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Jesus entered Jerusalem to a crowd of people singing and shouting the words of the Psalms. “Lord, save us! Lord, grant us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you.” He is being acclaimed as God’s messenger and Israel’s messiah. But what he does next, as recorded in three of the four gospel accounts, is a highly debated act in Jesus’ life. It isn’t really debated among Christians as to whether or not Jesus did what comes next in Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s accounts. It’s actually recorded in John, too, just at a different point in Jesus’ life. All the gospel writers tell us this event happened at some point. The debate is over how it played out, what its purpose was, and what this says about the character and person of Jesus. We’re going to talk about this today.

I didn’t always see God as a God of peace, Jesus as the bringer of peace, and Christians as a people of peace. One of the stories that challenged this view for me, and the argument I’ve had brought up most consistently to argue with me against the peace view that I now hold, is the story of Jesus cleansing the temple.

For those who aren’t familiar with the story, let me tell it in a way that pulls together different elements of how the gospel writers each uniquely tell it. Mark tells us that after Jesus comes into Jerusalem with people shouting Hosanna, he goes to the temple. Mark writes this: “After looking around carefully at everything, he left because it was late in the afternoon. Then he returned to Bethany with the twelve disciples.”

So Jesus takes close observance of everything that is happening in the Temple but then leaves to where he is staying the night. The next day he returns to Jerusalem and Mark tells us this is what happens: “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.”

Matthew’s account is similar. Matthew says, “Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. 13 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”

Luke’s account is very abbreviated. He writes, “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.”

The gospel of John describes Jesus' clearing of the Temple at a very different place in Jesus’ life. As a result, there is some debate as to whether there were two different events or if John just includes his account in a different place for a narrative reason. I’m not sure which is the best way to understand it, but I would point out that in John’s account of Jesus clearing the temple, there are some differences. In John’s account, Jesus proceeds to make a whip out of ropes. He flips the tables and scatters the coins while he runs the merchants out and then drives the animals out. Then he goes to those selling doves and orders them out, too.

The question we face as we read these accounts is what do we make of this Jesus? When we look at Jesus healing people, eating with the outcasts, and visiting with tax collectors, it is easy to conclude that love is his essence. But what about this Jesus who starts flipping tables, kicking people out of the Temple, and using a whip?

Many Christians use this story to argue that Jesus was angry, lost his temper at things that were wrong, and to emphasize his righteousness over against his love. This passage has been used to argue against a peace perspective and to defend Christians using violence in our responses to evil, aggression, or even inconveniences.

I do think this passage emphasizes righteousness, but not against love. The ultimate heart of Jesus was shown on the cross. What we need to do, as we make our way to the cross, is consider how Jesus’ actions in the temple can rightly be understood in light of what is revealed about Jesus on the cross. This isn’t about dismissing these actions. It’s about seeing them in the proper light.

If we start with the foundation that Jesus is willing to lay down his life before fighting back against his arresters and accusers, it seems that we have to be open to seeing even this action in the temple as in some way non-violent.

For me, it was helpful to see in Mark’s telling that Jesus closely observed everything the day before and then went home. What we can be sure is that this was not done out of explosive anger or reactivity. Jesus is not, in this story, out of control or raging. This is a calculated act.

The second thing I notice in each story is that it is a dramatic act. It is dramatic in the sense that it gets everyone's attention and is chaotic. It is also dramatic in that it is acting out the cry of scripture. Jesus is drawing on the words of the prophets about the Temple becoming a place for thieves rather than a place for prayer. Instead of being a place where broken people could come to find God’s healing, it had become a place for profiteering. The money being strewn all over the floor and the livestock - the items being sold - being cut loose as the merchants run for cover  - that is all demonstrating, in dramatic fashion, the truth of the prophet's words.

So Jesus is engaging in a controlled drama. But for what purpose? It seems that the verses that follow in the story answer this question. In Luke’s gospel, we read that after this, Jesus taught daily in the temple and the leaders of the people (religious and otherwise) began to plan how to kill Jesus. This dramatic act cleared space, which Jesus seems to fill as he continues to come back to teach. This puts him at odds with the leaders who are no longer on the fence about Jesus. They are focused on his destruction.

This confrontation is highlighted in Mark’s telling of the story as well. Mark describes Jesus coming back to Jerusalem and having a run-in with the religious leaders about where his authority came from. That encounter left the religious leaders frustrated and Jesus used this as an opportunity to speak directly against them. We read that they didn’t do anything because they were afraid of the crowd that was gathering around Jesus.

In Matthew’s telling of this story, Jesus continues to teach in this space vacated by the merchants. But it specifically describes those who are coming to him as “the blind and the lame.” They are getting further into the Temple than they typically would have. If the space they are now in had been only for those wanting to bring sacrifices, those who are “unclean” because of physical issues would have been kept out. But now, they can come into this space and there they are finding healing. The result of this is more people - even children - celebrating Jesus as the Messiah and the religious leaders getting even more indignant.

By clearing out these profiteers, Jesus creates space for those who were being marginalized by the religious system to come and encounter God - to come and find healing. There is no indication that Jesus’ dramatic action did any physical harm to either the merchants or the animals. One viable suggestion I’ve heard about the use of a whip is to point out that often a whip is used with animals for the sound it makes, not for any pain it induces. The cracking of a whip on one side or the other of an animal can be used to effectively guide it without the use of physical force.

Rather than this being an action of an angry and aggressive man. Jesus’ clearing of the temple can easily be understood as a calculated and dramatic act done for effect, but with control and non-violence in order to create space for those who have been marginalized and distanced from a God who loved them.

That seems to be very much in line with the revelation of God in the flesh as one who will, with few words, make his way willingly to the cross in just a few days.

A few reminders as we continue through Holy Week:

  • Our Be In Christ Church of Canada family has published a Holy Week Guide. If you weren’t able to get a paper copy on Sunday, you can find it online at beinchrist.ca/easter. It will also be available on the Be In Christ Church of Canada social media pages throughout the week.
  • We are gathering at Noon for a Good Friday service on April 7. We’ll be with the Anglican Parish of the Town of Penetanguishene and First Presbyterian Church at All Saints Anglican Church - 1 Peel St in Penetang. We’re looking forward to this joint protestant Good Friday Service. It will be live-streamed as well. The link is on the event page on our website.
  • On Easter Sunday, April 9 we will be celebrating the resurrection with our service at 10:30 am at our Covenant Church building. We have hot cross buns to enjoy with our coffee and tea. We are looking forward to our time together!
  • Last week I mentioned a drive for the Georgian Bay Food Network that is taking place over the next few weeks. This is initiated by some of our students and we are excited to support them in it. I was mistaken about some of the details last week. It is primarily a toiletry drive, although I’m sure that non-perishable food items will not be turned away. There are donation bins in our lobby if you are able to bring items to donate.
  • Very quickly I want to mention a couple of more dates to you:
    • On the Sunday after Easter, April 16, we will be hosting Stephen Roy from Mennonite Central Committee to share about the work they do. Stephen also happens to be the board chair of our Be In Christ Church of Canada family which just adds to the pleasure we have of welcoming him.
    • On April 23 we will be having a Covenant Coffee & Conversation gathering after our regular service. There will be more details coming about what we’ll be talking about, but we do encourage as many as possible to plan on sticking around for our time together.
    • And on Saturday, May 6 we will be hosting a Newcomers Dessert Night. There were several who weren’t able to attend our last event and others who have started coming in the last couple of months. We’d love to have you participate with us. We will, after Easter, get out a sign-up sheet - for both attendees and for those who would like to provide dessert. But you can mark your calendars already!

As you continue through this week, I pray it is an encouragement to you that God’s love is peaceful, but not passive. Jesus was willing to disrupt the systems that had turned the place of worship and healing into a place of oppression and profit. He did this in order to welcome the vulnerable and outcasts so that they could and would know the healing love of God. He does that for you and me. He would like to do that with you and me. We watch and pray so that he doesn’t need to do that to you and me. May we always be joining him in the welcome and love he freely gives.

God Bless you on the remainder of your week!

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