Preparation: John 2:12-24

Passionately Opposed To Evil

Back in the day, when I was a senior in high school, I was the captain of our football team. (Yes, I was short then, too, but as my coach used to say, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog!”) Late in the season we were going through a tough practice, preparing for a big game that would decide our conference champ. I played offense, and the coach had given us a water break while he explained some plays to the defensive backs. That group included several freshmen and I noticed some of them were laughing, not paying attention to the coach. In fact, a couple were actually sitting on their helmets, which is a football “no, no.”
That scene just flew all over me. I lost it. Enraged, I walked over to one freshman (who was twice my size) and with all my might kicked his helmet out from beneath him, sending him crashing hard to the ground. I growled, “Get on one knee and pay attention!” I guess he must have seen the fire in my eyes because instead of getting up and breaking me in half, he immediately assumed the knee position and got focused on business. I was glad he did!
Over the years I’m reminded of that story every time I read about Jesus’ angry outburst at the temple in John 2. My actions were driven by “righteous indignation.” It infuriated me to see my young teammates trivialize that important moment. I confess: usually my anger is not so noble, but that’s one time when it was not only noble, it was demanded! It was the right thing to do!!
Here’s the setting for today’s Jesus moment: A few days earlier, Christ performed His first miracle at a wedding feast in Cana (changing water to wine). This was partially done to honor His mom’s request for help (see John 2:1-12), but the side benefit from that moment was the start of the process of revealing His glory so the disciples would grow in their faith.
Afterward, Jesus headed to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. One can only imagine the sights, sounds and smells in the Holy City, now swollen to over 100,000 people. Jewish pilgrims had journeyed from various points of the empire. It was an exciting place to be!
But when Jesus entered the temple courts, it wasn’t the crowds or conversations that caught His eye. It was the blatant desecration of the Court of the Gentiles. That courtyard was the only place in the temple a Gentile could go to worship. But in this area, supposedly designated for prayer, Jesus found a hustling, bustling, busy livestock market! Representatives of the temple had set up booths and were selling the cattle, sheep, and doves—the animals people needed to make the appropriate sacrifices.
Now understand: these animals could be purchased elsewhere in Judea. But the “Temple Quality Control Inspectors” would reject those animals as “unsuitable for sacrifice.” You see, by Jewish law each animal had to be deemed lawless, and the Inspectors somehow managed to find something wrong with every animal. Every animal except the ones sold at the temple. How convenient! And, of course, those temple animals were sold at a hefty price. This was a racket, a business monopoly “in the name of the Lord.” And it was being held in the area of the temple least respected by Jews and most crucial to the Gentiles.
That is what Jesus saw when he entered the temple courts. The religious rulers of Israel had devised an impressive system for milking extra money from their members, but He was not impressed. More bluntly, He was angry, but in a self-controlled way. You see, righteous indignation welled up in Jesus until He could not remain idle. He made a whip out of leather cords and proceeded to herd cattle and sheep out, turning over the money changers booths and chasing everyone out of the courtyard. The people were stunned, and upset, but Jesus apologized for nothing. He saw what needed to be done, and He was not too timid to do it.

SO WHY THIS SEMI-VIOLENT ACT?
One reason was personal. Catch His words as He spoke to the dove sellers: “Get these [doves] out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a meat market!” Why did Jesus single out the dove sellers? Doves were sold exclusively to the poor who were permitted to substitute cheap doves for expensive cattle or sheep. Thirty years earlier, Joseph and Mary were so poor that they had to buy doves when they consecrated Jesus. Jesus grew up in that world, and it infuriated him to see the rich and powerful take advantage of the poor.
Another reason was fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. Years later, the disciples connected the dots between Jesus’ actions and the Old Testament prophecy in Psalm 69:9, “The zeal for your house consumes me...” There are over 300 Old Testament prophecies about the first coming of Jesus, and He fulfilled every one of them, down to the last detail.
(To continue reading, go to my comment that is below.)