A Look Inside Jerusalem's Sacred Temple

The centrality of the Temple to life in Jerusalem almost seems like hyperbole. It was all things to everyone. And it wasn't just religious life. Though the Torah was read every Saturday and the Temple was the home of religious sacrifices and offerings, the Temple had a significant secular role as well. "I don't think you can overstate the role of the Temple in Jewish life in the first century," says scholar of religions Reza Aslan. "The Temple was the calendar and clock for the Jews. Its rituals marked the cycle of the year, it shaped the day-to-day activities of Jerusalem's inhabitants. It was the center of commerce for all Judea. It was actually the largest bank in Judea. It was not just the dwelling place of Israel's God, but the seat of Israel's national aspiration." It was a house of sacred scrolls, as well as legal and historical documents, even genealogical records, adds Aslan.

It was physically central—and massive. Its platform stretched across 20 acres. The Temple itself, begun in 20 B.C., took a full 80 years to build. Though the Temple itself could fit inside a baseball infield, Samuel Ungerleider, professor of Judaic Studies at Brown University told PBS: "The large structure all around it, the large plaza, the porticos, the columns, the staircases, all of that, were built up by Herod the Great on a monumental scale, filling up something like 10 football fields. We then have a very large, very conspicuous, grandiose structure in the center of Jerusalem."

Scripture scholar Paula Fredriksen told PBS, "Most temples in antiquity encouraged the respect and patronage of as many people as possible. It's simply good business." Even gentiles could bring offerings, she added. Passover was a particularly welcoming time. "Jews everywhere, if they chose to, if they were pious, would put aside part of their income," said Fredriksen. "And you would spend that savings when you went up to celebrate a pilgrimage holiday." Shaye J.D. Cohen, religious studies professor, then at Brown University, concurred: "Big holidays always drew crowds. Roman troops who were usually stationed on the coast in Caesarea would come up to Jerusalem and also be in the city specifically as a kind of crowd control.... Meanwhile, the Temple itself was a focus of ferocious activity. Passover required that the Passover lamb be sacrificed. There was a census reported in Josephus in which tens of thousands of lambs were slaughtered."

It was this very Temple that Jesus would enter on Tuesday of Holy Week and be highly displeased with what he saw—a mix of commerce and religion that he wasn't able to abide. Matthew 21:12–13 showcases his ire: "And Jesus entered the Temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the Temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, 'It is written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer," but you make it a den of robbers.'" Jesus is angry—and presents himself as arbiter of exactly what was appropriate Temple activity. For many scholars, including Yale University's Gregory Sterling, it's this fuss he made in the Temple that sealed Jesus's fate during Passover circa A.D. 33. "While Jesus's act can be construed as minor—this could have just been in a corner—I think it was perceived that this charismatic figure acted in a way that challenged the Temple authorities, and they decided it couldn't go unchecked," says Sterling. "That's probably what precipitated the decision to execute him."

This article appears in the Newsweek's new book, "Jesus: Rediscovering the Mysteries Surrounding Christ's Resurrection," by Issue Editor Johnna Rizzo of Topix Media Lab.