John 2:13-16

John 2:13-16 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. Wow! And I thought that Jesus was a kind person! Isn't this amazing that Jesus would make a whip to hit people with?! But the holiness of God is important and the house of God is important. These moneychangers and sellers of animals were wicked people who were taking advantage of other people who were in a situation that they could not avoid. When people came from long distances to the Temple, they had to have an animal to sacrifice. But it would be difficult or impossible for their sacrifice to make it all the way from where they lived. So they had to buy from someone who was local and had an animal sacrifice for them to buy at the Temple. But the sellers were charging a huge fee that was unfair. But what could a person do? He had to have a sacrifice. He couldn't go all the way back home to get one. So he just had to pay the high price to those cheapskates who were gouging them. And then there were the moneychangers. When someone arrived from a foreign country, they had their foreign money and couldn't use it to buy a sacrifice with. They had to change their money with the moneychangers, who always gave them less of the local money than they should have. But then, what could the traveler do? He had to get his foreign money exchanged. These crooked people were wracking up money on every hand! Jesus was angered, and rightly so. Some things are just not right! And we should stand for what is right. Attorney David Gibbs has said, "Stand for what is right and stand against what is not right." That is good advice.