Sharing "Journey to the Cross" by Paul David Tripp.
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Scripture records the anger of Jesus in the temple to point to who he is and to clarify our values.
And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
Matthew 21:12-13
How quickly the emotion of the drama of Jesus’s last journey changes! After the adoring crowds, the story takes a radical turn. This is another one of those messianic vignettes that we think we understand, but need to examine more closely. We see here the holy anger of Jesus more than at almost any other moment in his life. Do you know why he was so angry? Is it only about commerce in the temple? Why does he call the sellers thieves? What is the zeal that consumed him in this moment? Why did he overturn those tables? What can we learn from our Savior’s holy anger? How can his zeal become our hope? These are the questions begging to be answered as we consider this moment in Jesus’s journey to the cross.
Jesus enters Jerusalem and takes no time to bask in the glory of the adoring crowds along the way. He knows he is on a mission of saving grace, and he knows how far that grace will extend. He knows that what is happening in the temple is not only a violation of his Father’s house, of promises made to Abraham, but also of what he came to earth to accomplish. Without care for what people will think of him, he is driven by righteous values and holy anger to act on behalf of those unable to act for themselves.
Consider this meditation.
The temple highlighted your holy zeal;
what was there exposed your loving heart.
More than an institution,
more than a historic place,
more than a religious edifice,
more than a place of public worship—
it was your Father’s house.
Anger filled your heart—
holy, righteous, grace-infused wrath.
The place for the Gentiles now a house of commerce.
Sales tables replaced praying places.
Animal sounds replaced sounds of supplication.
This hallowed place, now a den of robbers.
Market thieves had stolen the Gentiles’ only place.
Sellers violated your covenant plan.
Merchants robbed your place of its glory.
This place of divine love, now a place of human greed.
No love for you.
No sympathy for the displaced.
No submission to your will.
No care for your saving plan.
Out of love for your Father, compassion for those excluded,
commitment to promises made to Abraham,
you overturned the plan of those who stained the Father’s house,
declaring the zeal of your heart, your holy mission, your eternal position.
This zeal, then and now, my hope.
Your anger, then and now, my security.
Your promises, then and now, my rest.
Your grace, then and now, my life.
For I know you will remain zealous, act in holy anger, and overturn the final table,
and I will dwell safe in your Father’s house forever.
GOING DEEPER
Reflection Questions
1. What was Jesus angry about? What were the moneychangers doing wrong?
2. What fills your heart with righteous anger? Where do you see modern-day moneychangers, and what are you called to do about it?
Read Mark 11:15–19 and Luke 19:45– 48.
15 When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace.
The temple highlighted your holy zeal;
what was there exposed your loving heart.
More than an institution,
more than a historic place,
more than a religious edifice,
more than a place of public worship—
it was your Father’s house.
Anger filled your heart—
holy, righteous, grace-infused wrath.
The place for the Gentiles now a house of commerce.
Sales tables replaced praying places.
Animal sounds replaced sounds of supplication.
This hallowed place, now a den of robbers.
Market thieves had stolen the Gentiles’ only place.
Sellers violated your covenant plan.
Merchants robbed your place of its glory.
This place of divine love, now a place of human greed.
No love for you.
No sympathy for the displaced.
No submission to your will.
No care for your saving plan.
Out of love for your Father, compassion for those excluded,
commitment to promises made to Abraham,
you overturned the plan of those who stained the Father’s house,
declaring the zeal of your heart, your holy mission, your eternal position.
This zeal, then and now, my hope.
Your anger, then and now, my security.
Your promises, then and now, my rest.
Your grace, then and now, my life.
For I know you will remain zealous, act in holy anger, and overturn the final table,
and I will dwell safe in your Father’s house forever.
GOING DEEPER
Reflection Questions
1. What was Jesus angry about? What were the moneychangers doing wrong?
2. What fills your heart with righteous anger? Where do you see modern-day moneychangers, and what are you called to do about it?
3. It’s easy to put ourselves on Jesus’s side here, but how might you be guilty of some of the same sins as the moneychangers?
Read Mark 11:15–19 and Luke 19:45– 48.
Jesus Clears the Temple
Mark 11:15-19 New Living Translation
15 When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace.
17 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”
18 When the leading priests and teachers of religious law heard what Jesus had done, they began planning how to kill him. But they were afraid of him because the people were so amazed at his teaching.
19 That evening Jesus and the disciples left the city.
18 When the leading priests and teachers of religious law heard what Jesus had done, they began planning how to kill him. But they were afraid of him because the people were so amazed at his teaching.
19 That evening Jesus and the disciples left the city.
Luke 19:45-48 New Living Translation
45 Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. 46 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”
47 After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. 48 But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.
45 Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. 46 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”
47 After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. 48 But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.
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