“Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”
When Jesus was still a boy and his parents found him in the temple and asked them, "Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?" (see Luke 2:49). So too here his zeal for the temple was a result of his relationship with his Father. Jesus was himself "something greater than the temple" (see Matthew 12:6) and was therefore qualified to direct it back toward its true purpose. It was not the place where people would worship the Father in Spirit and truth (see John 4:20-23). That place would be found in Jesus himself. Thus he went on to speak "about the temple of his body", the true place where God pitched his tent among us, where we can encounter the presence of God himself. Nevertheless, even as a sign pointing toward this reality Jesus was unwilling to see the purpose of the temple subverted.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area
From Jesus' zeal for the temple that was only a symbol pointing toward his body we can come to understand more deeply how he expresses care for the members of his spiritual body, the Church. We are meant to be living stones in the temple that is Christ. But to serve this role adequately we must be entirely consecrated, body, mind, and soul, to him.
If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple (see First Corinthians 3:17).
Obviously we would prefer that Jesus not require a whip of cords to set our hearts in order. But it is often the case that the money changers within us have gotten comfortable making ill gained profits in sections of our soul that are meant to be dedicated to God. It is better to experience the discipline of the Lord than to be left in that condition. After all, the Lord only disciplines those whom he loves.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives (see Hebrews 12:6).
As much as we shrink from the righteous anger of Jesus over sin we should nevertheless be even more consoled to see that he takes much more upon himself than he ever imposes on us. He himself was not only scourged, but was destroyed entirely, so that he could be raised again on the third day. Every little discipline we receive from the Lord looks to this hopeful conclusion for ourselves as well. Joined to Jesus, the true temple, his discipline is part of the path by which he draws us to eternal life.
we proclaim Christ crucified,
a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike,
Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
What idols remain in our hearts, or what places within us remain beyond the scope of his reign? Let us surrender them to him today. We won't, as we may fear, find ourselves any poorer for having done so. Rather, we will walk with in increasing freedom. The commandments were given precisely to protect the freedom God had given to Israel by bringing them "out of the land Egypt, that place of slavery". His mercy endures "down to the thousandth generation".
The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
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