To those who want to use the story of the Temple cleansing to justify violence, I’d say, first, that it’s a dangerous mistake to identify “America" with Israel or the Temple with the Capital (the so-called “Temple of Democracy”).
But even if we leave that aside, I’d say, second, Jesus simply was not violent, at least not in the way some imagine him to have been. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us Jesus drove out those who were buying and selling, overturning the tables of the clerks. John adds the detail about the whip. But the Gospels never suggest he killed or wounded—or even touched—anyone or anything except the tables. No blood was shed.
Third, I’d say it’s a deep betrayal of Jesus to snatch this one act out of the context of his entire life and ministry. Surely what Christ did in the Temple was an embodiment of what he taught on the Mount of the Beatitudes and what he suffered on Mount Calvary—not their negation or subversion. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught us it is not enough not to murder anyone. We must not harbor even the shadow of hate toward our neighbor or utter a whisper of a curse against our enemies. On the cross, he poured out his life for those who had betrayed and tortured him, praying in his last breaths for his killers to receive a mercy they had not shown to him. In the final analysis, Jesus was killed by the powers in large part because his teachings and way of life called their authority to use even legitimate violence into question. So, in light of what Jesus said and did, and in light of what was done to him, we have to face the fact that the desire to cut this one moment out of the seamless garment of his life exposes the ugliest sin in us.
Fourth, and most importantly, I’d say it’s vital to remember Jesus’ story is not ours to use. In fact, making use of God’s story or God’s name is the essence of idolatry, and an act of horrific violence—against God, no less, who is our neighbor. Ironically, then, if we exploit the story of the Temple cleansing as some kind of validation for insurrection (or similar violence), we are acting in the spirit of the moneychangers Jesus drove from the Temple. Like them, we are making use of holy things to justify ourselves. Of course, once we have committed to acting in these ways, we’ve already long convinced ourselves we are acting in righteous anger. But the proof is in what we do with the story of Jesus and what our actions mean for our neighbors, especially those we’re tempted to regard as our enemies.
Origen, in his commentary on John’s Gospel, warns his readers not to take the account literally, precisely because he anticipates how their sinfulness will lead them to misread what Jesus was doing. He sees how they would use such a misreading to excuse all kinds of cruelty and abusiveness. So, Origen argues, what Jesus did was an act of divine, not human, wrath, intended to quell the anger of the mob. He then quotes Ps. 33:10, a passage which seems especially relevant in our current moment: “The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations and thwarts all their schemes.” In short, Origen holds that Jesus’ actions were intended to undo violence, not to do it.
I guess for me the bottom line is this: if we can’t see what’s wrong with using the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple to justify insurrection, if we don’t see how that story calls us to repent of violence and the glorification of violence, then our only hope is the wrath of God, the last extremity of God’s love, which may trouble us toward repentance.
In a sermon on the cleansing, St. Augustine asks, “Who are they who sell the oxen? Who are they who sell the sheep and doves?” And answers: “They are those who seek their own interests in the church rather than those of Jesus Christ.” Again, that is exactly what these folks are doing when they use Jesus’ story for their own ends. Thankfully, Jesus loves us too much to leave us to our fantasies of righteous anger and warranted violence. And the truth is, we need him to drive us out and overturn our tables.
See also:
Brad Jersak, "The so-called 'violence' of Jesus in the so-called 'cleansing of the temple"
Note that John, the only author who mentions the whip, also mentions that he used it to drive out the animals. That was how that got done, period. No mention that he used it on people. That is an assumption people make, not something in the story, even if ithe story is literal.
Posted by: Bob | January 18, 2021 at 08:43 PM