The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 

The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 

After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

For years, I thought of this Gospel as the “Angry Jesus” story. It’s the one time Jesus really seems to lose it, making a whip out of cords and flipping tables. It's unsettling, but also, oddly reassuring. Angry Jesus didn’t make me feel so bad about Angry Jackie. But the disciples recall a passage from Scripture that offers a different perspective: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

There's a difference between anger and zeal. Anger often comes from fear, pride, or frustration. Zeal is rooted in love and a conviction that something is worth defending. Jesus isn't flipping tables because he is personally offended. He's acting out of love and a conviction that the sacred space of the Temple is worth defending. This isn't the story of Angry Jesus. It's the story of Zealous Jesus.

Jesus' zeal reminds us that that which is sacred deserves to be treated as such. Our faith, our relationships, the dignity of every human being—these are worth defending because they are sacred, entrusted to us by God, and deserving of our reverence and protection. These are the things worth flipping tables for.

—Jackie Schulte is the Head of School and Dean of Faculty Formation at Creighton Preparatory School in Omaha, Nebraska. 

Jesus,
Fill our hearts with the same zeal and love that guided your actions in the Temple. 
Help us to recognize what is sacred in our lives and give us the wisdom to honor and protect what you have entrusted to us. 
May our words and actions always reflect our love for you and respect for the dignity of others.
Amen.

—Jackie Schulte