JANUARY 19, John 2:13-22 

The first cleansing of the temple by Jesus took place during the feast of the Passover. You will recall that this is a national religious feast for the Jews, commemorating the time when the Angel of the Lord “passed over” the homes that had blood on their door-posts, on their last night as slaves in Egypt.

When Jesus visited the temple, what He saw angered him. Greedy and evil men selling animal sacrifices for high profits, money-changers overcharging people – these were not supposed to happen in the temple! Jesus was filled with righteous anger at the filth that had invaded His Father’s house. He made a whip and chased all the evil-doers out.

Was Jesus too violent? Did Jesus sin in His anger? The answer to these 2 questions is “No!” You will learn that in the things of God, we have to take a stand against evil. Jesus took a tough stand against what was clearly wrong – business people trying to make a profit from the ordinary folks who were trying to worship God, and turning the temple of worship into a temple of sin. These people had no right to be in the temple, and thus Jesus had to drive them away.

We, too, must learn what righteous anger is. It is anger arising from a righteous spirit. It is a godly response to the sin that we see around us, and sometimes, we have to take action. If we see someone bullying a kitten, go and stop it. If we hear bad language on the TV or evil images, switch the channel or turn the television off . Learn to be like Jesus – He was quick to act. You, too, learn how to have righteous anger at ungodly things, and act on them.

However, let us face it: most of the time we are angry for the wrong reasons. When was the last time you were angry for the wrong reason? Perhaps it was when you thought someone was rude to you? Or some classmates did not include you when they played a game? Or you thought your parents loved your sister or brother more than you? Being angry for the wrong reason is a sin!

Thought: Don’t be angry for the wrong reasons!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me not to be angry for the wrong reasons, but to be more like Jesus – to be angry only for righteous reasons. Help me to dare to stand up for the helpless, to dare to stand up for You. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.