 2001, 32–33)

  • How does President Nelson’s statement help us better understand the Savior’s attitude toward the temple?

  • Why do you think the Lord requires us to worthily enter His temple?

Consider the following statement by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and ponder what the Lord would have you do. You may want to watch the video “Exceeding Great and Precious Promises,” available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, from time code 10:08 to 11:17, or read the following quotation.

17:7

Exceeding Great and Precious Promises

Elder Bednar teaches about focusing on the promises of the gospel and how the Sabbath day, the temple, and our homes can help us remember these promises.

Elder David A. Bednar, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles official portrait. 2020.

Temples are the most holy of all places of worship. A temple literally is the house of the Lord, a sacred space specifically set apart for worshipping God and for receiving and remembering His great and precious promises.

… The principal focus of temple worship is participating in ordinances and learning about, receiving, and remembering covenants. We think, act, and dress differently in the temple than in other spaces that we may frequent.

A principal purpose of the temple is to elevate our vision from the things of the world to the blessings of eternity.

(David A. Bednar, “Exceeding Great and Precious Promises,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2017, 92)

  • What do you feel like the Lord wants you to know, feel, or do because of what you have learned in this lesson about the sacred nature of the temple?

Jesus heals the blind and lame

Read Matthew 21:14, looking for what the Savior did in the temple after cleansing it the second time. The words “the lame” refer to individuals who were crippled or had some form of walking disability.

Notice how the Savior physically healed some of His faithful followers near the temple.

  • What other kinds of healing could we experience by our exercising faith in Him and our doing temple work?

Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained the healing we can receive as we participate in temple and family history work. Watch the following video, available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, from time code 3:49 to 4:09, or read the quotation that follows.

14:43

Family History and Temple Work: Sealing and Healing

Elder Renlund teaches that when we do family history and temple work for our ancestors, God bestows blessings on both sides of the veil.

Official portrait of Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, January 2016.

As we participate in family history and temple work today, we also lay claim to “healing” blessings promised by prophets and apostles. These blessings are also breathtakingly amazing because of their scope, specificity, and consequence in mortality.

(Dale G. Renlund, “Family History and Temple Work: Sealing and Healing,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 47)

  • How do you think temple worship can help us heal from our spiritual and emotional wounds?

Writing on a piece of paper with a pen or pencil. 1. Write in your study journal about what you learned today. Include your answers to at least two of the following questions.

  • What thoughts and feelings do you have after learning about the Savior and His temples?

  • How can what you learned and felt today influence how you worship the Savior in the temple?

  • What healing do you seek from the Lord as you participate in family history and temple work?

Optional: Want to Learn More?

Matthew 21:13. Why did Jesus say the people had made the temple “a den of thieves”?

The phrase “a den of thieves” suggests that the moneychangers and merchants were more interested in making a financial profit than in worshipping God and helping others worship.

Was Jesus angry when He cleansed the temple?

President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) taught about the Savior cleansing the temple. Watch the following video, available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, from time code 11:07 to 11:35, or read the following quotation.

12:51

Slow to Anger

May the Lord bless you and inspire you to walk without anger.

Frontal half-length portrait of President Gordon B. Hinckley. President Hinckley’s hands are resting on the back of a chair. The image is the official Church portrait of President Hinckley as of 1995. This was President Hinckley’s last official portrait. President Hinckley died 27 January 2008.

Anger may be justified in some circumstances. The scriptures tell us that Jesus drove the moneychangers from the temple, saying, “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13). But even this was spoken more as a rebuke than as an outburst of uncontrolled anger.

(Gordon B. Hinckley, “Slow to Anger,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2007, 66)