12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” (John 2:12-16 – English Standard Version)
Back to the days, people use intelligence to measure how smart a person is. Today, people also use the ability to monitor one’s emotion to measure the smartness of a person. The ability to manage/control our emotion is important, but sometimes we do need to let it out for a good reason. When Jesus saw people doing trade in the temple, He overturned their tables and drove them out of the temple. This was a fierce act. If we were Jesus, we probably would scold the traders but not overturn the tables. Why did Jesus react so fiercely? Why didn’t He just scold them? If Jesus was just using words to criticize their action, they probably would not listen. Jesus wanted to make sure that they get his point, which is the Father’s house should not be made a house of trade. In some cases, we need to use radical ways to convey our message because the message is very important and we want to ensure that people get that. May God grant us the wisdom to control our emotion and also the courage to reveal our emotions for a good reason.
