“When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”” John 2:13-17 NIV
I don’t know about you but this story from John is probably the first one I think of in reference to “anger” in the Bible.
Jesus entered the temple and found it overrun with people doing business. Money changers and merchants had turned a place of prayer into a marketplace. His response? Controlled but forceful anger. He fashioned a whip, overturned tables, and drove them out, declaring, “Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”
Unlike Cain or Moses, Jesus’ anger wasn’t impulsive or self-serving. It was purposeful, rooted in reverence for God’s holiness and grief over its defilement. He was angry for the right reasons, in the right way.
Now, before we go turning over tables, or ripping political signs out of people’s yards, or making inflammatory posts on social media in the name of righteousness, let’s remember what Jesus’ anger was really about —it was about restoring reverence for God. He acted not to provoke, but to purify. And He did so with perfect clarity, righteousness, and restraint—something we, in our humanity, rarely possess in the heat of the moment.
“Hot heads and cold hearts never solved anything.”
— Billy Graham
To prayerfully consider: What is our anger or indignation really about? Jesus didn’t lose control; He took control. His example shows that anger can be righteous—but only when it’s submitted to the will and glory of God.
