The following are three different accounts of what is probably the same incident, told from three different perspectives. That is why I have included all three:
Matthew 21:12-13:
Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers.”
Mark 11: 15-17:
On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.”
John 2:13-17:
When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
Have you ever lost your temper? I guess that is a silly question. We all have at times. The thing is, with me anyway, the times that I have, I have usually felt bad afterwards. I usually feel bad because I wish I had handled things in a better, more thought out manner. Sometimes we let stress, emotions and frustration get the better of us. I am not justifying that at all, but I think it is a common experience that we all share to some degree. I think it needs to be noted that becoming angry, and losing your temper are not the same thing. Getting angry can lead to losing your temper, but it does not have to.
I used to read these accounts of Jesus entering the temple, and it seemed to me that He had lost His temper. It seemed to me like He was “fed up” as we put it. Again, that is certainly a feeling or emotion that we can all relate to, to some degree.
However, the problem I had reading this, as I later began to understand, is that I was interpreting Jesus’ actions through my own filter, or my own bend toward self-justification. We all have biases. To say that we do not, is not true, and it is not realistic. But we can learn to recognize when our biases are affecting our ability to hear truth. That is the secret we need to learn. My own life experiences have at times distorted my ability to think clearly. But, I think as I have gotten older, I have learned to be honest with myself and more quickly recognize when this is happening, and put it in check. I was bringing my interpretation of Jesus down to my level, and that, I have begun to realize, is a wrong approach. It distorts the truth of what is really happening here.
I think we are all prone to do that if we are not careful, and when we do, what we are doing is reading into something what we want to hear.
As humans, I think we tend to listen to what reinforces our own ideas or opinions. Take politics for example. If you classify yourself as a conservative, or a liberal, you tend to listen to, and read what reinforces your own bias, even if the opposing view is right and makes sense. We tend to read into Scripture what we want to hear, and when we do that, we are not listening to what it really says. Personally, I want to get better at listening to what is said, not reinforcing my own opinions, because sometimes my opinions are wrong.
Jesus did not lose His temper. He got angry, but He did not lose His temper. Remember, there is a difference. His response (not reaction) was totally in line with His moral purity. It was the only right response to this situation.
Anger is an emotion that God gave us for a reason, but like all emotions, there is a right way and a wrong way to express it and act on it. Things that are morally wrong and destructive should generate anger in us, not so that we can lash out at the person, or people involved in the wrong activity or behavior, but simply because it is wrong, and causing pain and destruction. It should lead us to action, not revenge.
The temple represented God’s abiding presence to the Israelites. As Jesus said, it was supposed to be a place of prayer, just as our churches should be places of refuge to the hurting, and those who need the spiritual strength that can only come from being close to God.
In this situation, the temple had been infiltrated by people who wanted to take advantage of others. They were being opportunistic. They were just there to make money. Now, there is certainly nothing wrong with making money, but how we go about it is the question. Any time we are involved in making money by taking advantage of others, it is wrong. This is what the money-changers, and peddlers were doing in the temple. They had turned the holy place into a common market. Jesus did express a degree of anger, but He did not lose His temper. He acted exactly as He should have in the situation.
The next time you feel yourself getting angry, ask yourself, “Is my anger justified because of wrong that is being done to others that is sinful and destructive?” Or, “Am I getting angry because I am not getting something that I think I deserve, or because I am not getting my way?” There is a huge difference. I have had to step back and examine my own anger many times, and many times I have come to realize it was for the latter reason. Take the time to pray this prayer:
God, help me to be more like my Lord, and get angry over the things that make You angry, and not give into my own selfish motives. Help me to listen to what You are really saying, and not read into anything what I want to hear to justify myself.
Danny's Stump 