The Cleansing of the Temple. Jesus now follows up His survey of the Temple with an attempt to abolish the market set up in the outermost court, the court of the Gentiles, for the convenience of Jews who had to purchase sacrificial victims and who wished to obtain by a dear exchange the half-shekel wherewith to pay their Temple-tax. [76] Mk. alone says (Mark 11:16) that Jesus reinforced the standing rule against using the court as a thoroughfare. The phrase for all nations in the quotation from Isaiah 56:7 is also found only in Mk. It suggests that the robbery may have consisted not so much in the sharp practice of the money-changers as in depriving the Gentiles of all their share in the Temple and its worship. To the last, the people were astonished at His teaching; it was ever new to them. The nightly withdrawal of Jesus from the city ensured both quiet and safety.
[76] [On the significance of this incident as an immediate cause of the Crucifixion, see Lake, The Stewardship of Faith, p. 39: Financial interest rather than theological hatred was the real cause of the accusation of the priests, though they dressed it up in a partly political, partly religious form. A. J. G.)