13The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15And 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.16And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade." 17His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me."
I have heard this account many times when I was a child of how Jesus in his display of anger overturned the tables of the money changers and chased the merchants and their animals away. Pretty simple conclusions about His holy anger I have been taught. But as I contemplated in my readings and during BSF , I feel my tears welling up in my eyes. I think I had only just understood what made Christ do what He did. This is my own narration:
With rough arms gently folded, a poor peasant carried a young bleating lamb and patiently waited for his turn. It was the most precious young of his meagre fold but he wanted to present nothing less to his God. Exhausted from many weeks of travel but excited, he stood in a line that snaked through the courts of the temple and onto the noisy and busy streets. Though he came alone into Jerusalem for the Passover, he was accompanied in his endeavor with many of his fellow travelers, some of whom came with their prize oxen and others with their doves. In the midst of a spectacle of noise and stench, the peasant stood at peace as he approached the front of the line. He held up his little lamb to the priest as his act of obedience and submission to the God of his forefathers. But like most of his fellow travelers, the innocent and unsuspecting heart was rudely brushed aside because of claims that his offering was blemished. His peace was abruptly disrupted as he searched frantically to purchase the perfect lamb - one that would be accepted by the temple leaders. Still clutching his precious lamb, he rummaged through his pockets with the other to find money to purchase the unblemish lamb. However, each merchant he met was unsympathetic towards him. They gave no regard for his worn out shoes nor his weather beaten clothes but only demanded exorbitant payment for the purchase of an unblemished lamb, as tradition would have it. Desperate and secretly humiliated, the poor peasant did not know just what to do. He just may not have enough money to make it home. There were sadly many like him that day, lost but still determined to enter the temples that day. Undeterred, he thought to himself, 'Perhaps, if I haggled hard enough, I just might get a lamb with all that I have. I need to give my offering. '
Oblivious to their fate, are the scribes and pharisees who knew the law of Moses and the merchants who couldn't care about the law of Moses. They couldn't hear the heartfelt cries of the people amidst the hollers of merchants. They couldn't care less if the peasants could not worship God with their offerings. The passover was perhaps the most lucrative time of the year for the temple and for the merchant trade and they wanted to get the most out of it.
Tired and exhausted, the peasant spotted a lone merchant at the corner of the road. 'Perhaps, this merchant can give me a lamb for all the coins I have'. As he was making his way to the corner of the road, he felt something press onto his arm. As he looked up, he was met with the eyes of a man, which were kind but sad. The man had quickly placed a beautiful lamb into his arms and spoke gently, "Take this, go and worship your God. With this, the kind man walked away. Bewildered at that kind and generous act and somewhat impressed by the sadness that he spotted in those kind eyes, the peasant stopped to observe this man. The kind man walked away quickly, bent down and gathered some chords that were lying on the floor. He twisted them together and what followed startled the peasant.
The man started flaying the chords and they hit the coin laden tables and the cages with deft action. Coins flew abruptly and animals and men alike cried out wildly. "Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade, the man bellowed. Amidst the dramatic chaos, the mercenary merchants frantically tried to recollect their fortune of a day's worth, the highly revered leadership of scribes and pharisees tried to appease the crowd and convince everyone to return to their lines as they have done so for the past centuries...but the poor peasant stopped for the very first time in his passover rituals to consider what his act of worship really means to God- perhaps he is only beginning to understand the truth, reality and freedom of his worship to the God of Abraham, Jacob and Issac. But that, is probably what would make all the difference.
Art Work: Christ Cleansing the Temple by Bernardino Mei [1655]
"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10
