Money and Religion: do they Mix?
The idea of Jesus ever becoming angry is one that many people feel uncomfortable about. And yet early on in his public work we are told of this incident: When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” A bit of background might help us understand this strange story: The Passover was a week-long annual festival held to commemorate the event, centuries earlier, when the Jewish people came out of slavery in the land of Egypt. (The event is the theme of the films The Prince of Egypt and Ex...