There are a few select readings in the Bible that always throw me off. For example, in today’s reading Jesus, the Son of God, our Savior and Messiah, throws a tantrum. At least that’s how it looks to me. In my head, this isn’t the Jesus I’ve been told to look up to and model myself after. This sounds more like what I’m NOT supposed to do! I thought Jesus was supposed to be docile and change the world with his love…not flipping tables, whipping animals and throwing people’s money on the ground.
The more I thought about it, the more I wondered why Jesus acted this way and why this passage was even put in the Bible. Why would Jesus resort to anger instead of compassion? Why would the Bible include a story that lets everyone know that Jesus got so upset? Then I realized that in John 2:13-25, he is not giving us an example of how to get angry, but the perfect example of when to get angry.
In order for this to make sense, you must understand the situation surrounding his cleansing of the temple. At this time, Jesus was in Jerusalem for Passover. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Feast of Passover, it is the most celebrated Jewish holiday that is seven days long. For the Jews that were of the Kingdom of Judah, which Jesus and his family were a part of, it meant traveling to Jerusalem in order to celebrate Passover at the Temple of Jerusalem. In today’s Gospel, Jesus arrives at the Temple and there are merchants taking advantage of all the people, probably by hiking up their prices just because they can. These hundreds of thousands of weary travelers are here to give glory to God, and instead, they are surrounded by people that were presumably trying to sell them overpriced food, hotel rooms, and animal offerings.
To give you a modern-day example, imagine kneeling in a church pew during Adoration and Girl Scouts are trying to sell you cookies at $25 a box, or a Subway sign-spinner dancing on the altar, rapping about 5 dollar footlongs. Wouldn’t you be upset? I know I would be, but I’m only human. Well what do you know, Jesus is human too! At the end of the reading, it says that Jesus “did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.”
So, as a fellow human with emotions, Jesus fulfills Scripture as his “Zeal for God’s house” consumes him. He knows in his heart that his zeal, or passion and devotion, for God is exactly why it is okay to be angry. Just because things are “normal” in society does not mean that it is right and we should idly stand by. We have the right to be angry and protest things that disrespect our God. We have the right to be angry and protest things that disrespect the sanctity of life. As humans, anger is sometimes what it takes to motivate us to make a difference in our world – to change the wrong to right – and Jesus understood that.
In our hearts, we know what is right and wrong. We know what kind of world that God wants for us and deep down, we know how to change it. Now all we have to do is have the courage to channel our inner Jesus and stand up to all of those that are “making my Father’s house a marketplace.”
Looking for more on the Ten Commandments in the first reading? See our previous post, The 10 Commandments Are Only The Beginning.
Veronica Alvarado is a born and bred Texan currently living in Michigan. Since graduating from Texas A&M University, Veronica has been published in the Catholic Diocese of Austin’s official newspaper, Catholic Spirit, as well as other local publications. She now works as the Content Specialist in Diocesan’s Web Department.
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