The Day Jesus Got Mad in Church? John 2:13-25

 Jesus Clears the Temple Courts

13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 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. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. 23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

In this story, we see Jesus doing something we don't normally see him do.  Get angry.  There are two kinds of anger.  Destructive anger and righteous anger.  Destructive anger is usally retaliatory in nature, when something something has been to us fairly or unfairly.  Righteous anger, at least in this story, is an anger related to how God is being treated.  

Here is some good background information on the historical/cultural context of this passage.

"Jesus cleansed the temple of the money-changers and sellers of merchandise because of His disgust at what they had made of God’s house of prayer and His zeal to purify it from the abuse of ungodly men. Judea was under the rule of the Romans, and the money in current use was Roman coin. However, the Jewish law required that every man should pay a tribute to the service of the sanctuary of “half a shekel” (Exodus 30:11–16), a Jewish coin. It became, therefore, a matter of convenience to have a place where the Roman coin could be exchanged for the Jewish half shekel. The money-changers provided this convenience but would demand a small sum for the exchange. Because so many thousands of people came up to the great feasts, changing money was a very profitable business and one that resulted in fraud and oppression of the poor." (Got Questions.org)

Guzik says, "Jesus begin his ministry with a conversion (turning water into wine) and continued it with a cleansing (chasing the money changers out of the temple)."

In cleansing the temple Jesus was definitely making a statement about his authority.  So it is not surprising the leaders ask him where he has obtdained this kind of authority.  Jesus then says something that must have "floored them".  He says if they were to destroy this temple, he would build it up again in three days.  Of course they were taking him literally.  Jesus was talking about how his body would be killed and then would be resurrected in three days.  Though it was way too early in his ministry for anyone to understand the significance of what he was saying, later they would. 

Though many people were going after him because of the signs he was doing, Jesus knew they were only coming to him on a surface level, so he did not entrust himself to them yet!

What do you make of Jesus getting mad at the money changers today?  What does it show us about him? Do you think we should focus more at times on this aspect of Jesus?  Where have you taken something that is meant to wortship God and turned it into something else?  Where have you taken advantage of God's grace?