On Outrage and Overturned Tables

“Well, Jesus flipped tables . . . ” You’ve likely encountered this sentiment if you’ve spent time online in recent years. It seems to be the digital mic drop of our day giving the stamp of approval to words and deeds deemed firm but necessary by their respective sources. I see this idea expressed often and I’ve always found it troubling. Jesus did overturn tables but does that justify acting in an unnecessarily firm fashion toward those with whom we disagree? Is the account of the overturned tables an example to us of how to approach and handle disagreement?

Seeing this account frequently misapplied made me consider why it is in Scripture and what it means for us today. I’ve heard it stated that Jesus angrily overturned the tables and I wondered if that was actually true. I began to examine the four accounts of this story and form observations of my own. Doing so helped me reconcile the picture that’s been painted for me of an angry Jesus who seems so out of character with the Jesus of the rest of Scripture.

My goal with this post isn’t to perfectly reconcile the anger of Jesus but to perhaps provide some insight into how it might not be what we initially think. Here are my observations. Hopefully, they will help you as you peel back the layers on an account that seems troubling and help you to behold a bit more clearly the beauty of Jesus.

We’re Not Jesus

The first and perhaps most obvious observation in examining this story is that we aren’t Jesus. I’m certain many, if not most of us, would readily acknowledge this. However, it is still worth noting. When we use Jesus’s actions to justify our own, we must remember that while we long to be like Him, we frequently fall short. While Jesus was on earth, His mission was God’s. In John 4:34 He declared, ” . . . My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” I love that!

As followers of Jesus, we seek to do the same but our hearts are easily deceived (Jeremiah 17:9, Proverbs 4:23). There are multiple warnings in the Bible about the danger of deception (Genesis 3:13, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Corinthians 15:33, 1 John 3:7) because, in our weakness and sin, we are incredibly prone to it. Jesus is God and as such remains sinless (Hebrews 4:15, 1 John 1:5). Being the Truth, He is never deceived (John 14:6). He never has mixed motives and it is wise to exercise great care and caution when we declare our actions to be reflective of His.

Literary Implications

The accounts detailed in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are a type of literature called narrative. Although these books don’t solely consist of this genre, it is important to understand what we read before we apply it. Like with all books of the Bible, the gospels contain multiple contexts that are vital to acknowledge as we read them. We ought to consider who wrote them, when they were written, and why they were written before we consider what they mean for us.

It’s also important to consider the original audience of the passage and to distinguish between texts that are descriptive and prescriptive. While many use the incident of the overturned tables prescriptively (i.e. as a command), all accounts of it are descriptive and lack a command for us to go and do likewise. This doesn’t make these accounts irrelevant but it does indicate that their relevance might not be what we expect.

Anger is Absent

The account of the overturned tables is found in Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-18, Luke 19:45-47, and John 2:13-17. I approached these passages to better understand the anger of Jesus. Like me, you may be surprised to learn that the words anger and angry are absent from all of them.

Upon reading Mark 11:15-18, I found that Jesus overturned tables in response to moneychangers who were profaning God’s name to make a profit. They used a place of worship for the procurement of wealth. Even so, the alleged anger of Jesus is absent from this account. It does say that the chief priests and the scribes feared Jesus but it was, “. . . because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching,” (v. 18). They perceived Jesus as a threat to their political power and agendas, not, as far as we know, as a threat to their physical or any other kind of safety.

While the account in Luke does mention Jesus making a whip, the only detail we have about how He used it was to drive out the people and animals. “Why did Jesus do this?” is a crucial question that warrants our examination. What was at stake here? Why was Jesus set on cleansing the temple? The temple was a place for people to worship the one true God.

This story occurs during Holy Week, the week leading up to the crucifixion. It takes place after the triumphal entry and prior to the cross. As the moneychangers were collecting money, God’s name and character were being defamed. God’s glory was at stake. Perhaps Jesus was especially grieved knowing that the sin displayed would result in His death. John 2 gives us a clue as to how Jesus felt as He cleansed the temple.

Compelled Toward Compassion

John 2 is the only account that mentions zeal and Jesus isn’t the one mentioning it. The disciples are actually the ones recalling Psalm 69:9 which states, “For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.” Upon seeing the actions of Jesus and being familiar with this Psalm, the disciples likely would have deduced that Jesus was the Messiah. God’s promise to send a Savior in Genesis 3:15 was being kept and they had the great privilege of being present to experience its fulfillment.

The Greek word for zeal in this verse means, “to have warmth of feeling for or against, to be zealous or jealous.” This is how Jesus felt in this situation and the zeal He was consumed with culminated in the cross. This makes sense considering the only account of the word anger used in reference to Jesus is in Mark 3:5.

This verse says, “And he looked around at them (the Pharisees) with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.” Jesus’s anger led to grief. He felt angry but didn’t stay that way. Parallel accounts of this story are in Matthew 12:9-14 and Luke 6:6-11. Only the Matthew account details the emotions felt during this encounter and they are those of the Pharisees. Matthew 12:14 says, “But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.” The Pharisee’s anger led to conspiring. Jesus’s anger led to compassion.

Jesus felt angry but did not sin (Hebrews 4:15, 1 John 1:5). Jesus is fully God and as such, He always perfectly embodies self-control and gentleness along with all the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). He can never stop being God. He never expressed anger or firmness at the expense of compassion rather, He was compelled toward it. The proof is the cross. This is unlike the anger we feel which often arises from feeling personally violated and leads to us wanting to make vengeance our own.

Slow and Self-Controlled

Our feelings are not our identity. What we feel is not who we are. The same is true of God. God is rightfully angry toward sin (Psalm 7:6, Psalm 7:11) and those who remain in unrepentant sin are enemies of God. Even so, the Bible tells us many times that He is slow to anger (Exodus 34:6-7, Numbers 14:18, Nehemiah 9:17, Psalm 103:8, Joel 2:13).

Sin has broken God’s law and heart, yet in His kindness He made a way for many to be righteous through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. When we turn from our sin and trust in Jesus alone for salvation, He seals us with His Holy Spirit who also indwells us (Romans 8:11) and advocates for us (Romans 8:26, John 14:26).

God does not owe us anything yet in His mercy, He made a way for many to be saved (Psalm 77:9). Knowing that salvation is a privilege and not a right should inform how we respond in word and deed when we feel angry. May we be like God who is slow and self-controlled in His anger.

Emphasis Before Endorsement

We may be tempted to use the account of the overturned tables to justify our online (and offline) outrage, but we do well to consider this story in light of all of Scripture. This was one event that occurred but the Bible contains multiple warnings about anger. Here are a few:

“Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.” Psalm 4:4
“Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.” Proverbs 14:29
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1
“Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.” Proverbs 19:11
“A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression.” Proverbs 29:22
“Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.” Ecclesiastes 7:9
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21
“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” Ephesians 4:26
“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” Ephesians 4:31
“But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.” Colossians 3:8
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” James 1:19-20

It is right to feel angry at sin because God does. However, we ought to exercise great care and caution with how we proceed in our anger. Jesus was angry but He didn’t stay angry. His anger didn’t have a root of fear as ours often seems to. It didn’t result in resentment. His anger culminated in compassion and it carried Him to the cross. Jesus didn’t overturn tables for us to act contrary to His character. He didn’t come to be our trump card but to triumph over sin and death.

As we look for application in the instance of the overturned tables it’s important to consider whether or not we are feeling angry because God’s name, character, and glory are at stake. I suspect that we may not have as many justifiable reasons to feel angry as we think we do. There is a time to speak the truth but it is always to be done in love (Ephesians 4:15), never at the expense of it.

We can be firm, if it is fitting, without forsaking the fruit of the Spirit. Truth and love are never to be mutually exclusive for the Christian because it is by practicing both simultaneously that we reflect more fully who Jesus is. The root of anger, for Jesus, is love and greater love has no one than this, that someone lay his life down for his friends (John 15:13). May our anger compel us to do the same.