Easter Devotion: Why Was Jesus Angry? (Day 13)

On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves,

and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.

And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: " 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"

The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

When evening came, they went out of the city.  

Mark 11:15-19

Questions:

- Did Jesus ever get angry? If so, when?

- What made Him angry?  (It wasn't just the unfair money exchanging and imperfect animals being sold there...the area of the temple where this was taking place was in the Court of the Gentiles. This was a place that was set aside for foreigners to come and pray and worship the Lord. All the noise and activity would have kept people from meeting the Lord and worshipping Him at the temple)

- Is church supposed to be a place where we run around, are loud and yell or is church a place where we are quiet, pray and sing praises to God?

- Like Jesus, is it ever okay to get angry? If so, when?

Thoughts: 

There were three things that made Jesus angry: 1) The money changers and sellers were making money off of worshipping God? (Can you see any parallels to this today in our culture?) 2) This area of the temple was set aside for the worship of God by foreigners and Jesus wanted to make sure that they had a chance to find God. (Are our churches friendly to strangers and those of another faith?)

3) They were treating God's place of worship with disrespect. Jesus got angry because people were not being treated right and God was not being honored. Those are good reasons to be angry.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, help us to welcome everyone to our church, no matter what they look like or where they are from. Help us to honor You, Lord. Thank you for Your love.

Song: Jesus Loves the Little Children

Additional information: Here is a website with printable children's activities that coincide with this story: Jesus Cleanses the Temple. I also blogged about this very topic. You can read it at Why was Jesus so angry?

For Further Study: 

There are many children throughout the world who are very bold in their faith in Christ, especially in nations where it is hard to be a Christian. Sharing their stories can encourage a bolder faith in your children. A wonderful resource is Kids of Courage

* Some of the content of this blog is based on the book Family Celebrations at Easter by Ann Hibbard.*