John 2:12-25

Following the miracle at the wedding in Cana, Jesus, His family, and His disciples head down to Capernaum; we're not told anything about this visit to Capernaum save He wasn't there very long. Verse 13 tells us it was the time of the Passover and Jesus, being a Jewish male, was required to attend the Passover ceremony held annually in Jerusalem. This was the first Passover Jesus would attend after beginning His public ministry, and all four gospels record Jesus' reaction to what He saw upon entering the temple.

It says in verse 14, "And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. (15) When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables." Imagine the scene. Jesus shows up and sees the temple turned into a "house of merchandise". The other Gospels call it "a den of thieves". The sounds of buying and selling and money changing and animals mooing and bleating all combine to defile the House of God. In Jesus' eyes we see righteous anger well up as the sight unfolds before Him. He sees the profit and greed of the religious leaders replace the spiritual leadership they had been entrusted with. In Malachi we read the scathing rebuke of the priests regarding their departure from God's instruction and the punishment which is to come for their evil deeds. Malachi 4:3 says, "He (Jesus) will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi..." The cleansing of the temple is the first step in this purification process, yet those who knew the law so well where ignorant of who it was they saw before them fulfilling this prophecy. Their eyes were fixed on the fleeing profits Jesus drove out single-handedly.

This outburst of righteous indignation infuriated the scribes and priests for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the revenue they collected, in the forms of taxes, rented space, etc., evaporated as Jesus drove the sellers and their wares outside the temple walls. Second, we see Jesus' actions convict them of their obvious sin, but we will read in John 3:19-20, "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (20) For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." Here Jesus is speaking with Nicodemus, and I'm sure His experiences this day cleansing the temple were fresh in His mind when He spoke these things.

After Jesus drives out the merchants, the Jews approach Him and in verse 18 ask, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?" They've just been publicly humiliated by Jesus through His very loud condemnation of their actions; that is, taking advantage of the Passover and those who've come to worship. They heard Him proclaim, "Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" They're angry with Him for the above mentioned reasons, but they seize on His claim to be the Son of God and demand He prove this claim immediately. How Jesus answers is simply amazing. In verse 19, He says, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews, incredulous, can't fathom by what means He could rebuild the temple they were surrounded by, knowing it had taken forty-six years to erect. In His response, Jesus sets His eyes on the cross, knowing full well both the pain He would endure and the salvation He would secure for all mankind, even those who mocked Him now. His love never wavered, not even for a second. I wonder if He had given them a sign right then whether it would have made a difference anyway. We read further in verse 23, "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did". Undoubtedly, these priests would have seen these signs they had asked for, but still they did not believe and sought to kill Him regardless.

We know that Jesus was in fact talking about His own body as the temple He would raise on the third day following His crucifixion. We have further proof of Jesus' divinity here, as we read in verse 22, "Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said". He predicted it, He accomplished it, and many believed because of it. Still, those who believed in Him following the miracles He performed during the Passover where not men to whom He committed Himself, meaning He held little faith in their commitment to Him. We're told in verses 24-25, "But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man". Again, this is proof Jesus is who He claimed to be, as He didn't need anyone to give Him a defense for man that He may esteem them greater than He did. He created man, as we learn from the first verses of the book of John, and as such knew the hearts of men and the fickleness of their belief in Him. Here He tells us who He will commit Himself to, even today: those who daily follow Him, such as His disciples, as opposed to those who have a fleeting knowledge of His works. This crowd certainly didn't seek the Giver; rather they sought the gifts, and because of this Jesus did not commit Himself to them.

Lastly, we learn a great deal from Jesus here regarding anger and the appropriate place for it in our lives. In contrast with Jesus' actions in the temple, my anger is seldom righteous, and if it begins in that manner it hardly lasts a minute before I have sinned, either in thought, word, or action. Jesus, however, never sinned. We understand and accept that, if at times we marvel at the impossibility of it for ourselves. Still, if Jesus was angry at the scene in the temple and never sinned, we can then say anger in itself is not a sin. Ok, that's acceptable. But, we (you and I) must be so cautious when anger creeps in, even if it begins in a righteous place. We read throughout the Bible cautionary tales of succumbing to our anger. Also, if we know that God Himself is slow to anger (Psalms 103:8, 145:8, Exodus 34:6-7, etc.), how much slower to it should we be? Next, we see the Bible tell us the virtue of being slow to anger. Proverbs is chock full o' goodness on this subject. Proverbs 14:29 says, "He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, But he who is impulsive exalts folly". Proverbs 15:18, "A wrathful man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger allays contention". Proverbs 16:32, "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty...", and on and on.

The point is this. How easy is it to let anger get the best of us? Certainly there are times when our anger is both justified and deserved. Still, we need to remember those are rare instances. In our dealings with one another, especially among brothers and sisters in Christ, any anger is bad anger. In his book Transforming Grace, Jerry Bridges says, "By receiving God's forgiveness through Christ, I forfeited the right to be offended when others hurt me". We need to truly give forgiveness to others and keep our anger in check at all times. When Jesus was asked how many times we should forgive someone for the same offense, His response was an incredible 490 times! God obviously understands the toxicity of holding anger against someone, especially secret anger. We're told repeatedly to guard our thoughts, and to only dwell on those things which are holy and pure. Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things". When we hold bad thoughts against others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ, it will have negative consequences on not only our relationship with that person but also our relationship with God. Jesus' ability to be angry without sinning comes from Him being fully God. I'm not God, and the anger I allow to grab hold of me is never good anger. Lord God, take away any anger I may have towards my brothers and sisters in You. Help me forgive, as You've forgiven me. This is certainly not easy, Lord, but I lay it at your feet now and ask you give Me victory over this sin in my life. I pray this in the name of Jesus, and by His merit alone, I ask for your help..."