Matthew 21:12–16
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
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.
Helping students fulfill their role. As you prepare each lesson, stay focused on your students’ role in their own learning. Rather than merely asking, “What will I do in class today?” or, “What will I teach my students?” you can also ask yourself questions like “What can students do to come closer to the Savior?” and “What will students do in today’s lesson to invite the Holy Ghost to teach them?”
Student preparation: Invite students to ponder their most recent visit to the temple. If they have never been to the temple, invite them to ponder what they think it might be like to go to the temple.
Possible Learning Activities
Jesus cleanses the temple
During the devotional, consider singing a song about the temple, such as “I Love to See the Temple” (Children’s Songbook, 95). Consider displaying a picture of the temple in your area and inviting students to share their feelings about the temple. Pictures of the temple can be found at temples.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
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.
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What did you learn from reading these two accounts about how the Savior feels about the temple?
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Why do you think the Savior responded the way He did to what was going on in the temple?
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What truths did you learn from the Savior’s words and actions in the temple?
Invite students to write one truth they identified on the board. They may have identified a truth similar to the following: The temple is a house of God and a sacred place.
President Russell M. Nelson taught about the sacred nature of the house of the Lord:
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)
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How does President Nelson’s statement help us better understand the Savior’s attitude toward the temple?
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Why do you think the Lord requires us to worthily enter His temple?
Share a personal experience about the sacred nature of the temple. Invite a few students to share their own experiences. Remind students not to share experiences that are too sacred or personal.
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.
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)
Consider inviting students to reflect on their answers to the following question and even record some of their thoughts in their journals.
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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.
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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.
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)
Consider sharing a personal experience related to finding healing in the temple.
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How do you think temple worship can help us heal from our spiritual and emotional wounds?
Commentary and Background Information
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.
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)
Supplemental Learning Activities
Virtual temple tour
Show this video for a virtual tour of the Rome Italy Temple to learn more about temples and what we do in them. This activity may be an alternative to start the lesson.
Healing through temple and family history work
Show this video about how a temple and family history consultant experienced the promised blessing of healing for one sister he helped with family history. After watching, students could be invited to share their experiences of finding names of family members and taking those names to the temple.
Consider sharing excerpts from the article “Miracles of Healing through Temple Ordinances” (Ensign, Sept. 2020, 43–47), by Sister Reyna I. Aburto of the Relief Society General Presidency.
Cleansing our own temples
The Apostle Paul compares our physical bodies to “the temple of the Holy Ghost” (see 1 Corinthians 6:19). Students could consider how they can cleanse their own temples, meaning their bodies, with the same reverence and urgency Jesus had as He cleansed the temple in Jerusalem. Students could review the For the Strength of Youth booklet and consider what they might need to cast out of their lives to be more holy and enjoy the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. Students could also be encouraged to set a spiritual goal as part of the Children and Youth program that will help them “glorify God in [their] body” (1 Corinthians 6:20).
Invite students to visit this website to find answers to their questions about the temple. This activity may be used at the conclusion of the lesson. Students may also be encouraged to visit the website on their own. Be sure to write the link on the board.