Mark 11:18Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He calls moneychangers, changers of a particular sort of money, for the word means a small brass coin. There follows, and the seats of them that sold doves.

John, however, relates this in a very different order, wherefore it is manifest that not once only, but twice, this was done by the Lord, and that the first time was related by John, this last, by all the other three.

According to Isaiah: But ye have made it a den of thieves, (Jer. 7:11) according to Jeremiah.

What the Lord had done in figure, when He cursed the barren fig tree, He now shews more openly, by casting out the wicked from the temple. For the fig tree was not in fault, in not having fruit before its time, but the priests were blameable; wherefore it is said, And they come to Jerusalem; and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple. Nevertheless, it is probable that He found them buying and selling in the temple things which were necessary for its ministry.

As He made His entrance into Jerusalem greeted by the enthusiastic praise of the crowd, He who sought to reveal Himself as the long-awaited King proceeded into the temple. This moment marked the beginning of His public ministry; He came to confront those who were previously entrusted with stewardship over His Father’s house. He aimed to assess their faithfulness to His initial call and to evaluate their ministry up to this point, ultimately determining what consequences they would face for their actions. Within the temple, the Lord encountered once more the same merchants, the familiar throngs of livestock, the ongoing clamor, and the dishonesty.

The enraged Jewish leaders fell silent when confronted once more with their lack of understanding of the Scriptures. Jesus, not wanting to stay with them any longer, departed and, due to the late hour, left the city to return to Bethany, joined by His apostles. They likely arrived in Bethany late at night, as they were passing the fig tree that had been cursed earlier in the day. The apostles could not tell it apart from the other fig trees, which remained bare, nor did they see that it had withered. This took place on Monday.

Upon the Savior's arrival at the temple and His survey of the surroundings, He felt deep sorrow upon witnessing that the persistent avarice among the Jews had forgotten His previous teachings. Once again, the sacred house of God had been transformed into a bazaar due to the influx of the crowd. The temple courts were teeming with oxen, sheep, and vendors of pigeons, while money changers filled the area with the sounds of coins clinking and voices haggling. Christ refused to preach in such a desecrated environment. With a combination of righteous indignation and sorrow, He expelled all those engaged in commerce, and none dared to challenge His fervent actions.

"They plotted to eliminate Him": the decision to end the life of Jesus Christ had been made previously by the religious authorities, including the Pharisees and scribes (John 5:16, John 7:32, John 10:31, John 11:45); now they were contemplating how to execute this plan. The situation appeared to be against them: the Lord had been warmly received by the crowd in Jerusalem; the multitude that had once supported Him was astonished by His teachings, leading them to worry that the people would fervently rise to defend the Prophet from Galilee if the leaders attempted to harm Him. Consequently, they feared the people's reaction and, in turn, feared the Lord Himself.