What was Christ Thinking?

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

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'And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast our all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthreww the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them: "It is written that my house shall be called a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves!" ' -Matt., 2112-13

Its a scene of action, played out as Jesus the Christ, filled with righteous anger boiling in his sinless veins, twists a whip chord out of strands of string. He proceeds to toss out money-changers, souvenir mongers, purveyors of "Kosher" sacrificial animals.

Where were they? - Out in the public square, descreet and separate from the holy of holys...the house of God....the very real and earthly presence of Y*W*H, Lord Creator of the Universe?

No, they were in the sacred place, inside the hallowed hall, desecrating that holy place, hawking their wares, hollering, jostling for clients.

-- " Git your turtle doves here!!! " a raspy voice rises above the subtle, roaring din... " Today's special, buy two, get the third one free!!!! "

How did this come to be? That the Holy of Holies had turned from a place of prayer and sacrifice and worship into a bazaar, where commerce overshadowed even God!

Knowing the nature of man...it probably took long years, possibly generations to reach this point. One dove salesman married a head pharisee's daughter and was able to move his stall from the dusty street up onto a landing....preferential treatment.

For a few shekels in kickback, his grandson moved to the portico near the main door. So it goes, that which is holy and right is not killed in one glorious battle...it is the death of a thousand cuts...little by little.

So it is with the deity and manhood of Christ himself. Orthodoxy and conservatism are backward, laden with guilt and shame and blame and..."racist,bigot,homophobe".

Or- as one ex-community organizer once said: ..." They are just a bunch of bitter people clinging to their guns and bibles. "

Sound familiar?

What do you think? Did Christ do this in a fit of anger and righteous rage?

I suspect that he was filled with anger...and he was hurt. There were tears in his eyes. His Father's house of prayer and worship turned into a den of theivery and callous, worldly commerce.

Just as it was then, so it is now....God's house has been desecrated. Take that for what you will...on whatever level you wish.

The Road to Jerusalem continues to wind into a known and certain future. Where do you stand?