Wrath in the Temple

CHAPTER 16

Yeshua goes to the temple in Jerusalem the day before Passover and finds many merchants selling their animals and wares in the temple courtyard. He becomes so enraged at the desecration of a sacred space that he throws their tables with such force that they flip in the air and coins fall like rain from the sky. He explains to his disciples that in most instances, a spirit of peace and empathy can bring resolution, but sometimes there is just cause for righteous anger.

 1 And it came to pass that Yeshua and Miriam and his disciples came into Jerusalem the day before Passover.

 2 Straightway, Yeshua went to the temple, and there he found sellers of sheep and oxen and turtledoves and money changers calling out to him.

 3 Miriam looked at Yeshua, and she saw an anger in his eyes such as she had never seen before, save on the day when the robbers of Zin had threatened her and their children.

 4 Yeshua turned to his disciples and commanded them, “Remove cords from your clothes and make a scourge of knots and beads.” Quickly they did as he directed and, within minutes, handed a scourge of many cords and knots to him.

 5 Then Yeshua went amongst the sellers and money changers, swinging the scourge about his head and slapping it onto their tables, right in front of their startled faces, saying in a loud voice, “Depart from the house dedicated to my Father, you workers of inequity.” And they all fled in terror at his wrath.

 6 He drove their beasts from the temple and overthrew the money changers’ tables with great power so much so that they flipped in the air and coins fell like rain from the sky as they were thrown from the tables.

 7 His disciples were shocked into startled silence by Yeshua's actions. He was always so calm and peaceful; he so easily diffused contentious situations with his words that they never imagined he could bring forth such anger.

 8 Even the temple guards were cowed by his wrath and none made any effort to challenge him.

 9 Within a few moments, after all the merchants had left and all the animals were gone, Yeshua returned to his normal calm demeanor and his wife and disciples came to him, and he explained his actions, “In almost all things, a spirit of peace and empathy can resolve even the thorniest problem. But when man dares to defile that which has been dedicated to the sacred, righteous anger is well served.”

 10 Then came the priests unto him and asked, “You take great authority upon yourself by your actions. Who are you to decide what is right? For the temple is our domain, not yours. Such usurpation should not go unpunished.”

 11 Yeshua answered and said unto them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days, I shall raise it up.”

 12 The priests were incredulous at his audacious statement and said, “Forty and six years it took to build this temple, and you think you could rebuild it in just three days?”

 13 Yeshua answered, “If you have ears, hear what I say: When the temple of Elohim is laid desolate, in three days I shall raise it more glorious than before.”

 14 The priests departed from him, convinced he was mad.

 15 But he spoke of the temple of his body, and when he later rose from the dead, his disciples remembered the words he had spoken that day.