Anger is an emotion that we’ve all felt at one time or another. Sometimes our anger is justifiable. Other times it’s not. We can be senselessly angry when plans change at the last minute through no fault of our own. Anger wells us within us when we witness something unfair. Sometimes it confuses us when something we know shouldn’t affect us that much causes anger to flare out of control. When someone we love is hurt or treated unfairly, we become angry.
Anger Is Not Always Bad
Anger is not always a bad emotion. We know this for sure because God can be angry. There are several times in the Old Testament when it says that God’s anger burned. In the New Testament, we see Jesus become angry in John 2 when he walks through the temple and sees people exchanging money there.
Why was Jesus so angry? Does Jesus hate commerce? Is there something wrong with selling things? I don’t think so. It wasn’t the actual act of buying and selling that made Jesus angry so much as where this buying and selling was taking place and how it was affecting people.
Temple Talk
The temple was divided up into several parts. It wasn’t a round shape, but in some ways, it was organized kind of like a bullseye. In the center of the temple was the Holy of Holies. This is a very sacred place. No one could enter into this space except one priest once a year and he had to go through an elaborate cleansing ceremony first.
Outside the Holy of Holies was the Inner Court. Only priests could enter this area. Outside that was the Court of Men. This area was only for Jewish men and was used for worship and prayer. Outside that was the Court of Women, which was only for Jewish women and also used for worship and prayer. Then there was the Court of the Gentiles. This was the place where those who were not ethnically Jewish, but who wanted to honor and worship God could go. It was in this court that the money changers and merchants had set up shop.
The Problem
Hopefully, you see the problem. This court was supposed to be a place where non-Jewish people could worship God. However, it had been turned into a marketplace for Jews instead. Imagine trying to worship and pray while Saturday Market is going on. You’d be next to a merchant talking about his wares or someone selling doves, sheep, and cattle. Not exactly the ideal environment. These merchants had decided that making money was more important than allowing Gentiles space to worship God.
This was unfair. It showed an utter disrespect for non-Jewish worshipers. It made Jesus angry. He was angry because these merchants and the people who allowed them to be there were keeping people from worshiping God. They had created a barrier for those who were ethnically different, a barrier that God never intended. Because of this, he drove them all out, and not very nicely or politely either. He drove them out in a fury of anger.
God Is Jealous
This might seem like less than godly behavior, but don’t forget, our God is a jealous God. He isn’t envious of stuff or accomplishments, which is usually how we think of jealousy. He is jealous like a lover. He wants our hearts and he wants them fully. He wants every heart to be turned to him. He wants us to love him as much as he loves us. He hates anything that keeps that from happening. His anger burns against anything, any barrier that keeps us from loving him. That was true in the Old Testament. It was true in Jesus’ time. It’s still true today.
We’re Like Those Merchants
Today, we don’t have a temple court with a bunch of merchants, but we can still create barriers that keep people from loving God or experiencing him. We can write people off as “unreachable” because of the language they use, the clothes they wear, who they sleep with, or what they do for a living. We can force new Christians to fit the mold we think they should, rather than letting God patiently transform their hearts and lives over time.
We can also create racial and ethnic barriers. We can structure our services, our small groups, the way we live our lives, and our language so that they only appeal to a certain type of person or are only understood by people with a certain cultural background.
The truth is, we can also create personal barriers that keep us from loving God and experiencing him as we should. We can view ourselves as unworthy of God’s love. We can compare our experiences of God to those of others and feel that either God is holding out on us or we don’t have what it takes to really love God as he invites us to.
How About You?
Are there barriers that you have set up between you and God? Maybe you think you have to get your life in order before you can really love God properly. Perhaps you’ve been told you need more knowledge of the Bible or more theological understanding before you can really love God. Maybe you’ve been waiting for some kind of sign or experience because you think that’s necessary to prove that you really love God. However, none of those things are true. God wants you to come to him as you are, today. He loves you where you are and he wants to break down any barrier that’s keeping you from him.
Have you placed any barriers in the way for other people? Have you questioned someone’s love for God or his ability to use them because they lack knowledge or because their life is still kind of messy? Have you assumed someone needed to do A, B, or C before they were ready to really love and experience God?
Nothing should keep us from the love of God. Not moneychangers and merchants, not our own thoughts about ourselves. God so desires for each of us to come to him, just as we are, no matter what our background or our history. Whenever we do, God’s anger dissipates to joy.