Jesus, commonly introduced among the religious as a pious and very gentle and meek man, did something the most of religious of all will dislike:
He drove people out of the temple and overturned the tables of those who were doing business there.
Many of us just can't imagine how could He do that, but that's who our Lord Jesus really is: a Man totally consumed by His own Father's will (see John 2:17).
What can we learn from this time in Jesus' earthly ministry? Let's talk about that.
Breaking religious stereotypes
Many of us have created personal images or ideas of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of these aren't actually Biblical and they present to us wrong ideas about the Lord.
This event where Christ drove people out of the temple, recorded in John 2 and Matthew 21, showed us a different picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. It showed us just how serious He is about God.
Here are three lessons we can learn from this time in Jesus' earthly life.
1) He was bent on purifying the church, not enlarging it
Unlike today's churches where church membership size means "growth" and "Kingdom success," Jesus' idea of the temple was not about having a lot of people going there - it was about having people go there for the right reasons.
John 2:14-16 tells us,
"And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!""
Jesus didn't care about the number of people going to the temple as much as He cared about what was being done in the temple. He said to the people He drove out,
""It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"" (Matthew 21:13)
The temple, or the church, was meant to be a house of prayer. If people go there for any other reason than to pray and seek the Lord's will to be done, they defeat the purpose and Jesus was prepared to drive them out even if that meant no one was left.
2) Righteous doesn't mean weak
Many of us think that Jesus was very soft and unable to speak a strong word, but He wasn't. He was soft and approachable, but He was very tough and strong on the inside -- how could He do what He did in the temple if He wasn't?
That said, we've got to let go of the idea that Christianity equals timidity, or Christianity equals allowing people to abuse you. While we are commanded to love our enemies and bless those who persecute us, we are not told to be timid.
Christ didn't mince words when He drove people out of the temple, and neither did He think twice about doing what was right.
He was very bold because He and His intentions were right.
3) Doing God's will might cause people to dislike you
Jesus did what was right in cleansing the temple, but certain people disliked Him for it: particularly, the chief priests and the Pharisees (see Matthew 21:15-16; John 2:18).
The same goes for every Christian who wants to do God's will. When we obey God and carefully do as He wants, we will face hardship. Some will mock us, persecute us, and even try to harm us. Some of us will even lose friends as we follow Christ.
Still, it's going to be worth it.
