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And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” 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.

Matthew 21:10-12

 

And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.

Mark 11:11-15

 

The Claim: Matthew says that Jesus went into the temple and overturned the tables on the same day he entered Jerusalem, and Mark says that Jesus overturned the tables the day after he entered Jerusalem, as indicated by the phrase “On the following day…”

 

The Explanation: Mark does indeed say that Jesus went into the temple and overturned the tables the day after entering Jerusalem. However, Matthew does not claim that Jesus went into the temple on the same day. The text in Matthew just says “And Jesus entered the temple…” and does not make any indication as to which day Jesus went into the temple.

 

A lack of details does not create an actual contradiction, as the two passages can still co-exist. Quite simply, Mark decided to indicate the day that Jesus went into the temple, and Matthew did not include that detail. That does not mean we can conclude Matthew’s text is saying Jesus went into the temple the same day. It’s quite possible that a day of time passed between verse 11 and verse 12. Therefore, the passages can co-exist, and as long as it is possible for the passages to co-exist, there is no contradiction.