After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. 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.”

Why was Jesus consumed with zeal? Was not the sacrifice of animals required by Jewish law? Yes, it was. But take a look at the first of the Ten Commandments Moses gave. It goes like this: “And the Lord spoke all these words: ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other God’s before me.’” (Exodus 20:1-3) Also consider, in The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talked about storing up for ourselves treasures in heaven. He discussed that the eyes are the lamp of the whole body. If they are bad, then your whole body will be filled with darkness. He goes on to say this, in Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

This reminds me of an experience when I was in college. I knew a very poor couple who came to the church where I served as a youth intern. They lived in poverty and were of a very low education. One day, they told me about a business opportunity that was going to help them buy the Clydesdale horses they always dreamed of having. They were going to have a meeting in this opportunity shortly, and invited me to come. I came reluctantly, sensing something was up. As I walked through the door, I’ll never forget what I saw: It was as if those greeting me had “$-signs” in their eyes. I knew at once this was a scam and as I listened I was heart-broken. These poor, lowly-educated people were being told if they bought into this multi-level marketing group, all their dreams would come true. It was not true for them or caring, but it was a message full of greed. Why? Because those who shared the message did not care about this couple or the financial health — they cared only about the Money they would make off of them. Later in life, when approached by someone else totally unrelated, talking about a business opportunity, I saw the same look in their eyes, the “$-signs” again. I knew it was this same group, before he even told me.

I believe Jesus saw “$-signs” in the eyes of these money-changers. It was all they cared about. They did not care about the hearts of those coming to sacrifice their animals to get right with God. They did not care about honoring God in His temple, or serving him. No level of chaos and disruption at the temple was too much when money was to be made. They served Money instead of God. This brings home a good application, what do you and I sacrifice to the god of Money — our time, our relationships with others, or even our relationship with God? This is why Jesus acted in zeal; he saw the hearts of men being deceived. He saw his Father’s house being represented as a “Greed-Mongering Machine”! He simply could not stand for this! It repulsed him at the core of his heart, and it drove him into action.

Zeal is in short supply today. This is different than normal anger, in that it is God-lead anger at evil and injustice. Many see things that are “against God” in the church, and they stand by and watch it go on. Shame on us! We need to act like Jesus and call out evil and hypocrisy. We must keep God’s church pure. We must also call it out in our hearts, as we are now called a temple of God (see I Peter 2:4-5). Sure your reputation or business may be hurt, but lives are at stake, the light of the gospel is more important! When we see this evil, we must be prepared for it. We must pursue God with such relentless abandon, that he will make it clear in the moment, out of our closeness in relationship to him, how to act on His behalf. Zeal is what is required, at times, of a warrior spiritually fully devoted to Christ. If we believe in the truth wholeheartedly, we cannot — no WE WILL NOT — stand by as sin enters God’s church. We must act in the full control of His Spirit to reclaim the light of the gospel and redeem it for its truth and power.