Thoughts on Tim Keller’s book, “King’s Cross”

These days I’ve been reading “King’s Cross,” a book written by Tim Keller. King’s Cross goes through the book of Mark, the Gospel that focuses most intently on the words and actions of Jesus.

I am enjoying Keller’s approach to understanding this Gospel. Keller doesn’t comment on every single passage, he instead focuses on the texts he believes expand on who Jesus is.. What I really like about these is that they aren’t necessarily the most well-known, preached-on passages. And in those texts that are well-known, Keller always brings some insight from the historical context that gives the passage a new layer of meaning and history (You know how I love history).

Last night, I read about Jesus clearing the temple, and I really love Keller’s insight on this story found in Mark 11:15-17:

¹⁵ On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves,

¹⁶ and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.

¹⁷ And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’^]”

Keller says the fact that Mark notes that Jesus entered the temple courts – or in the version Keller uses, the temple “area” – is very significant because when you entered the temple, the first area you came to “was the court of the Gentiles – the ethne or ‘nations’”. This was the only area where non-Jews were allowed. The Jews had allowed all the temple’s business operations to be set up there – buying and selling thousands of animals and exchanging foreign currencies with money changers. Thousands of people flooded into Jerusalem to buy animals and sacrifice them.

Josephus, an ancient Jewish historian, tells us that in Passover week one year, 255,000 lambs were bought, sold, and sacrificed in the temple courts. Think of how loud and confusing it would be in there with all that livestock…and this was the place where the Gentiles were supposed to find God through quiet reflection and prayer.

I am sure the temple leaders panicked and asked Jesus what he was doing. So, Jesus quotes from Isaiah, saying, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations” – for the ethne, the Gentiles.

So Jesus’ reaction, then – to drive the businessmen out and throw the tables over – was not just a display of righteous anger toward the disrespect people were showing to God’s house, but also an act of advocacy for the Gentiles, who were still being treated as the “least” of God’s people by the Jews. The Jews believed that when the Messiah came, he would “purge the temple of foreigners,” meaning he would get rid of the Gentiles! “Instead, here is Jesus clearing the temple for the Gentiles”

Given the current discussion on whether women in ministry ought to be treated equally to men and be ordained, I found Jesus’ actions significant. What might we learn from Jesus today?