Cleansing the Temple
3/11/2012
Thank you for the opportunity to share with you this morning. I know some of you, and feel connected to this community through our shared experience of the life-giving power of the Church of the Saviour in its various expressions, and through helping provide a place for silent retreat for Eighth Day at Dayspring. So, it is good to be here.
I want to use as my departure point today the passage in John’s gospel. It is a unique and somewhat contentious passage for the anger apparently displayed by Jesus. His temper flashes in a few other places, almost always with religious authorities. But nowhere else does he express it physically, throwing over tables, pouring out the coins of the money changers, driving the animals sold for sacrifice from the temple with “a whip of cords”--making a scene.
So, we have reason to really pay attention to this passage. We must ask, “What is Jesus angry at--or at least protesting forcefully against?”