Anger

Matthew 21:12 - And he entered the temple and overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons,

Jesus is looking to get some attention from the authorities; first the triumph and now this violent overturning of tables and chairs. But why were the money-changers and the pigeon-sellers there in the first place? Temple tax and sacrifices. The temple tax had to be paid with a shekel, which was not a common coin. The pigeons were the required sacrifice for poor people. It was easier for them to buy the pigeons at the temple than to raise or catch them. These seem like good services being provided by people who needed them. Why was Jesus angry?

First, where did the rule come from that only shekels could be used to pay the tax? It is not listed anywhere in the Bible that I could find. My guess - and this is only a guess - is that the temple authorities - the Council of the Sanhedrin, who were collaborators with the Roman authorities - invented this rule. Therefore, people needed to exchange their coins for shekels. However, the money-changers were not exchanging coins solely out of the goodness of their hearts. They were making a nice living off those who came to the temple. They were likely cheating them as the pigeon-sellers were likely cheating the poor people.

Jesus is angry at the injustice being perpetrated right at the temple of God. Not only is he angry at these men for taking advantage of powerless people, he's also angry at the system set up by those with power that allows such treatment on top of the oppression of the Roman occupiers. Rather than taking care of the poor people as God commanded, they were oppressing them even further.

What about us? Do the unjust actions of Republicans in government that will cause harm to citizens make you angry? If not, why not? How would Jesus feel about people calling others "monkeys" or worse? How do you feel? Do you speak up when you hear someone say racist things? Do you speak up when you hear sexism directed against women, even if no women are present? Do you speak up when you hear people on welfare being called "moochers" or "lazy?" Do you speak up when you hear homophobic slurs? Slurs against immigrants? Slurs against Muslims? Mexican people? Jewish people? Do you speak up when you hear lies about others? What about disabled people? Do you speak up for them? What about climate change? Do you speak up on behalf of the earth? Does any of this make you angry? What do you do with that anger?

These attitudes are the flowers of white supremacy, blossoming from the seeds of superiority, disdain, greed, privilege, silence, irreverence, exploitation, and control. Let's all pray for the courage to push back against those who would perpetrate hate and oppression and to channel our anger toward positive action.