Righteous Anger

John 2:12-25

¹²After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. ¹³The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. ¹⁵And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” ¹⁷His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” ¹⁸So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” ¹⁹Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” ²¹But he was speaking about the temple of his body. ²²When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. ²³Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. ²⁴But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people ²⁵and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

We rarely think of Jesus as expressing strong negative emotions. In fact, we would rather not think of Jesus as even having negative emotions. That doesn’t fit our pretty picture of the Savior. Loving, kind, gracious, forgiving; these are the words we want to use when describing our Lord and they are accurate. But in this reading we find a new category of words to add to our list of characteristics that describe Christ. Angry, righteous, vengeful, violent; these too describe the Lord and we don’t like it.

This passage is exceptionally powerful for it describes a scene unlike any other in the life of Jesus. His strong and “take charge” actions are surprising both for His disciples and for John’s readers. The other Gospel writers put this incident (or one similar to it) toward the end of Jesus life. Here, John places it at the beginning of His ministry. There are two possible explanations for this. One, Jesus actually performed this cleansing twice; early in His ministry and again at the end. Or two, John simply chose to report this event out of sequence. Chronology wasn’t as important to the Jewish thinker as it is for those of us in the West.

What brings this passage some amazing strength is the quote, taken from Psalm 69 that appears in verse 17. The Disciples have an Old Testament prophecy brought to mind as they watch these events unfold.

Psalm 69:9

For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

As the Jewish leadership is supposedly pointing their people to watch for the coming Messiah they have also clearly defined that Messiah. They are looking for someone to free them from the tyranny of the Romans. They would love to see Rome crushed under their boots and be returned to the days of King David. Rebuilding the temple to its glory as in the time of Solomon was their greatest dream. Then Jesus comes along, and He too is thinking of the Temple. But it is nothing like their dreams. He Himself is the Temple and all focus is now taken from that building used for sacrifice and placed upon Him, the final sacrifice. This is a huge concept and we are merely bringing a flash of illumination to the ideas exposed here.

In 2002, M. Night Shyamalan released the movie Signs starring Mel Gibson. Despite a few storyline problems, I really enjoyed this picture because of the ending. I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it (in the last 17 years!) but suffice it to say, throughout the movie there were numerous signs that all come together to make a faith altering change for the lead character. The viewer is exposed to all of these signs without a real awareness that you’re going to need them in the end. That’s probably Shyamalan’s claim to fame in all of his films. If Shyamalan doesn’t claim Christianity, he might want to investigate it as he walks a pretty fine line with the content of this movie. Signs are important and our ability to gather them together to understand a concept is a great skill.

Jesus is asked for a sign by the Jews. I don’t think they are asking because they want to develop a faith in Him as the Messiah. They are either looking for a side-show or a chance to make Him look foolish. Jesus, speaking rather cryptically, tells them that they will indeed get a sign which will be when He raises His body from the grave three days after they kill Him. Since that isn’t exactly how He says it, they don’t get it. Instead they sneer at Him and discuss how long it took to build the Temple they currently have. The ones who actually do receive these words as a sign are His disciples who hold those words in their hearts until it actually happens, and they see His greatness in this fulfilled prophecy.

There are many others, along with the disciples, who come to faith in Jesus, based on the Words He speaks and the signs that He performs. This will happen throughout the book of John. Despite the best efforts of the Pharisees to keep people away, it doesn’t work. Jesus’ love and grace are just to compelling.

As we worship this King who would use a whip to clear the Temple courts of these opportunistic merchants, may we remember that He is indeed more than a quiet, milquetoast Savior. His strength knows no bounds and His righteousness is pure and holy. We don’t get to define Him for He defines Himself and worship Him as He is, not that which we invent. And He defines us as we live our life with and through Him.