15 They came to Jerusalem, and he went into the temple and began to throw out those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple. 17 He was teaching them: “Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves!”
Invite a volunteer to read Mark 11:15-17.
Use Understand the Context (p. 77) to review Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem.
Direct attention to Pack Item 5 (Poster: The Temple in Jesus’s Day).
Highlight the court of the Gentiles.
Share that this area was the only place non-Jews could come to pray,
but it was also where the merchants were selling their animals.
Mark gave more detail than Matthew and Luke.
Mark mentioned that Jesus forced the merchants out of the area,
overturned the tables, and prevented people from taking their goods through the temple.
Give each adult a blank sheet of paper and some markers.
Encourage them to illustrate Jesus’s response by drawing a picture of the events in the passage.
Talk about their drawings.