Luke 19:46 - Printer Friendly

ESV: saying to them, "It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers."

NIV: "It is written," he said to them, " ‘My house will be a house of prayer’ ; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’ "

NASB: saying to them, 'It is written: ‘AND MY HOUSE WILL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER,’ but you have made it a DEN OF ROBBERS.'

CSB: and he said, "It is written, my house will be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves!"

NLT: He said to them, 'The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.'

KJV: Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.

NKJV: saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

Jesus has entered the Temple Mount. The Courtyard of the Gentiles, where non-Jews are supposed to be welcome to worship God, is filled with merchants selling sacrificial necessities and trading money with exorbitant up-charges. Jesus is angry with both the way they discourage Gentiles from worshiping and how they cheat Jewish travelers who need pigeons for sacrifices and shekels to pay the temple tax.

Jesus responds with a reference to Isaiah 56:6–7:

And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD,
to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD,
and to be his servants,
everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
and holds fast my covenant—
these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.

Jesus then references God's strong words through Jeremiah to those who came to worship before the Babylonian captivity: "Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD" (Jeremiah 7:11).

The Holy Spirit inspired Luke to write this Gospel around AD 60. This was six years before the Jews revolted against the Romans, and ten years before the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and burned the temple. He also inspired Luke to place this passage right after Jesus' prophecy about Jerusalem's destruction. He knew, and Jesus knew, although Luke did not, how connected the two passages are.

One reason the Jews started rebelling against the Romans in AD 66 was money. The Romans exacted exorbitant taxes against Israelites, leaving many former landowners in poverty. When the people ran out of money, Nero instructed the Judaean governor to take it from the temple. In AD 70, when the Roman army finally reached the Temple Mount, they stole the gold and silver implements and coins from the temple treasury and set fire to the temple. When the metallic plate on the fixtures melted into the seams of the walls and floor, the soldiers ripped the stones apart to dig out the gold: exactly as Jesus had prophesied (Luke 19:44).

The courtyard God designed for Gentiles—including Roman soldiers—to worship Him is instead filled with opportunistic merchants. The businessmen extort money from travelers with the approval of the priests who look on. Had the priests invited the soldiers into right worship of God, including identifying their Messiah, the Romans may not have come to the temple and stolen everything the priests accumulated.

Jesus approaches Jerusalem by way of Jericho. Along the road, he encounters Zacchaeus: an unusually short man and infamous tax collector. Zacchaeus responds to Jesus' invitation and demonstrates humility and repentance. Jesus gives a parable explaining a believer's obligation to encourage the spread of the gospel. Jesus enters Jerusalem to great fanfare, upsetting local Pharisees. As He rides, Jesus weeps to think of the future destruction in store for the city. He once again drives corrupt businessmen from the temple grounds. His enemies are furious, but too afraid of the adoring crowds to take direct action.

Luke 19 finishes the "travelogue of Christ to Jerusalem" and introduces His first actions there (Luke 9:51—19:27). This long passage semi-chronologically records Jesus' journey to Jerusalem and the theological reasons why He must go to the cross. It finishes here, in this chapter, with Jesus meeting Zacchaeus and the parable of the ten minas. The chapter continues with Jesus' entry into Jerusalem as its king—the triumphal entry. Jesus mourns over Jerusalem, its rejection of their Messiah, and its coming destruction in AD 70. He also cleanses the temple and teaches there. In the next segments, Luke covers the last hours of Jesus' earthly life (Luke 22—23) as well as Jesus' resurrection (Luke 24).

Luke was a traveling companion of Paul (Acts 16:10) and a physician (Colossians 4:14). Unlike Matthew, Mark, and John, Luke writes his gospel as an historian, rather than as a first-hand eyewitness. His extensive writings also include the book of Acts (Acts 1:1–3). These are deliberately organized, carefully researched accounts of those events. The gospel of Luke focuses on the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. Luke's Gentile perspective presents Christ as a Savior for all people, offering both forgiveness and direction to those who follow Him.