It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem.  In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. John 2:13-15 [NLT]

Each of us have things that are almost sacred to us. We display them on a wall, under glass, or in a shadow box. If it’s a commendation or award, we laminate it or frame it. We put important papers in a folder and wouldn’t think of folding them in half, lest we crease them. And then there are the preservation methods of saving love letters. We fasten them with a ribbon and tuck them away somewhere safe. We handle them gently because they carry more than material value.

My mother, the year before she died of cancer, made a quilt for Ron and for me. There was no sewing machine involved. Every inch of it was hand stitched. I often told her that it looked like she used a machine – so precise were her hem stitches. About ten years ago, I took it out of my cedar chest to discover that there were rips along the corners of more than a few patchwork squares. Years of tugging at it during the night had taken its toll. Grief was in my throat. Out came my needle and thread to mend what had torn.

If something like this could evoke such emotion, what did Jesus feel when He entered His Father’s house and saw its holiness being violated? This was the temple where His Father’s glory dwelt. This was the place where atonement was made for sin. This was the place where the rich and the poor alike could bring their sacrifices and seek God’s mercy. But on this day, everything holy got trampled on. The business of the day was about extorting people, making profits from the everyday Jew who had traveled long distances.

But even more importantly, if the priests were crooked, the ones who represented God’s likeness, then God would be considered crooked as well. Those wounded by religion may come to believe that God Himself is hard, exploitative, or unsafe. God still gets angry when His people are misled. For this, Jesus made whips and disrupted commerce. Jesus would not stand quietly while His Father was slandered in His own house.

Woe to the shepherds who cause the sheep to stumble over the God who loves them.

Even Your anger clears a path for sinners to come home. You burn against those who keep the wounded from knowing Your Father’s heart. Amen