February 16 - Angry Jesus

Read: John 2:13-25

And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. (John 2:15 ESV)

The system was completely ridiculous. The religious elite had turned the Temple, meant to be a connecting point between God and man, into a religious market. It came complete with a pyramid scheme and fraudulent money conversion system. Herod and the Chief Priests were making an exorbitant fortune.

Jesus got mad. He didn't go sit in his room and think about it. He didn't blog. He didn't write a sad song or rebel against his family. He made a weapon. He crafted a whip out of chords. He took time to fashion the instrument he would use to deliver justice. He thought about his course. He acted upon his anger.

The difference between Jesus' anger and mine is not only how he did what he did, or what he actually did, but why he did it. Usually if I get mad it is rooted in some kind of pride. Jesus' anger derived from his understanding of the terrible corruption taking place in God's house. My anger usually erupts when something that I would typically just tolerate somehow begins to affect me. Jesus' anger boiled over at the injustice being done to the hundreds and thousands of people coming to the Temple. Jesus anger was righteous. Mine rarely is.

Jesus' active anger resulted in the righting of grievous wrongs. It's ok to get mad. It is even ok to act on your anger. It's not ok to act out of selfishness, pain, or pride.