Mild and Mighty
“Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.“
Matthew 11:29 NLT
We’ve all heard the description of Jesus as being “gentle and mild”, and he was, of course. There were, however, times when He was anything but.
“The truth is that it is the image of Christ in the churches that is almost entirely mild and merciful. It is the image of Christ in the Gospels that is a good many other things as well.“ G.K. Chesterton
“Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” (Matthew 21:12-13 NLT)
Although it doesn’t actually say that Jesus was angry, knocking over tables and driving people out of the temple makes it pretty obvious that He was.
Jesus quoted Isaiah 56:7, “I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.“ (NLT)
And Jeremiah 7:11, “Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears my name, has become a den of thieves? Surely I see all the evil going on there. I, the LORD, have spoken!“ (NLT)
“Jesus revealed His zeal for God first of all by cleansing the temple (John 2:13-17). The priests had established a lucrative business of exchanging foreign money for Jewish currency and also selling the animals needed for the sacrifices. No doubt, this “religious market” began as a convenience for the Jews who came long distances to worship in the temple, but in due time the “convenience” became a business, not a ministry. The tragedy is that this business was carried on in the court of the Gentiles in the temple, the place where the Jews should have been meeting the Gentiles and telling them about the one true God. Any Gentile searching for truth would not likely find it among the religious merchants in the temple.“ Warren Wiersbe
You will never find any situation recorded in the Bible where Jesus was severe or aggressive with the humble seeker of righteousness. He handled their concerns with the utmost kindness and love. He was protective of those with weak faith and threatened anyone who upset those with a child-like faith.
“Let us see in our Lord’s conduct on this occasion a striking type of what he will do when he comes again a second time. He will purify the temple. He will cleanse it of everything that defiles and works iniquity and cast every worldly professor out on its tail. He will allow no worshiper of money or lover of gain to have a place in that glorious temple which he will finally exhibit before the world.” J.C. Ryle