To read the texts click on the texts: Revelation 10:8-11; Lk 19:45-48
The cleansing of the temple is one of
the few incidents that are narrated by all four Gospels. However, the
distinctiveness of Luke’s account stands out more clearly when it is compared
with Mark. In Marks account, Jesus enters Jerusalem and the temple, and then
withdraws for the night to Bethany. In contrast, Luke has Jesus proceed
directly to the Temple. The cleansing in Luke is greatly abbreviated, omitting
Mark’s references to those who were buying, overturning the tables, selling
doves and forbidding anyone to carry anything through the Temple. While in Mark
Jesus’ action is part of his prophetic announcement of the destruction of the
temple, in Luke, the cleansing prepares his “father’s house” to serve as the
site for Jesus’ teaching in the following section (19,47 – 21,38). While in
Mark Jesus leaves the Temple definitively after the cleansing, in Luke, Jesus
continues to teach in the Temple even after the incident. Since the people were
spellbound by the words of Jesus, the chief priests, scribes and the leaders
could do nothing to him.