re: #208 whitebeach

Going back to Matthew for a second, once I got old enough to start actually learning and thinking, damned if I could see what was so wrong with the money changers at the temple. Jerusalem was an international city with travelers arriving from all over the Mediterranean world and even beyond. They carried currencies of probably three dozen kinds, and maybe only three were negotiable locally. Changing money was a necessary and important service, and the temple was the logical place to do it. It was central and convenient, everybody knew where it was, and the seat of civil government, the Roman governor’s palace, wasn’t likely to be opened up to this kind of exchange. What was the big deal?

The problem with the money changers is that they were on the take. Much like tax collectors, they made their profit on whatever they could collect from the hapless pilgrims who came to them with no other option. Them setting up in a holy place and stealing from those who came to worship ignited His righteous anger.