bitcoin and the cleansing of the temple

It was the week before the Passover. Like Jesus himself, thousands jewish people were making their pilgrimage from “every nation under heaven” to Jerusalem in order to participate in the sacred feast.

Travelers would bring large sums of foreign currencies with them in order to spend and give during their stay.

On arrival, pilgrams would exchange their foreign currency for money that was accepted within the city and which was also considered “clean” for paying a temple tax.

Those bringing large sums of money would use the temple treasury as a place to store their wealth. On the surface, these services where helpful, but could be morphed into predatory greed toward people who were merely there to express their devotion to God.

The “money changers”, who set up shop at the temple during the religious festivals, were known to overcharge for the foreign currency conversion and pocket the difference. In addition, temple officials would levy a hefty fee on deposits held within the temple treasury.

If all that wasn’t enough, other temple gatekeepers would inspect animals brought to the temple to see if it was worthy of sacrifice. If these animals were declared unfit for the altar, there were merchants available to offer their “pre-approved” animals for sacrifice.

Wherever you turned in the temple courts, there were people trying to take advantage of others. Clearly, the temple had come a place of exploitation (a den of thieves), not a place of worship.

Imagine being one of the pilgrims. You have traveled 100 miles with your family to worship. You have brought your best lamb to offer as a sacrifice in the temple. On arrival, you swap your Roman silver coins for temple approved coins (for a fee), you store the remainder of your wealth in the temple treasury (another fee), and then it is determined that your lamb doesn’t fit the specifications of proper sacrifice in the temple.

You are then forced to pay for another lamb that carries a premium due to the “convenience” of buying it near the temple. Even in your thoughtful, earnest preparation for the festival, you are fleeced.

How is your heart as you prepare for worship? Are you ready to give yourself to God in prayer and singing? Or are you defeated and cynical about the hypocrisy at the temple?

This injustice led Jesus to drive out the money changers and merchants because they were desecrating the “house of prayer” with the exploitation of others. God’s anger is on full display towards those who wish to take financial advantage of another person.

How does this relate to #Bitcoin ?

Today, we have many “money changers”. These are people/institutions who stand to gain from the inefficiencies and the financial power structures of our age. Here are a few examples:

• Central banks have the sole right to expand the money supply to continue deficit spending. This dilutes the value of everyone who holds dollars/euro/yuan etc and enriches the “money changers”.
• Banks charge high fees to wire money, exchange currency, low balances, ATM fees, early account closing fee, paper statement fees, and more.
• If someone wishes to send a cross-boarder payment using institution finance, they are at the mercy of the fee structure and bottom line of organizations like Western Union.

The list could go on and on…

Bitcoin was created to remove the power of “money changers”, those who prey those who are most financially vulnerable. Peer to peer transactions remove the third party which keeps more value in the hands of individuals, thus more freedom to choose how to spend, give, and live.

Ultimately, the principles of Bitcoin align with Jesus’ care for the worshipers in the story of the cleansing of the temple.

Bitcoin works like a whip, driving the money changers away from exploiting ordinary people. This is our opportunity to offer the world a fair and just money.

Give this story a read! All 4 gospels chose to include it…must be important…

Matthew 21:12–22, Mark 11:15–19, Luke 19:45–48, and John 2:13–17

Originally tweeted by Theology and Bitcoin ✝️ (@bitcoinbiblical) on April 11, 2022.