Our Lord's agressiveness in confronting the animal sellers and money changers, in this passage, is undeniable: "And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple". Only here at the beginning of his ministry and again at the temple at the end of his Ministry do we see Christ act in physical aggression.
We naturally question; Why did Jesus respond so passionately? Why would our compassionate gracious Lord act in this way?
The answer has to do with who Jesus is and what the temple was.
Hebrews 1 says of Jesus "You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;" Christ is the exact imprint of the nature of the Father. And the Father feels indignation every day (Psalm 7:11). It was in Christ's nature to hate wickedness when he encountered the evil in the temple he hated it, and he responded.
Man's anger/hatred is corrupted by selfishness and pride so that righteous anger seems like an impossibility. The Scripture has numerous passages warning against man's anger (James 1:20, Eph 4:31 to name a couple). So we should be very careful trying to follow in Christ's foot steps in righteous anger. We must prayerfully search our hearts and ask what is really motivating us. We must also follow the Commandment, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you." But Christ had a perfect hatred. It wasn't jealousy and selfish ambition that led our Lord to make that whip.
Christ's motivations were pure. He was fulfilling a portion of what he was sent to do. This was prophesied of him, "And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap." (Mal 3:1-2)
Jesus came like a refiners fire because the temple was supposed to be something very different from what it had become.
In Deuteronomy 12:11 the Temple is referred to as, "the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there." The connection of God's name to the Temple is repeated often in the Old Testament. Honoring God's name is of prime importance in the Scriptures. The temple was to be the center of the worship of God. The temple was a place for God's name to be exalted. "Praise the LORD! Praise the name of the LORD, give praise, O servants of the LORD, who stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God! Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant!" (Psalm 135:1-3) That was supposed to be the focus of the people in the house of the Lord.
The Temple was also meant to be a place where God's people drew near to him in prayer. When it was first built Solomon dedicated it and prayed, "that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, 'My name shall be there,' that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. " The Temple was meant to be a place of communion between God & Man.
And of course the Temple was where the sacrifices were to be offered. That is what the oxen, sheep, and pigeons were for. These offerings were to be pleasing to the LORD. And were a means for God's people to be reconciled to him.
As I mentioned Jesus loved righteousness and hated wickedness. As we think about this passage we should ask What did Jesus love and what did he hate that day at the Temple. Jesus loved true religion and was jealous for it. Jesus loved the name of God being honored. He loved people drawing near to God and being reconciled to him. Jesus loved what the temple was meant to be, and he hated what it had become. Jesus called the temple a house of trade. The primary purpose of the temple had become profit. The sellers and the moneychangers weren't concerned with the worship of God, with people drawing near to God, or being reconciled to him. They were concerned with Money. Jesus hated this.
Jesus loves the same things now that he did then and he hates the same things now that he did then. Jesus loves true religion and hates the corruption of it especially for profit. This should be a warning to us today.
In our time the physical temple in Jerusalem is no more. But that doesn't meant that there is no temple. Paul figuratively calls both to the Church as a whole and believers individually a temple.
To the individual he says, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?" (1 Corinthians 6:19). As believers we are to seek to worship God. We must honor the name of our God in word and deed and love him with all our hearts. We are to draw near to him in prayer. And look to Christ constantly for fellowship and reconciliation.
And of the Church he says, " the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit" (Eph 2:21-22) Growing into a holy temple aught to be the purpose of the Church. The purposes of the Old Testament temple were worship, prayer, and reconciliation. The Purposes of the Church are the same. In the church we must honor the name of God in worship. We must seek his face in prayer and encourage people everywhere to call out to him. And we must lift up to everyone God's means of reconciliation Jesus Christ crucified; the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
In our lives as individuals and as members of Christ Church we must put what he loves first, and repent when we do not.
My hope is that we will follow the disciples example and remember what they did.
His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." John2:17
