Day 2 of Holy Week - Cleansing the Temple

And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves . . .

And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. * And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people were astonished at his doctrine. (Mark 11: 15-18)

(*bng is the Hebrew word ganab which means thief. It also implies one who usurps or steals another's authority.  The temple leaders were not legitimate holders of the Levitical priesthood.  They had usurped or stolen their authority through political appointment.  Jesus' use of the word ganab was deliberate and the implication of the word was not lost on the chief priests.)

Artist: Benjamin West Healing in the Temple

Matthew tells us that after cleansing the temple, He also healed the people gathered to Him.  To the temple hierarchy, that must have been like pouring salt on an open wound.  And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. (Mattew 21: 14)