The Day they say Jesus got angry...but did He?
Jerusalem - the Temple.
It was February, 2018, and I was in Israel, fortunate to be part of a small group sponsored by Christians United for Israel. The purpose was to inform ministers and Bible teachers of the various historical, religious, geopolitical and security factors at play in and surrounding the tiny country. Because of the nature of it, we got a purview that most do not, including being on the northernmost military base in the country, feet away from the border with Lebanon. Some may not know or have forgotten that one day after Israel gained statehood in 1948, the tiny country was attacked by the surrounding Arab countries of Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Syria. Israelis never forget that her neighbors are bent on her destruction. [But remember this has always been the land of the Jewish people. 1,000 years before Jesus was born, Jerusalem was King David's capital. What about Palestine?1 below]
On that 2018 trip, we heard from the head of the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, walked and talked with an influential IDF general and heard from both Arab and Jewish news reporters. We had a Shabbat dinner with a Jerusalem family and went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum. What an experience! The land of Jesus and the Patriarchs, where the Bible is literally being dug out of the ground. Israel is just a fraction of the land God promised to Abraham, recorded in Scripture.2
On a windy, kinda moody Sunday afternoon in Jerusalem, I walked to the nearest ATM. By myself, I quickly shoved the cash in my pocket, noticing then that it was dispensed in shekels. Shoot! Ignorant tourist that I was, I started making my way to a currency exchange shop, but then suddenly realize I had no idea of the value I had in my hand, or what next to do. So I did what I do stateside; I started a conversation with some strangers, asking a couple young guys passing by, and they were happy to help.
Here in John chapter two, Jesus has just changed the water into wine, his first miracle; the disciples take it all in, and know then that the Rabbi they are following is indeed the Messiah. And at each new turn, Jesus' persona unfolds.
Don't you wonder, 'what was Jesus, the man, like?' Imagine that you got to meet Him in the flesh. Did he smile easily? We know he was a pleasure to be around because people liked to be around him as evidenced by the fact that he had just been at a wedding celebration. And the gospels tell us that even sinners like prostitutes and deceitful tax collectors wanted to hang out with him. Was his voice high or low? Did he snore or talk in his sleep? Did he work out or ‘buffet his body’3 as the apostle Paul said? Think of the physical work he did as a builder with his dad, and the many miles he walked. Yes, I'm sure Jesus was fit.
Because Scripture refers to Jesus as meek, it seems folks equate 'meek' with 'weak'. Big mistake. Jesus was anything but a wimp.
Jesus was an observant Jew who kept the traditional annual feasts.
In John 2, we find him in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover at the Temple.
“It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money.
>Note: Passover observants needed to purchase animals for their sacrifices at the temple, as many had traveled some distance. But the way in which the dealers in the temple area were conducting business was chaotic and kept the Gentiles from worshipping in the outer court. Moneychangers were necessary because of folks who needed to exchange currencies, but the upcharging and profiteering should not have been in the temple.
Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the moneychangers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace”
Then his disciples remembered this prophecy: “Passion for God’s house will consume me.” A light went off in the heads of the disciples, as they recalled Psalm 69, a confirmation that this was their long-awaited Messiah.
But the Jewish leaders demanded, “What are you doing? If God gave you authority to do this, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.”
“All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” A prophecy about his own life, meaning ‘Crucify me, put me in the grave, but on the third day, I will rise again!’ This infuriated the Jewish leaders.
“What!” they exclaimed. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can rebuild it in three days?” But when Jesus said “this temple,” he meant his own body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this, and they believed both the Scriptures and what Jesus had said. John 2.13-22
So the money-changing thing? I described it earlier. Totally normal, and especially for observant Jews traveling from other areas. But it was the profiteering going on, and the fact that worship was hampered - that called for Jesus to act.
Now what was Jesus, the man, like? First of all, I do not think he was angry, he was purposeful and intentional; he was strong, physically and emotionally. He didn't act rashly; why, he wove a whip together right on the scene! And though He stood up to the Jewish leaders, he had no need to explain himself when they failed to understand, always aware of the time and place. Jesus had a strong sense of who he was, whose He was and the authority that was his. And so ought we.
Lord, let us learn from how you lived in the world, showing us who we are in You, and that you are always with us.
Give us the wisdom and presence of Your mind not to let external goings on either in our personal lives or in the world around us control our emotions.
Remind us to both stand up for what is right, and always trust fully in You.
And God, because we belong to you, remind us too that we have a purpose ~
to love You fully and love others with everything we have, and then from our giftings, creatively point others to you.
Show us who is around us to love, and give us ways to point them to You. Amen.
Listen to this song: Holy Forever, Chris Tomlin -
Amen and Amen.
Christine
1 - Listen to this weekend's sermon by Pastor Allen Jackson, starting at minute 32. Very interesting, factual, historical account of the land of Israel, Gaza and Hamas? and what ought be our biblical understanding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdoRmFzgK80&t=43s
2 - Genesis 15.18 and Joshua 1.4
3 - 1 Corinthians 9.27, ASV
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