It's not sinful to be angry; in fact, it's sinful to not be angry when our God is insulted.
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Read the chapter in an outlined format
Previous DIG DEEPER posts on John
John 2 Summary
The first miracle that John records is Jesus turning water into wine. Theories abound as to whether or not this particular miracle involving wine has some sort of allegorical meaning. I don't think it does.
Jesus is reluctant to get involved, because at this point in His ministry, He doesn't want attention. Besides, we don't need to look for some mysterious meaning behind each miracle, for John tells us exactly why Jesus performed the miracles (signs) that John records: they were meant to reveal His glory (v11).
The 'wine making miracle man' persona of Jesus doesn't last long once Jesus enters into Jerusalem.
Remember yesterday as we dug deeper into chapter 1, we learned that John put emphasis on the fact that Jesus came to dwell among us (1:14) just as God dwelled with His people in the temple.
This temple cleansing scene reinforces the fact that God was no longer dwelling in the temple, but that He'd been replaced by a profitable religious system run by the establishment.
Dig Deeper
The disciples remember the first half of Psalm 69:9 in the aftermath of Jesus upending the money making sham that the temple of God had become:
for zeal for your house consumes me...
Certainly Jesus' display of righteous indignation coupled with this reminder from David ought to renew your own zeal for coming to God's house each Lord's Day, as you anticipate stepping out of the noise and chaos of the world and into our Father's grace, mercy and peace.
But David's psalm continues in the second half of v9:
the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
The anger Jesus displayed in the temple was directed at much more than the broken religious system of His day; every part of life had become an insult to God, and Jesus justly responded to that insult.
In most circumstances, you are not being called to physically lash out against the insults our society lofts against God in the way Jesus did, but neither are you to simply ignore them.
Instead, channel your zeal toward prayers for salvation as David did further on in Psalm 69, as you pray that those who insult God will know the true power of Christ's passion on the cross.
AAA Prayer :
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Jesus is the image of the Father's glory (v11)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the strength and wisdom to respond appropriately to those who insult God.
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
