The Gospels generally present Jesus as a calm, compassionate and peaceful person. This account of him clearing the temple forecourts of traders seems to stand in marked contrast. Jesus was clearly angered by what he saw and determined that it should stop. He longed for his Father’s house to be a focus of prayer and worship, yet all he could hear was the noise of sheep, cattle, money and shouting traders. It could be argued that the money changers and the sellers of sacrificial animals were all making a contribution to the people’s worship, but the way they were doing it totally obscured the purpose of the temple.

Jesus may not have actually used the whip he made, but the act of making it shows us how determined he was to clear the temple. His anger came from knowing nothing was more important than worshipping God, and the traders were making that impossible. He had to take action, and he did so in an extremely dramatic way.

There are times when it is absolutely right for us to be angry. When we see people being abused or discriminated against, we should be angry. It would be sinful for us to look at abuse or discrimination and to accept it. However, unlike Jesus, we are not sinless, so we need to make sure that we never allow our anger to lead us into sin. The apostle Paul was very familiar with anger, and he wrote to the Ephesians: “Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27). We will all have times of feeling steamed up about an issue, and Paul’s advice is important. We need always to make sure that, if we are angry, we are letting God control us, not the anger.

How do you cope with your times of anger?

Lord God, help us live so close to you that our times of anger will not be destructive but a blessing. Amen