Patience, Not Approval

When John tells the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple in the early part of His ministry, it seems like a misplaced story.  It seems misplaced because the other gospel writers all put this part of the Jesus story in the final week of His life.  Regardless of what the others wrote and John surely knew since his gospel came much later than the other three, the cleansing of the Temple is told immediately following the wedding of Cana of Galilee.  The picture John paints of Jesus in the Temple is one which tells more than just a narrative of the event, but reveals the inner workings of the heart of Jesus in the midst of this moment.    

It enables us to see the turned loose emotions of Jesus.  He made a whip of cords.  The cord would become an instrument in His hands which expressed the anger of God.  He used the whip to drive out the sellers of sacrificial animals as well as the animals themselves.  It must have indeed been a noisy and chaotic moment as the coins rolled across the floors and tables were overturned and animals and people scurried to get out of His way.  He had seen the abuse of the Temple many times, but this was a moment of coming to a place where "Enough is enough!"   

Why John puts this event early in the ministry of Jesus as the others put it late is something which gives Biblical commentator cause to scratch their heads.  The thing that is clear is that a place set aside for holy purposes was being abused and such abuse angered Jesus.  There is no reason for us to think that His attitude has changed any since those days when He walked among us.  When the places set aside for holy purposes are used for personal gain, or a means of controlling those who come to worship, those who are in charge are walking on precarious ground.  The fact that such misuse of the holy is tolerated for a time does not speak of His approval, but His patience and mercy.  It is surely no different in the moment in which we live.