WWJD
âWhen it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, âGet these out of here! Stop turning my Fatherâs house into a market!â John 2:13-16. (NIV).
âJesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. âIt is written,â he said to them, âMy house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.ââ Matthew 21:12-13 (NIV).
Jesus flipped tables.Â
Jesus flipped chairs.
Jesus made a whip, knocking over merchandise and spilled coins out onto the floor.
This act of anger is something that always puzzled me growing up. The first time I heard it, it felt out of character for Jesus to âmake a sceneâ and âviolently overturnâ property.
Up to this point, Jesusâ ministry has been one of parables, preaching to mass gatherings, speaking in allegory and metaphors to Pharisees and tax collectors, and the healing touch of his hands, but in this instance, He chose to flip over tables and chairs and spill merchandise and money out into the street. Why?
In olden times, people would travel hundreds of miles to the city of Jerusalem for Passover. During Passover, they would often make sacrifices by burning calves, doves, sheep, or other various animals to make up for their sins. It was hard enough for a family to travel long distances, and even more taxing to carry and care for an animal they were going to sacrifice in a couple days. So people would often travel to Jerusalem, then purchase an animal to sacrifice when they got there. Makes more since, right? Of course, the priests would put a high tax on these animals or often cheat people out of their money by charging more than what the animals were actually worth. No different than what corporations do today (another conversation for another time).
That is what was happening in this story. At this time in Jesusâ ministry, He has been foretelling of His resurrection of the cross, telling people that there will be an ultimate sacrifice coming and people wonât have to sacrifice animals anymore to atone for their sins. That people wouldnât need to come to the Temple to meet God cause God would be with them. There would no longer be a need to go to the High Priest to speak with God, you could go to Him directly.Â
âWell, Aly, if that was the case, why didnât Jesus just say that? Thereâs no need to flip tables.â
Jesus did tell them, maybe not directly, but itâs written all throughout his ministry. He consistently called out the Priests and the Pharisees for their wrong doing, their twisting of Godâs word and oppression on the women, the poor, the Gentiles, and the Samaritans.Â
Jesus was not only a man of words, but a man of action. That couldnât be more clear than when He willingly was persecuted, beaten, whipped, spat on, bled, had his skin ripped open as people who claimed to love Him literal hours before, were now chanting that they wanted Him dead. He still stood up. He still carried a 100lb+ wooden cross miles up a hill, placed it into the ground, then aligned his body to the T-Shaped wood as Roman soldiers nailed him to it and watched him hang for hours until His last breath,Â
Maybe sometimes words arenât enough.Â
Maybe sometimes to get the point across and have people truly listen to the seriousness that Jesus wanted us to know, He had to flip some tables.
Thereâs no doubt that He got peoplesâ attention by doing that.Â
Hypothetically speaking, if America was a temple, a place where God dwells where-for hundreds of years-a majority of people continue to mock, steal, kidnap, belittle, judge, and be unjust towards simple because of the color of their skin, do you think Jesus would just use words to help attain peace, equality, and equity for all people?Â
Do you think after decades of ridicule and years of having film and photo proof of police and white supremacists brutally murdering or brutally harming unarmed people of color, that words and posters would be enough? All while those enacting these treacherous acts of violence get away with a slap on the wrist?
Nah. I think Jesus would flip some tables. Heâd overturn some chairs. Heâd march alongside of the underdogs as we breathe in smoke from tear gas. Heâd walk into the fire because He knows how to stir something within people.Â
I, personally, am not a fan of looting or destroying property of small businesses who have been hit hard enough by this pandemic.
But I understand.
I understand your pain.
I understand your fear.
I am sick of the torture. I am sick of hearing and watching handcuffed men and women cry out that they canât breathe.
I am with you. I am walking in the fire with you and I believe Jesus is walking with you too.
If you are out there, protesting and/or rioting, please be safe. Wear masks, record everything. Have rags at the ready and a first aid kit in hand and milk in bottles. Above all, be on high alert cause not everyone who shows up to these rallies are allies, remember that. Not everyone seeks peace, but I believe this catalyst has sparked inspiration across the entire nation.
They definitely hear us now. Beyond the shadow of a doubt, they hear us and the entire world is watching.Â