7 Days of the Easter Story: A Family Experience Through the Feelings of Holy WeekSample

Anger at the Temple

The happiness of Palm Sunday didn’t last very long. The day after the Triumphal Entry, Jesus came to the temple, a place of worship for the Jews and the only place where Gentiles (non-Jews) were allowed to worship. But Jesus instead saw the Jews using the temple as a marketplace, buying and selling things to make money and keeping the Gentiles from worshipping God. Jesus was angry. He flipped tables over, sending money and goods flying!

Can you imagine the scene? Then He said, “Is it not written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a den of thieves!” (Mark 11:17). Why did Jesus appear to be so angry?

Well, when Jesus was twelve years old, He went missing for three days during a journey home from Jerusalem. His parents finally found Him back in the temple with the teachers. His mother, Mary, asked why He had stayed behind, and young Jesus answered, “Didn’t you know that it was necessary for me to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49). Even as a boy, Jesus knew the temple was a place of connection with God. Now, as an adult, Jesus grew angry because the temple was being used as a place to cheat Jews out of money and prevent Gentiles from connecting with God.

Anger: Anger is a secondary emotion, which means there’s usually another feeling behind it. Jesus was probably feeling sad that His Father’s house was being used selfishly to rob others, build bank accounts, and keep people from worshipping God. The angry Pharisees, on the other hand, were likely feeling jealous that people were turning to Jesus instead of them for answers.

During the next two days of Holy Week, Jesus asked the jealous Pharisees questions they couldn’t answer and told parables about those who would be rejected by the kingdom of God (Matthew 21:18-23). The Pharisees knew He was talking about them, which only made them angrier. They began planning how they could arrest Jesus.

Family Discussion Questions:

• Imagine you were there the day Jesus flipped the tables in the temple. Where do you picture yourself in the story?
• What is the difference between the anger of Jesus that day and the anger of the Pharisees? What does the anger of Jesus lead Him to do? What about the anger of the Pharisees?