The Gospel of Mark
The Anger of Jesus
Mark 11:15-17
On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’ — Mark 11:15–17
Over the years, I have known some very angry Christians. They have marched about churches with judgements the way Jesus cleared the temple of money changers and animals. But miss out on emulating the rest of the life of Jesus.
They stand on street corners telling people they are going to hell for their sins and then try and share a message of love. Yet, no one listens and for some of them they only get more angry.
There are also plenty of Christians online who allow their anger to pour our all over the place with scathing posts, tweets, and comments. They allow anger to take over and spew it about the internet like it’s their job.
All these forms of anger are not the same as the anger of Jesus. Some time ago, I was introduced to a phrase, righteous anger. Not self-righteous anger. Not perceived righteous anger. But righteous anger.
To fully understand this, we must see that their is only one way that anger is okay. We must also understand that all other types of anger are evil spirits that we are agreeing with.
The Righteous Anger of Jesus
Everything about the Temple in Jerusalem was consecrated, made holy, set apart from everything else happening in the world originally. Everyone had to be appropriately cleansed to work there and to enter it.
The idea was that you were stepping into a holy place where God was dwelling. It wasn’t an everyday aspect of life. The Temple was special and for God to dwell there all evil had to stay outside its walls.
However, at the time Jesus walked the earth, the Temple had become very much part of everyday life. When people who didn’t have animals to sacrifice came to the Temple, they could buy them from the priests.
And when people brought animals deemed unworthy, they would have to buy replacements from the priests. It had turned into a marketplace and dare I say, a place of scam artists in the priesthood.
This is against the very nature of the Temple and of God’s Kingdom. And when Jesus sees this, the righteous anger comes out to set things right. It wasn’t about Jesus, or Christianity or even being a Jew.
It as about doing the right thing before the eyes of God, the righteous thing.
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