John 2: 15-16
“So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”
This is not the typical picture of Jesus that we see in the children’s Bibles! No little lambs here. No smiling Jesus. This is Jesus unleashed. And yet, there is a sense of waiting, too. Jesus doesn’t just run into the temple courts yelling and turning over tables. He stops to find some cords and then weaves them into a whip. Only after doing this does he very purposefully clear the temple courts.
Q: If God himself had appeared at the Temple as he did before the Israelites in the days of Moses, what would have been the outcome based on Jesus’ reaction to what was going on in the temple?
And actually attempting to answer the question this time around…
I think Good would have shaken the temple and that just tables would overturned. 🌋
Great news about your brother Robster. Is there anything we can pray for?
Great question Jeff. My simple answer is, God would do what He did.
Jesus is God, John 1:1, 1:14, God is Immutable, Unchangeable, with every attribute, all that God is, being involved in all He does. Every action of God is the perfect action for each situation described in the Bible.
Destroy nations and calls the adulterer, and murderer David His friend. Condemn the ministers of His Holy word and break bread with His followers, reformed prostitutes and thieves.
God put on skin, came among men to live God the OT. For three years He did live and demonstrate the OT in His life, as well as give His life for our sins. I see the OT much clearer when I view with what the Holy Spirit has revealed about Jesus in my heart.
1 Cor, 2:11b, and 2:16.
The people were conducting business as usual,..nothing was different for them,..they had no idea what they were doing was wrong because it was status quo,..I would imagine Jesus could of just blew some smoke out of His mouth showing that He is God with a cloud of glory,..the fact that Jesus sat down and took some time to make the whip shows Gods patience with us,..I wonder how many people saw Jesus making the whip and what went through their minds when they seen Him weaving the cords together,..
It was quite a surprise!
What has to be cleansed from your temple? Are there carnal attitudes and unholy things in your temple? Have you allowed the temple of the Holy Spirit to become a marketplace of human traditions and vain philosophies or is it a place of prayer, holiness and devotion to Christ? If you keep your temple and clean Christ will not have to do it for you! Less painful. Gal 6:7
Keith,
Welcome! Glad you could drop in!! I like the idea of personalizing the temple concept. Blessings!!
It’s a tough question, and I really don’t know what to think just yet. In reading today’s passage I notice that Jesus didn’t touch the actual merchants, but scattered the devices of their sin, the animals and coins. He didn’t scatter the doves though, but did say “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” The thought that came to me is that Jesus wasn’t trying to punish or hurt anyone, or even destroy their property, but to make people stop and think about that they were doing. This is a common theme in Jesus’s ministry; Jesus came to change the hearts of man. The Israelites has shown God time and time again that despite God demonstrating His great power and benevolence, they would slowly creep back into sin. Jesus spoke of loving God and loving each other; a transition from law to love. I think if God himself had appeared at the Temple as he did before the Israelites in the days of Moses, the outcome would have been much the same as before, people would lament for a time, but eventually it would be business as usual. I like to believe that Jesus’s reaction and actions showed the people who were being taken advantage of by the merchants that God cared about the reason they even came to the temple, and perhaps some of the merchants recognized what they were doing was wrong. We go to the temple (or church, or our prayer closet) to worship, because it completes our being. For that we need sanctuary, and Jesus restored that when he drove the merchants from the temple.
Chris,
Thank you for the thoughtful comment! I appreciate the way you point out that Jesus focused on what was being done, rather than the people who were doing it. At least in the physical sense. I am sure that emotionally, the message came through loud and clear!