In last week’s gospel, John 2:13-25, Jesus angrily drives the moneychangers and animals out of the temple. The question is what was Jesus’ intent in reacting violently to the activity in the temple?

I think Jesus was trying to change the way activities proceeded in the temple. He saw the temple as sacred belonging to God not for buying and selling in order to line the pockets of the moneychangers.

Often I believe people get angry when they think someone should act in a certain way but they behave in a totally contrary manner. Hence, Jesus by his actions wanted to highlight that when we act purely for our own selfish gain we are ignoring God’s presence and not including others in our life. Furthermore we must have the courage of our convictions so we can live according to our beliefs even if it requires a public stance.

Therefore Jesus was strongly advocating that if our intention is to include God in our lives we must respect the sacred and our motives must be purely selfless and not self-seeking.