A few weeks ago, I stopped short in the midst of reading a post on social media.
Up to the point my breath caught in my throat, I was engaging with what the writer had to say about dying to self, giving up our rights, not having to defend ourselves out of pride – or control.
The written word was exhorting followers of Jesus…to relinquish our all to God, and ask Him to renew our minds to make us more like Christ.
Then came these words:
Here I stopped reading.
Jesus? A “kick-ass savior?”
Those words have troubled me (let alone the description of the whip…)…
bewildered me…
haunted me…
What did the author mean?
Being of a different generation, I zipped to an online Urban Dictionary to try and further understand.
Here’s what I read:
“Kick-ass: North American vulgar slang meaning to dominate, beat, or defeat someone. To act in a very firm, controlling or aggressive manner…”
Was that Jesus’ motive behind the overturned tables, the whip He fashioned from cords, the words with which He rebuked the money-changers?
Was he trying to control the temple-crowd, to beat them into submission???
I curiously longed to know.
And, this is my conclusion.
The heading in my Bible reads: Jesus Cleanses the Temple.
The words of Matthew say this:
Let’s not leave out John’s words:
Whether this is one instance, or two, it doesn’t matter.
What matters is the heart of the Savior as He shows a rare display of anger.
Anger was not Jesus’ norm.
His life was lived with compassionate healing, touching, caring, building relationship, gently restoring, speaking hard truths with kindness and compassion, and teaching with patience (that some might be led to a knowledge of TRUTH…and to SALVATION).
Paul’s words to Timothy were probably Jesus’ words to the Apostle Paul as he set out in ministry (please read them – they are for us, today, too!):
This we know about the Lord God, and Scripture tells us that what we see in the Father, we see in the Son:
He wouldn’t give us the same admonition that He didn’t keep:
What I understand is that there are appropriate times to be angry…
…and, there are specific Biblical guidelines to follow in order to “be angry and not sin…”
(There, again, is a topic for another time…)
What, then, stirs Jesus’ soul to the point that His ire rose?
To answer that question, I’ve gone way back.
It starts in the Garden of Eden; and, it weaves its way through the Old Testament and into the New.
What angers the Lord God of Creation from the Beginning into today is clear.
He longs for hearts that are wholly His.
Woe: a condition of deep suffering and hurt!
(Merriam Webster Online Dictionary)
TURNING OVER THE TABLES OF MONEY-CHANGERS WAS ABOUT SO MUCH MORE THAN RIGHTING A WRONG!
Jesus actions in the temple were entirely about
HIS BROKEN HEART!
An unseen Savior is unable to reach the lost.
That makes Him fashion whips and turn over tables to get our attention!
Or something else?