The next day, we returned to Jerusalem from Bethany. This was the fateful day, when the Father plotted out my every step. I went immediately to the Temple to teach. There, the crowds had gathered and awaited me. But the teaching had to wait. First, I had to purge the temple.

The scene overwhelmed me – all the animals and all the money. The temple was my Father’s house but they had turned it into a den of thieves. Suddenly, the Spirit came upon me, the same Spirit who drove me into the desert for forty days. I could sense his power welling up in me and I acted with abandon, not worrying about the consequences. I had to cleanse my Father’s house.

This was accomplished swiftly, the many tables overturned and the animals all scattered. Then I taught the people and returned to Bethany. The great confrontation had taken place. I challenged the temple to become “a house of prayer”. The leaders refused that invitation. I would have restored the temple. I would have filled the temple with God’s glory, as happened when Solomon dedicated it. The leaders did not want my glory but my death. What more could I do for my people, when their leaders rejected me?