Through The Bible in a Year - July 3, 2026

"Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, 'It is written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer," but you make it a den of robbers.'" - Matthew 21:12-13

When Jesus cleared the temple, He wasn't having a bad day. He was acting as our Great High Priest, protecting the worship of God's people and ensuring access to God for all nations.

The money changers were extortionists, preying on pilgrims who had traveled from distant lands with foreign currencies. The pigeon sellers were exploiting the poor—pigeons were the only sacrifice the poor could afford, and here were merchants making profit from even that small act of devotion.

But something even larger was at stake. The money changers had taken over the Court of the Gentiles—the only space in the entire temple complex where non-Jews could gather to pray and seek God. The full verse from the Prophet Isaiah that Jesus quotes is: "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." But the one place in the Jerusalem temple designated for other nations to come to God was now occupied by Israel’s profiteers.

Jesus cleared it all. Not because He was angry at commerce, but because His heart was burning for the poor who were being exploited and for the nations who were being excluded.

The same Jesus who cleared the temple to protect worship still acts as our High Priest. He still intercedes for us. He still ensures that nothing—no sin, no shame, no background, no nationality, no ethnicity—can keep us from the God who desires all people to come to Him.

What has set up tables for personal gain in your own heart where prayer should be? What has crowded out the quiet space where you meet with God? Anxiety can do it. Busyness can do it. Entertainment can do it. Bitterness can do it. The noise of a thousand other things can colonize the court of your heart until there's no room left for prayer.

Jesus, our High Priest, wants to clear that space. Not in judgment, but in care. He is protecting your access to God.

Respond: Consider your own "court of prayer"—the space in your daily life where you are supposed to meet with God. What has taken it over? What has crowded out Scripture reading, quiet prayer, and honest communion with God?

Jesus overturned the tables because the house of prayer had become a house of commerce. Where has convenience, busyness, personal gain, or distraction turned your house of prayer into something else?

This week, it may be time for you to carve out of your schedule a protected time of prayer each day. Clear the space. Overturn the tables of whatever has crowded in. And then use that space for its intended purpose: meeting with the God who died to make your access to Him an eternal blessing.

Prayer: Dear Lord, You cleared the temple because Your house was meant to be a house of prayer—for Your people and for all nations. But I confess that my own heart has become cluttered. The space I should reserve for You has been colonized by busyness, distraction, personal gain, anxiety, and noise. Come into my heart and clear it. Overturn the tables of selfish pursuits. Make space in me for prayer again. I want to meet with You. Protect my access to You, by reminding me of the access I have to you through Jesus, my great High Priest. In Jesus’ name, Amen.