Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Yesterday we read of Jesus weeping and now today we read about him acting out of anger. Jesus experienced a full range of human emotion. Fully human and fully God; I know sometimes I fail to remember the “fully human” part. Next to yesterday’s gospel reading, today’s gospel passage, The Cleansing of the Temple, is for me a helpful reminder of this.
Today’s passage from Luke is the mildest of the four gospels: “Jesus...proceeded to drive out those who were selling things…” (Luke 19:45) Whereas Mark and Matthew’s versions include that Jesus “overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves.” John’s gospel is the most dramatic, giving us the most vivid imagery of Jesus’ anger, “He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables…he said, ‘Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.’” (John 2:15,16) That version is the one I recall seeing on TV as a child, and it stuck with me. He was actually angry.
A few verses later in John’s gospel we read that Jesus “did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.” (2:25) Jesus gets it. Jesus understands. He does not condone violence, but he felt the full range of human emotion, including righteous anger, and took action to shake things up and challenge what had become the status quo in his “Father’s house.”
Our God is a feeling God. We are feeling people, made in the image and likeness of God. So, what do we do with these emotions that sometimes feel overwhelming and out of control? It is said that crying is a natural stress reliever, and certainly a normal expression of sadness and grief. And what about our anger? Yes, self-control is important, and so is channeling righteous anger into necessary action for change.
With Jesus as our model and guide, let us call upon the Spirit for wisdom and guidance in discerning right action, whether it be through the gift of tears, the energy of non-violent anger, or both. May we use our human nature as well as Jesus did. Amen.
—Eileen Miller