Week 2, DAY 1

 12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers[a] and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.  John 2:12- 14 (ESV)
 
Rarely do we talk much about Jesus’ anger. His anger was not the kind of anger you and I are used to. It
was not an unrighteousness anger, it was the kind that was in response to sin and unrighteousness, it is
often referred to as righteous anger. In this passage the Apostle John gives us a firsthand account of
Jesus’ outrage and intolerance for sins that were being openly practiced in the Temple of God. This
characteristic of Jesus is one that we seldom see, but when we do we should understand why Jesus’
response was the way it was.
 
We live in a culture that pushes and promotes tolerance and acceptance of everything including flagrant
sins. Unfortunately, even many Churches and denominations have become tolerant of sin and
unrighteousness. God is intolerant and unaccepting of sin in our lives and in the body of Christ. Yes, His
attitude of love, grace and compassion toward the sinner never changes, this does not mean that he will
tolerate willful sin. Our attitudes about sin in our own personal lives and in the Church, should be the
same. We should always accept and love the sinner, but we should never accept and tolerate the sin.
Today’s reading picks up after the wedding ceremony Jesus, his family and disciples attended in
Capernum. Passover was approaching so it was probably late March or early April. They had to make
about a 120-mile journey from Capernum to Jerusalem where they would celebrate Passover. Passover
was the Jewish Festival celebration that commemorates the Angel of Death passing over the door of the Israelite's home during the final plague in Egypt.[1]
 
Upon entering the Temple (the outer courts) Jesus saw people selling livestock for Temple sacrifices for
profit. You can imagine there were a lot people at the temple because Passover was a major celebration.
The traffic in and out of the temple would have been heavy since people would travel great distances to
offer up sacrifices and pay temple taxes. Since many made this journey people chose to buy their animals at the Temple courts instead of dragging along cattle, sheep or doves. It was much more convenient to buy locally and it would certainly be less work.
 
There were money changers in the outer court who converted money to the approved currency. Since
people came from all over the place there were different currencies. The money changers would charge a percentage or service charge for converting the currency. The common currency of the Roman denarii
and Attic drachmas we unacceptable because of the imperial Roman portraits were on the currency (the
Jews considered the imperial portraits idolatrous). The money changers exchanged these coins for legal
Tyrian coinage at a small profit.[2]


[1] Exodus 12

[2] Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press