This week we are taking a look at the actions of Jesus towards the money changers and sellers in the temple.
“And the Jews’ Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables.” (John 2:13-15)
Understanding Jesus Actions
In this section of Scripture, we see Jesus in an authoritative position—He’s taking on authority by what He’s doing. We’re going to see it throughout this week in four different areas, four different ways that authority is described. We see it first of all in today’s text in this correction.
The context here is that it’s Passover, and Jesus went to the Passover to celebrate with the Jews. It says that He went up to Jerusalem. This is common phraseology describing how people went to Jerusalem. Even though they may be headed south, they always went “up” to Jerusalem because Jerusalem was a city that was elevated. They also honored the city of Jerusalem by saying you went up to it.
When you go to the Passover, you go to the temple. Many of the people that would go to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover came from out of town, and so they were coming to make sacrifices. In doing that, it was much more convenient to not travel with the sacrifice you would bring, but to buy the sacrifice once you got there. They would also come with their local currency, but to pay the temple fees they would have to exchange their money. In doing so, the changers of money would give them exploitative rates of exchange—predatory fees, that kind of thing.
When Jesus got there, He sees these practices going on of people selling these oxen, sheep, and doves. It probably wasn’t wrong necessarily to sell; it’s that they were doing it in these exploitive ways. You see Him in verse 15 making a scourge of small cords, and He drives all of them out of the temple. He drives out the sheep, the oxen, He pours out the money, and He overthrows the tables.
Now we know that Jesus was in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. There is such a thing as righteous anger, and that’s what we see here exhibited by Jesus.
How should we worship?
When it comes to how we think about practicing the disciplines of our faith, we ought to have pure motives in how we practice it. The New Testament describes worldliness as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. If those three descriptions of worldliness are not of the Father, but are of the world, when those things enter into the way that we practice our faith, then we’re doing it wrong.
If we are like Jesus, then some things should make us angry. There are some things should move us to action. That’s what we see going on here. Jesus is righteously angry in this moment. He is also revealing something of the heart of God in how he is to be worshipped, how people are to be treated, and how God’s commands are to be obeyed.
RESPOND
- Is there any part of your life right now that is characterized by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life? Is that entering into how you’re doing life and how you’re practicing your religion?
- What makes you angry? Is there anything that doesn’t make you angry that makes Jesus angry?