Anyone who tells you that Jesus was some namby-pamby softie (or that He was always nice to everyone without ever challenging them) has probably not read the Gospels thoroughly. Jesus did love people, but there were times when He needed to be righteously angry.
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.’”
Mark 11:15-17 NIV
Righteous anger often leads to righteous action against those who are doing evil. Those who had set up shop at the temple apparently weren’t merely trying to make a buck (or maybe a shekel, I guess), but they were impacting the ability of others to worship at the temple. (It’s one thing to sin yourself, but when your sin starts to hurt others, that’s a whole new level of bad. Consider how much is said in the New Testament about false teachers, for instance.)
There’s another account of Jesus “cleansing the temple” in John 2:13-17, which is pretty early in the book of John. (As a result, that account – or the one in Mark – may not be in chronological order with the rest of the book, but that’s OK, since writing like this isn’t required to be in chronological order. The Lookout suggests that this might even be two separate occasions.)
Whether these were two events or one, though, I have heard it suggested that the whip that Jesus made wasn’t about physically harming those who were buying and selling. In this interpretation, the whip was not for the merchants, but for achieving the goal of getting the “robbers” out of the temple. The crack of the whip would get the animals moving out, and overturning the tables would halt the money exchanges. (As a result, I don’t think that we can use either of these passages to justify physical harm against others who we don’t agree with, even if they are working against God’s instructions.)
John 2:17 quotes what appears to be Psalm 69:9, which I think is a good reminder for us. Here’s that verse with a little context:
I am a foreigner to my own family,
a stranger to my own mother’s children;
for zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.Psalms 69:8-9 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/psa.69.8-9.NIV
So, how about us? While we can worship God from anywhere in this era of the church and the Spirit (see John 4:21-24), are we zealous – passionate – about God, and about ensuring that everyone can worship Him? Would you fight for someone else’s ability to worship God with you, even if that meant that people started to talk about you or even got mad at you? Just because righteous anger sometimes requires action (but only actions sanctioned by God – I cannot condone sinning in Jesus’ name) doesn’t mean that followers of Jesus should avoid it. Sometimes, standing up for the right thing is the best way to be like Jesus in a particular situation.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for April 2, 2023
References:
- The Lookout, April 2, 2023, © 2022 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Mark, by Allen Black. © 1995 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 