Violence and "Cleansing" the Temple

More often than not, when the New Testament authors quote from the Old Testament, the quote almost works like a footnote pointing to the entire passage which it comes from. At the very least, the full meaning of the quote is best understood in light of the original passage. For example, when Jesus "clears" the Temple and temporarily halts the transactions, he quotes from Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11. Check out Isaiah 56. It's about God's intention that the Temple is for all peoples. It's a message of racial inclusivism. Check out Jeremiah 7. It's about impending judgment for numerous injustices, including violence and thievery. The particular judgment envisioned in Jeremiah is absolute destruction by the Babylonians (597 BCE). The particular judgment Jesus envisions is absolute destruction by the Romans (70 CE). The Greek word for "thieves" here is lestes. Thief is too tame a word (for which the Greek uses kleptes). The idea is more of a violent highwayman with an idea towards insurrectionist or revolutionary. Note where else the bible uses lestes (Matthew 21:13; 26:55; 27:38; 27:44; Mark 11:17; 14:48; 15:27; Luke 19:46; 22:52). Note all the places where Jesus is teaching his contemporaries to love enemies, go the extra mile, forgive, turn the other cheek, and not be violent. Then note all the places Jesus warns his contemporaries about coming judgment. Jesus' action in "clearing" the Temple was not specifically about regular Temple business. Rather, it was an enacted parable, a visual lesson, warning that Rome was going to destroy Israel (just like Babylon had 600 years before) because his contemporaries were being violent and exclusionary. While not dismissing the evil of Rome, Jesus was telling an oppressed and persecuted minority people that if they continued their practice of responding to evil by racial violence and thieving/robbery/looting then they'd be destroyed. Indeed, Jesus crucifixion was on one level, an enacted parable of what Rome was going to do to Israel. When Jesus is being led towards crucifixion, the women weep. Jesus responds that they should weep for themselves because if they [the Romans] do this to him an innocent man, what will they do to those who are violent (Luke 23:27-32). Jesus himself wept as he approached Jerusalem for the last time prior to his death. He laments that Jerusalem didn't understand peace and now their enemies will destroy them (Luke 19:41-44). The irony, of course, is that the name Jerusalem refers to "peace" in Hebrew. So, Jesus’ actions in the Temple are not an endorsement of violence, rioting, and looting; nor is it a simple lesson in not selling goods and service in the local church narthex. Rather, Jesus is saying don’t respond to oppression with racial animosity, exclusion, and violence, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52).