In our gospel reading for today, Jesus sees people taking material advantage from his Father's house, and he reacts in anger. The system of sacrifice that his Father had instituted at the temple was supposed to be for people to deal with their guilt of sin, and to show their love for God. But the middlemen have set up shop and are exploiting the system, charging outrageous prices for doves and ridiculous exchange rates for the approved money of the temple. Jesus not only gives these middlemen, AND their customers, the bum's rush, he also demolishes the system they exploit, and frees us from religious middlemen forever....
You know the type! The speculator, who makes millions from wheat, without growing or milling a single kernal. The house inspector, who doesn't swing the hammer even once, and yet you can't move in until he is satisfied. And don't get me started on TicketMaster, who doesn't sing the songs OR own the arena. They are the people profiting from the system by inserting themselves INTO the system. They are the opportunistic people who live in the middle.
Now the system in question started with the problem of gifts. What kind of gift do you give, to the man who has everything? Or worse, what kind of gift do you give, to the WOMAN who has everything? Or even worse than that, what kind of gift do you give, to the GOD who MAKES everything? God recognized at the time of Moses, that his people might want to give him gifts to say thanks, or to apologize for their sins, and so shortly after he rescued his chosen people from Egypt, God passed along to Moses his preferred gift list – the system of sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem. God knew that his people's new neighbours in Canaan worshipped hideous gods that demanded the sacrifice of children and participation in gory and demeaning rituals, so to make sure there was no confusion, God made VERY CLEAR what he wanted as a gift instead. He wanted common, easily obtainable things, and he gave options for every budget. If you can't afford a young goat, bring in a couple of doves, and if you can't even afford doves, bring in a bucket of flour. And if you are coming to Jerusalem from a distance and don't want to drag a goat with you, bring an equivalent amount of cash in shekels, and that can go towards the expenses of the temple. ALL of these gifts are completely acceptable! And so, God left this system of sacrifices in the hands of Moses and the clan of priests, the Levites. And like everything God leaves in human hands, the system of sacrifices became corrupted – infested with middlemen.
By Jesus' day, livestock sales at the temple were a booming business. And the sellers knew that the buyers were a captive market, tourists who came to Jerusalem for the sole purpose of offering a sacrifice at the festivals, and so they set their prices accordingly. The moneychangers did likewise for the exchanging of the foreign currencies of the world to the approved shekel of the temple. The priests, who took a portion of everything sacrificed for themselves, did their best to encourage the system, to make it mandatory. And even the surrounding culture of Greek and Roman gods encouraged the system, because for them, sacrifices to the gods were the way to claim their service, as an exchange. God sent prophets like Amos to tell the people he wasn't happy with how the system was going, but it didn't matter - the middlemen had taken over. And they were ready to kill anyone, like Jesus, who dared to get in the way.
It's a tempting position to take – middleman between people and God – and the church has been and still is guilty of profiting from people's access to God. Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation over the issue of indulgences – basically, selling for money the assurance of God's gift of forgiveness. He also had problems with the political power associated with positions in the church, such that it was profitable to “buy” yourself a bishopric, just for the land and the perks. Today, televangelists continue to promise special blessings from God – just as soon as your credit card payment is processed. And some congregations take a hard line on tithing, and make the tithe an idol, making it seem as if God were unable to bless you until you've kicked in your full 10%. Many sincere Christians get exploited, or worse, have their faith in God quenched by these middlemen.
And when we see ourselves as middlemen, it even affects our motives for sharing the gospel. Think about this: when do most churches get serious about inviting others to church? When they can no longer pay the electric bill, or when some authority figure suggests their attendance is too low to stay open. As middlemen, we'll tell the old, old, story...but only because we like to profit from people coming to God.