When my mother asked me to accompany my grandmother, in attending the 9 o’clock morning mass at a nearby church, I tried to reason with her that I am very busy. The truth is, I was very lazy to go out of the house, because of the very hot summer weather. But when my grandmother herself came to my room, I relented, and started picking out my clothes for the Sunday Mass Service. When my grandmother saw me walking in wearing shorts, sneakers and a t-shirt, she stared at me long and hard. And then she gently said, “Son, put on more modest clothes. We are having a special date with Jesus and God! We are going to meet them in their house!” I changed my clothes into long pants and a polo shirt. She added, “Remember to always give respect to the House of God.”

When Jesus arrived at the temple courtyard, He is very disappointed with what he had witnessed. Imagine a very busy marketplace of animals, sheep, oxen and doves, being offered in the temple area. Included, were lines of tables utilized by money changers. There must have been many people navigating the place, moving around, choosing what animal to buy. And money changers with loud voices, inviting people to come near their tables. I can imagine all of the chaos and circus-like atmosphere!

This is the reason why Jesus lost His patience. He became angry, and made a whip out of cords, to drive away the people, and out of the temple area. He also overturned the tables belonging to the moneychangers. To Him, they have turned the temple into a marketplace. Their presence of going to the temple, is no longer an act of giving honor, glory, and praise to God.

The first reading from the book of Exodus, narrates the presentation of the Ten Commandments from God to Moses. It is given in the context where the Israelites are invited to remember who God is. “I liberated you from your slavery in Egypt. I am your God. You should have no other gods, no false gods. I do not allow idolatry.” The reading reminds Israel to recognize God as the only true God, and giving glory and honor to God means following the commandments.

The second reading’s focus, is for us to give honor and praise to God, in the person of Jesus Christ. To the Jews, Greeks, and Gentiles, Jesus’ cross is a big scandal and very difficult to understand. His suffering and death are considered weakness and foolishness. But for us who believe, it is the manifestation of the power and wisdom of God. In Jesus' paschal mystery, we come to believe that God is truly loving and merciful, allowing His only Son to die on our behalf for our salvation.

In the gospel, people are going to the temple to celebrate the feast of Passover. This is a great feast to remember God’s liberating action to his people; crossing the sea from slavery and degradation, to a promise of new life. It should have been a great feast of renewing their memory who God is, giving God praise and honor and professing their faith only to Him. However, Jesus witnessed dishonorable and disrespectful acts in the temple. “Why do you turn my Father’s house into a marketplace?” There is no prayer. There is no worship. No honor, no veneration, no praise! This is not giving God honor and glory.

Then the great shift happened when Jesus declared, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” Here, He was talking about Himself, His own body, not the temple structure, as the place of encounter with God.

My brothers and sisters, it is in The Body of Christ, which is now, the presence of God. Where are we going to encounter God? It is in Jesus, the locus and place where we meet God. So how are we going to give glory and honor to God? By following Jesus, believing and entering in Him, and by becoming part of His body. Through Jesus, we will truly give honor and glory to God.

Or

I had a professor in seminary who liked to say about the scenes of God’s anger in the Old Testament, “We don’t worship an angry God. We worship a God who sometimes gets a little angry.” I think those words could apply to Jesus, too. The angry Jesus of this passage is far less fun to write about than the sarcastic Jesus from a few verses ago. Perhaps that’s because sarcasm is a far greater part of my personality than anger. Or maybe it’s because angry people, in general, just aren’t all that fun to be around. Either way, reading about Jesus while he’s in this moment of total frustration isn’t something that brings about much comfort to me. I tend to take my cues from the Jesus in other parts of the gospels who uses wit and creativity to challenge systems of sin and oppression. This guy that’s screaming and popping a whip bothers – and even scares – me a little. Though I am sympathetic to the message, it is a little scary to imagine an angry Jesus in our midst.

This scene has become the benchmark for Christians who like to talk about something called righteous anger. I don’t like this term one bit. It too often gives off the sense that the person or group acting out their frustrations are totally justified in doing so because they are the virtuous sent to drive out the impurities of others. When humans, namely Christians, use this idea as a justification for using violence to purify sin, the Christian becomes the sinner. To believe in this method of evangelization is to misread this passage. Only God can save souls. This passage isn’t a validation for our anger. Rather, it is a challenge for the church to get its act together. Those who receive Christ’s anger, here, aren’t outsiders and nonbelievers. Jesus directs his anger straight at those who share his faith. He’s frustrated at the people who misuse the name of God for their own benefit. I don’t know about you, but I don’t ever want to be the one to set Jesus off like that again.

We must read the Gospel of John carefully, especially in its presentation of Jesus’ relationship to Judaism. The Gospel of John tends to reflect greater tension and animosity between Jesus and the Jewish authorities than the Synoptic Gospels. The Gospel of John was the last of the four Gospels to be written, and its narrative reflects the growing divide between the Jewish community and the early Christian community. Thus, greater emphasis on the distinction between Christianity and Judaism is found in John’s Gospel.

Reflecting upon the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem. John recalls Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple and uses that story to interpret this later event. John explains to his audience, an early Christian community, that temple worship would no longer be necessary because it was surpassed in the passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus. With greater frequency than the other Evangelists, John intersperses post-Resurrection reflections of this Christian community in his narrative.

After clearing the Temple of the merchants and the moneychangers, John’s Gospel tells us that the people asked for a sign of Jesus’ authority to do such an audacious act. In response, Jesus predicted his death and Resurrection. Throughout John’s Gospel, the language of signs is distinctive. Jesus’ miracles are called signs, and the people look to these signs for proof of his authority. Here we learn that the sign par excellence will be Jesus’ passion, death, and Resurrection.

During Lent we reflect upon the meaning of this sign for us and for our world. We might take this opportunity to consider the quality of our prayer and worship. In our prayers we seek to deepen our relationship with the person of Christ. In our worship with the community, we gather to experience anew the passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus and its significance in our lives.

May God be slow to anger to us and enable us to be witnesses of Jesus’ signs on earth.