On Monday of Holy Week, four days before His crucifixion, Jesus cleansed the temple in Jerusalem.
Upon finding merchants carrying out dishonest transactions inside the holy temple, Jesus sent them away and overturned their tables, declaring:
“It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13, emphasis added).
Compared with the ever-patient and loving Jesus, the one who taught us to “turn the other cheek,” this Jesus may feel unfamiliar. But when we understand the Hebrew word for prayer, Jesus’s actions make more sense—and we learn something essential about His nature as our Savior.
Hebrew Word for “Prayer”
Sunday on Monday host Tammy Uzelac Hall explains that “the word ‘prayer’ in Hebrew is tphillah (תְּפִלָּה) and it derives from the root verb palal (פָּלַל), meaning ‘to pray’ or ‘to intercede.’”
To intercede means “to intervene between parties with a view to reconciling differences; to mediate.”
It may feel unusual to think about the temple as a house of intercession, but when we go to the temple, we are asking God to intervene in our lives. We are seeking miracles, comfort, and blessings. And during the endowment, we learn that Jesus Christ is our mediator with the Father and the One who has interceded on our behalf.
Intercession and mediation require movement. They ask Jesus to put Himself in the way of danger, right the wrong, block us, and protect us. It is not a passive word.
The merchants in the temple were interfering with the holiness of the temple, and Jesus interceded, restoring its cleanliness with action and power.
Our Savior, the Lord of Armies
Jesus’s portrayal as a powerful intercessor is not unique to this scene in the Jerusalem temple. In Doctrine and Covenants 98, the Prophet Joseph Smith receives a revelation in the wake of the intense persecution the Saints endured in Missouri. In verse 2, he is told:
“[Wait] patiently on the Lord, for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and are recorded with this seal and testament—the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted” (emphasis added).
In Hebrew, Sabaoth means “armies” or “hosts.” We are probably most familiar with the English translation of the full phrase as “Lord of Hosts.” But what about “Lord of Armies”? With this translation, Christ becomes more than our loving and gentle Savior. He becomes a powerful leader, the commander of all heavenly and earthly forces.
Tammy Uzelac Hall says:
“How could we possibly trust in a Savior who doesn’t know how to overcome and destroy the enemy? That’s the Jesus we want. That’s the Jesus I want to have hear my prayers. I love that idea that a fighting, conquering Savior … is going to do everything in His power to help me.”
With this perspective, perhaps our faith in Jesus can become a bit grittier; the adversary stands no chance against the Lord of Sabaoth.
Make Your Home a House of Prayer
As Easter approaches, we can remember Jesus’s statement in the temple that His house is a house of prayer. Interestingly, the Lord repeats this statement twice in the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland temple in Doctrine and Covenants section 109.
“I think He’s encouraging us to have our homes be houses of prayer,” Tammy says.
Consider having a family discussion of who or what you can pray for as a family during Holy Week. Read together Matthew 21:12–13, the Lord’s promise to the Saints in Doctrine and Covenants 98, and the Kirtland dedicatory prayer in section 109. How can your home become a house of prayer? How can your family better recognize Jesus Christ as Intercessor and Lord of Armies?
As the beloved hymn says:
“Fear not, though the enemy deride;
Courage, for the Lord is on our side.
We will heed not what the wicked may say,
But the Lord alone we will obey.”
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