Sermon Tone Analysis

A man walked up to a vending machine, put in a coin, pressed the buttons labeled, "coffee, double cream, sugar."

No cup appeared, but the nozzles went into action sending forth coffee, cream and sugar.

After the proper amounts had gone down the drain, the machine turned off.

"Now that's real automation," said the man.

"This thing even drinks it for you."

That is just how some people want their faith.

They want to make a deposit of some money and let the rest take care of itself automatically.

But, there is no such thing as automated prayers or worship.

Following Jesus requires personal devotion.

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Have any of you ever experienced this?

I know I have, and often it has been in the waiting room at the hospital, with tons of people mulling around and often this has happened to me when I have used my last dollar to get that cup of coffee that the machine needed more than me!

It is comical now but in the moment, I wanted to shake the machine and scream at it to give me my coffee back, I mean, I needed it more than that stupid machine any way, right?

I have often felt a righteous anger in that moment…but here’s the thing…is my anger really righteous?

I mean the machine really cannot hear me or respond to me, it just is and for some reason, my cup, the physical cup, got stuck in the machine and all my coffee, and money for that matter, went down the drain.

But yet, I am justified in my anger, aren’t I?

In this season of Lent, we are challenged to stop, look, and listen to what it is that God is calling forth from us AND calling us forth to do.

In some instances these are the same thing but in all actuality, and more often than not, these are two totally different things.

I know from my experiences in life, I have always tried to be the calm or calming spirit in the room.

I have done so pretty well.

However, as I am getting older, I am realizing how unfair to myself I have been and really, how unfair I have been to those around me because I have not been absolutely true to what I think God is really trying to call forth out of me.

This season of Lent, I am dedicating myself to being true to what it is that I think God is calling forth out of me and the whole of Chestnut Hill Church so that we can all begin to be true to who it is that God has called us to be.

Beyond that, I am praying that as we venture through Lent together this year that we can celebrate hearing God’s instructions to us so that we can go forth in Jesus’ name and begin making some changes in this convoluted world that we live in.

I know that sometimes these things will cause us hurt, pain, frustration, and anger but I am willing to work through those things as long as there are some who promise to venture into the unknown with me...

Causes of Jesus Christ’s anger

The whole point of me starting this way is to help us realize that even though we try really hard not to get angry, sometimes it really is justified and righteous.

Our story for tonight from Mark shows us how even Christ got angry.

But here’s the thing, this is not the only instance where Jesus’ anger got the best of him too.

Jesus has been angry in several circumstances and most of them relate to or involve how folks blocked his teachings from their hearts.

So here are a few other examples of Jesus’ anger being shown and reported to us...

Petty legalism in religious observance

Mt 15:3; Out of frustration and in response to being continually questioned by the Pharisees, Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?

Mk 3:4–5: 4 Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil?

Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?”

But they wouldn’t answer him.

5 He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts.

Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.”

So the man held out his hand, and it was restored!

Attempts to prevent access to him

In certain circumstances, Jesus got angry with those who were closest to him as well.

In Mark 10:14, we hear him rebuking the disciples for trying to send the children away from him.

This is what happens, according to Mark, When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples.

He said to them, “Let the children come to me.

Don’t stop them!

For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.

People leading others into sin

The most prevalent anger that we see expressed from Jesus relates to how we are lead astray by those who say they are doing good and following Christ, when in all reality, their hearts are as black as the night…here is how Matthew reports this type of anger… But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.

“What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin.

Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting.

These are harsh words for a man who taught about loving all and showing all the love of God.

But, in all of these situations, those who felt they were right and had the answers to all of life’s questions, were attempting to block Jesus’ teaching and life.

Because we have all these stories and can look at them from a 20/20 perspective, and we know that hindsight is always 20/20, we can see how those around Jesus were attempting to keep him from changing people’s hearts.

It was about power and authority and no one wanted him to have that.

For us in the 21st Century, most conflict and arguments (resulting from someone’s anger) also come from perceived power and authority and someone attempting to effect change upon us.

Now, all of these stories are instances when we are told about Jesus’ anger through his words.

Our story for tonight actually shows us his physical anger as he cursed the fig tree for not producing fruit and tossed the money tables in the Temple.

Why is Jesus so angry?

Our story begins just after Jesus has just triumphantly entered Jerusalem for the last time and spent some time within the Temple walls…to give us some perspective, here is the Temple at Jesus’ time.

Mind you, this is just the Temple, not the whole of the Temple Mount...

The Temple:

This picture will give you an idea of what Jesus saw when he entered the Temple walls…If you look at the two blue circled areas up here…this is the area in which Jesus saw the selling of sacrificial animals, people selling other wares for their sacrifices, and the money changers exchanging foreign coins for the Temple Shekel.

Yes, you heard that right, the Temple had its own form of money and when you paid the required Temple tax, it had to be paid in that currency.

Now, here are a few things to keep in mind...

Jews of Jesus’ time were required to travel to Jerusalem for Passover and for many it was at least a 1 to 3 day journey

If you were traveling to Jerusalem with a donkey, let’s say, you could not have carried much or even brought an animal for sacrifice

Because they traveled from different areas, they had different currencies and as I mentioned a few moments ago, you had to exchange your “foreign” currency for the currency of the Temple

So in essence, the people selling the animals and changing money were filling a need of sorts…but here’s the thing...

What Jesus might have felt...

In essence, God's people had lost their sense of perspective.

Rather than looking on the temple as something through which they could serve God, they had come to look on the temple as something that existed to serve them.

And, this was true of both the leadership and the common people.

You see, the religious leadership had come to look on the temple as something that existed to help them make a good living.

In those days, every Jew had to pay a temple tax of one half shekel a year.

This amounted to almost two day's wages.

Now, for ordinary purposes Greek, Roman, Syrian, Egyptian, or Phoenician coins were all equally valid.

But the temple tax had to be paid in shekels of the sanctuary, and was only paid at Passover time.

Jews came from all over the world with all kinds of currencies, and they would have to exchange their country's currency for temple currency.

They were charged a fee for this, and should the money they exchanged exceed the tax they had to pay, they were charged an additional fee.

Most pilgrims had to pay fees for exchanging their money that equaled a half day's wage!

The priests also monopolized the sale of sacrificial animals, which had to be without blemish.

Though worshipers could buy an animal outside the temple, the temple inspectors would be sure to find something wrong with them, and they would be told to buy their animal from within the temple.

Outside, doves might sell for as little as half a shekel, while inside, they might sell for as high as 10 shekels!

After seeing all of the things going on inside the Temple, the holy place, Jesus’ anger comes spilling out and this is why Jesus said that the temple had turned into a "den of thieves."

But the religious leaders were not the only ones guilty thinking the temple existed only to serve their needs.

The common people had come to accept this way of thinking also.

In verse 16, Mark tells us that Jesus "would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.'

What was this all about?

Well, one of the many rules that related to showing respect for the temple said, "A man may not enter into the temple mount with his staff or his sandal or his wallet, or with the dust upon his feet, nor may he make of it a short by path."

Here’s the problem with this, the outer court of the temple provided an ideal shortcut from the eastern part of the city to the Mount of Olives, and many had developed the habit of using the temple as a short-cut as they did daily activities.

In this, they also demonstrated that they had lost perspective concerning the significance of the temple.

Jesus was angry because the people of God had come to believe the temple existed only to serve their needs, rather than to enable them to serve God.

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Would Jesus be angry with us today?

So the question then is, not so much is Jesus’ anger justified and righteous, but would he have the same sense of rage and anger against us today?

In certain circumstances, the answer to that question would be unequivocally, “YES”.

So, what do we do or rather what should we do?

We need to pay attention to how we are treating our Temple.

If we are allowing some to corrupt what is right and just, are we no different than the Pharisees and Sadduccees of Jesus’ time?

Are we serving others through the church rather than using the church as a means to get what we want?

These are some really tough questions, but they are ones that we must face in today’s world because to be frankly honest, I don’t want someone to come in here and tell us that we are a den of thieves...

Let us pray…God in this season of Lent, as we look within ourselves to find the areas that need to be pruned away so that the new growth of Spring can take over, open our hearts, minds, and spirits to your voice and only your voice so that we can serve as you have called us to serve in this community and beyond.

Amen.