Cleanse the Temple

John 2:15 Jesus made a whip with some pieces of rope. Then he forced all these men and the sheep and cattle to leave the Temple area. He turned over the tables of the money traders and scattered their money.

Can I ask you a question today? Who is Jesus to you? If you had to pick, say, three adjectives to describe Him, what would they be?

I think, sometimes, we have a bit of a wrong picture in our heads of exactly who this Jesus is. It’s easy to think of Him as a stained-glass window. You know, a nice, safe, comforting, reassuring religious … icon. Jesus: the insurance policy. My hunch is though, if we met Him face to face – we might be shocked.

Jesus made a whip with some pieces of rope. Then he forced all these men and the sheep and cattle to leave the Temple area. He turned over the tables of the money traders and scattered their money. (John 2:15)

So, Jesus walks into the temple in Jerusalem and in God’s house, He finds people doing businesses; selling cattle, sheep and doves, exchanging money – not all of them are particularly honestly or ethically either by the way. And so he makes a whip – makes one, get it, this is premeditated – and then with this whip He drives the traders out of the temple.

He upturns their tables. He pours their money out onto the ground. He rages at them.

Hmm … this is hardly the image of the loving, comforting God that we like to hang onto.

Now Jesus did show a lot of love and compassion around the place. But when faith was perverted by those who should have known better – He raged. And if those of us who consider ourselves… pious or religious or Christian, whatever – if we’re a little unsettled by this Jesus raging through the House of God, this Jesus who railed against religious hypocrisy … if we’re upset, my hunch is … we should be.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.

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