John
2:13-16 (NIV) When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to
Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and
doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out
of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he
scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To
those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my
Father's house into a market!"
NOTE: There are few
examples in scripture of Jesus getting angry. This is one of them, another
would be his reaction to the false teaching and hypocritical lifestyle of the
Pharisees. In understanding why Jesus is angry, a couple of observations are in
order. First, the market is set up in the outer court, which is designated as a
place of worship for the Gentiles. So, it would be impossible for Gentiles to
worship God due to the noise and activity in the courtyard. Most Gentiles would
have been turned off by the sight and so would not have even investigated the
claims of God. Secondly, the sellers were making a lot of money off the
worshippers needlessly. They were changing coins at outrageous rates, and
selling "approved" animals, which were often "unapproved"
animals of a previous worshipper that were then blessed by a priest for resale.
Jesus believed a worker was worth his wages, but did not believe it was right
to use religious work to get rich at another's expense.
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