In John 2:13-17, we are told of an account of where Jesus came suddenly to the temple of His Father in Jerusalem and immediately CLEANSED it of all “the money changers”. John 2:13-17 says, “Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and THE MONEY CHANGERS doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.””

I still remember the first time I ever read this passage, as well as my initial reaction to it. I was momentarily shocked! Not because Jesus did what He did. But because of the manner and style of how Jesus confronted this particular thing. This is a very specific account that portrayed and portrays an entirely different Jesus from the meek Lamb on a donkey I had up until that point grown accustomed to throughout the gospels. Up until this moment, Jesus had confronted the sins of mankind in somewhat of an entirely different style, a prevailing style that depicted His mandate of “not condemning” those in sin, but of rather bringing liberty and change and correction through grace and a love that produced a willing repentance. For in wooing the hearts of mankind unto repentance, one sees even in repentance the immense evidence of His amazing grace. For despite a humanity that reacts to repentance as if it is a burdensome and costly thing to do, repentance is entirely for our gain. It’s ALWAYS for our gain, despite what the world may think of a God and Father who calls humanity and all His own to “repentance”. Because repentance is the greatest change agent. It releases life, love and destiny.

However, when it came to the money changers, this was a violent affront to the general calm of the Son, one that struck me immediately as one of Jesus appearing to have “being offended”. And I immediately asked myself, "Did Jesus just sin?" But knowing that Jesus is and was entirely without sin, I quickly discarded this momentary mental stutter. I still recall thinking at the time that this must then be the biblical case of “being angry without sin”, or what I understood to be “righteousness anger”, since the scriptures provide for such a scenario, where they clearly say the words get angry without sinning in the same sentence. “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26).

Needless to say, in the temple, He gathered for Himself a whip and violently drive them out, as opposed to the usual patient counsel and wisdom of a Father’s love operating towards man in gentleness and grace, being emblematic of the Potter’s hand that calmly “nurtures” man towards a better “nature”, for even in the spiritual, the principle of “nature versus nurture” applies, since it is the grace of God that woos and nurtures "a fallen nature" into "a risen image and likeness" of His Son. With the point being that this is clearly a stand out case where Jesus is openly angry with what He sees and encounters, instead of His usual quiet demeanour of gentle compassion and impeccable patience. The question that obviously comes to mind is why? What is so different about this situation from all the other situations of iniquity, sin, trespass and transgression? And why does it elicit such a violent confrontation?

Firstly, because the sin He sees is not "out there", “in the world”. It is actually "right inside", inside His Father’s house. Which prompted an immediate and decisive action to immediately “cleanse” His Father’s house, an action primed by an immense love and a deep respect for His Father. Secondly, His Father’s house is supposed to be "a light on a high hill that cannot be hidden", being something that stands out, that represents both a distinctly different way and a distinctly different thinking from the thoughts and the ways of the world. However, because the money changers were trading right inside the temple, nothing about the temple looked different. To the observer, this made His Father’s house identical to everything else around it. But thirdly, those who work in the Father’s house are supposed to do all things with three priorities in mind. As a living example of these priorities, did you ever see Jesus do anything ever for His own glory? He did everything for the glory of His Father in heaven. He did everything so that His Father’s name may be hallowed, that His kingdom may come, and that His will may be done.

At the same time, did you ever see Jesus do anything for money during His earthly ministry? THAT is the currency of the world. And that was what the money changers were doing in the temple. Doing anything in the house of the LORD where the motive is money has no place in the DNA of the kingdom of God. Having said that, did Jesus ever ask anyone for money for praying for them? Did He ever ask people to pay Him to give them a word of knowledge or a word of wisdom? Did He ever ask those who He healed for money for healing them? Whatever He did, He did everything for free, out of the abundance of His heart, out of love, both the love of His Father in heaven, and the love of His neighbour. Which is the true currency of the kingdom. Instead of focusing on the three priorities of "His name being hallowed, His kingdom coming, and His will being done", many in the house of the LORD trade on the name of Jesus for a different set of three priorities. Either for building their own reputations with men (hallowed be THEIR names). Or for money (that THEIR kingdom may come). Also, many in the house of the LORD trade on the name of Jesus to get the attention of the opposite gender (that THEIR will be done). Did you ever see Jesus do anything for gold, glory or girls? Or for wealth, worship and women?

Today, the house of Jesus’ Father is still full of money changers, and even more so than before. And in exactly the same way as before, Jesus will be coming suddenly once again to violently cleanse His temple once more of all the money changers, the merchants, those who barter in His Father’s temple, being those who trade in the church for the currency of the world, rather than trade in the currency of heaven, which is for love. Everything Jesus did, He did to glorify His Father, which is to love His Father, and to love His neighbour. In all things, the great exchange between Jesus and His ministry was not money, but love, a love given and a love received. A life given and life received. A destiny given and destiny received.

Just like there was a first coming of the Lord, and there will be a second coming of the Lord, in the same way that there was a first coming to the temple to clean out the money changers, there will be a second coming to clean out the money changers in the temple. Just like there was a first coming of the Holy Spirit in Pentecost, there is going to be a second Pentecost in order to bring the end time harvest. But before that happens, Jesus will first clean out the money changers from His temple. For as with the first Pentecost, where they were all of one accord in one place, the end time church needs to be of one accord. Which means that the church must be motivated by the “will of the Father”, not by the “gain of glory, gold or girls”. Those whose motives are impure, who trade on the name of Jesus for self, for their own gain, to profit from the glory of God, who trade all the treasures of heaven for 30 pieces of silver, these will be cast out into outer darkness, where the Lord will say, depart from Me, for I know you not. The Lord knows them not, for they are not of His image and likeness. For all false witnesses will be known by their fruits. Which is fruit borne from the seed of the motive of self, and not love, of man’s will, not God’s will.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:21-23).

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:17).