Losing Your Temper

   Almost everyone has heard the story of how Jesus ran the people out of the temple that were selling their goods. It then goes on to tell the parable of the temple that was destroyed and raised again in three days, which is almost always the focus of their sermons. There are three things in the first part of this scripture that I feel are important subjects that are rarely discussed. This account is covered in all four gospels. It says in Matthew 21:12, And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13. and said unto them, "It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves." Now just try to picture this scene happening. It doesn't say Jesus told these people to leave, he physically cast them out. He also went around and overturned all the tables which would have made a huge mess. I have always heard from church people that it is a sin to lose your temper or get mad. Here, we see Jesus getting very mad and throwing a fit on them. Before you get mad at me for saying that, think about what you would think if you seen someone do what Jesus did. There are times that it is ok to get upset over sinful things it is sometimes referred to as righteous anger. Notice that Jesus did not dwell on this though. He did what needed to be done, then he calmed down and proceeded with his teaching. Anyone that doesn't believe its ok to get angry must either believe that the Bible is fictitious or that Jesus was a sinner. We are supposed to be Christ like are we not?
   The next thing I want to point out is our visual perception of Jesus. Most of the time Jesus is pictured as bony and oftentimes sissy looking. He was a carpenter. They did not have all the modern tools to make the jobs easier that we have today. There was a lot of hard labor involved, so he had to be in pretty good shape. When he was in the temple, he overturned tables, many which would have been made of wood or stone, and all the goods on them would have made them even heavier. He made a whip and drove the people and the animals out of the temple, which would have taken a lot of skill. Nowhere does it say the disciples helped, they just stood and watched, so Jesus was no skinny wimp by any means.
   Now I want to compare the things going on in the churches today with what went on in the temple that angered our Lord so. They sold doves, oxen and sheep. These people were in the temple but they were not there just to worship as was intended. The people that bought these animals did so to offer them as sacrifices instead of raising them themselves or purchasing them elsewhere, it was more convenient to buy them at the temple so they did. So what do we see in the churches today? People selling Avon, Home Interiors, Blair and things like that because it is more efficient to sell it at church than to visit each persons home. People get their kids to take whatever they are selling for school or athletics and sell it at church because they don't want the bother of going to neighbors. When a singing group comes in, most churches let them set up a display to sell their tapes inside the church. What would Jesus do if he physically came to your church and witnessed some of these things? Are we as Christians supposed to set back and let things go on? Just some things to think about.

Blessings to you,

Charlie Hale