In recent days our country has witnessed
once again that racism still reigns in corrupt hearts. We have
seen a
recent flurry of horrific injustices being committed against
law-abiding black citizens of the US. The most recent outrage was the
sadistic murder of George Floyd by a dirty cop, a man wearing a
uniform that is supposed to speak of protecting and serving the
citizenry, not murdering them. Given the past history of the USA,
these evil acts simply reinforce to many people of color the idea
that they never will get fairness or justice in a country that nonetheless proclaims on
the equality of all men.
All
Americans should be concerned about this. All Americans should be
heart-broken about injustice of any form, particularly when an entire
race is on the receiving end of it. It calls for a continued struggle
to enact just laws and to pray that individual hearts are changed by
the Gospel of Christ.
One
of the dangers when we see injustice is that our righteous outrage
can easily become sinful anger—anger that provokes
us to respond in a way less than Christ-honoring. I believe that the
meme floating around on the web which displays Jesus cleansing
the temple is an example of a reaction that does not honor Jesus. The
meme implies that since Jesus destroyed property, therefore
destruction of property is a valid form of protest.
Because
of the gross misrepresentation of
Scripture—and of Christ’s actions—such a train of
thought presents, I feel it necessary to respond rather pointedly to
that meme.
Like
most twisted applications of Scripture, the
meme ignores the biblical context and amounts to little more than a
hijacking of Scripture to assert
something that Scripture
actually condemns as sin.
The
biblical event
is recorded in John 2:13-22.
Let’s
begin examining the issue by asking some questions, starting with,
who is Jesus as compared
with who are we? Jesus is God, we are not. As God He can
judge, condemn, and punish in ways we cannot. As God, all His ways
are just—that is simply not true of us. One of the interesting
points from the temple cleansing text in John is that the Jews asked
Him by what authority He took action. Jesus answer in verse 19 is
instructive: Jesus answered them, “Destroy
this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” This
is essentially a claim of deity:
Jesus was claiming to have the power of self-existence, the power of
ultimate being. His disciples later understood it properly as a
reference to Jesus power to raise Himself from the dead. In other
words, Jesus’ claim
to the authority to wreak such destruction in the temple was tied
directly to the fact that He is God Himself.
Who
owns the temple, the tables, the money changers, and the sheep on a
thousand hills? Jesus does. It was “My Father’s house.” So
Jesus was destroying property that belonged to Him, property
that was located in the temple, not out in Jerusalem neighborhoods.
That property was only in temporary possession of the money
changers as a stewardship (one they were abusing!). It was not a
random act of destruction.
Who
laid down the law with respect to the proper use of the
Temple? Yahweh
did, and guess who Jesus is: Yahweh Himself. So in the cleansing of
the temple Jesus was punishing the violators of both the sanctity
of the temple and the sanctity of the Law. It
is clear in the text (vv. 14-16) that Jesus was punishing the
specific violators,
not random individuals.
In
any case, Jesus routinely did things in His earthly ministry that
we are forbidden to do, such as forgiving sins
(Matthew 9:1-6). While we are enjoined to forgive one another, we
ourselves are not the forgivers of injustices committed against God
Himself. Jesus could do what we cannot. Notice that Jesus’ action
of cleansing the temple was never duplicated by the apostles—even
though the temple corruption and money-changing persisted.
Not
only is there a deep biblical context to the cleansing of the temple,
there is also a contemporary cultural context to posting this meme,
and it brings up more questions. What is our
contemporary cultural context? In cities across
America, random property is being destroyed as people give free reign
to their anger at the horrific injustice of the murder of George
Floyd. This anger is now manifesting itself in unlawful ways, and is
working against justice.
So,
what is someone saying when they present this meme on social media,
given the current
context?
Are they simply stating a propositional truth, Jesus
destroyed property? Or
are they making the claim,
Jesus destroyed
property therefore
it is a legitimate form of protest that aggrieved people can
participate in? What
is the agenda of posting
the meme: the first
statement, or the second?
To
claim that
former is all one means is
possible, but
what is the point in broadcasting that Jesus destroyed property if
there is no larger meaning attached?
It’s a little like randomly spouting facts: Jesus
walked on dusty paths;
Jesus drank water.
Light bulbs are sold in
Walmart.
Uh-huh.
So what? Unless you are attaching some theological significance
to the statement, such as Jesus
is Lord of all, therefore He may do as He pleases when
He cleanses the temple,
there’s not much point to such
a statement.
Given
the context of what is happening in America today, most people will
read the meme and jump
to the second agenda
(regardless of what the
poster actually intends):
Jesus destroyed
property therefore
it is a legitimate form of protest that aggrieved people can
participate in. If
that is the subtext of the meme in
most cases—and
it is pretty obvious that it is—it
raises
more questions.
If
destruction of property is a legitimate form of protest, on what
grounds do you decide whose property is to be destroyed? Must the
owner
be personally connected with the event that caused the aggravation,
or is random destruction acceptable?
If
random destruction is acceptable, where is the God-honoring justice
in that? On
the other hand,
if the owner
(of
the property to be destroyed) is
guilty
of actions that caused the riot leading to such
chaos,
is that a matter for the law to handle, or for mob justice?
Do
we really want mob justice?
Does
not this meme bring to mind that verse in Judges 17:6,
“every
man did what was right in his own eyes”?
Judges was a time of perverse moral chaos. That verse is a rebuke,
not a commendation.
One
cannot evade
these questions. Justice demands an answer. Posting
this meme in our current
social context at best displays a
misunderstanding
of Scripture, and at worst a devious twisting of Scripture. The
temple text is not teaching us anything
about means of legitimate human
protest.
When
I resort to the
destruction of someone else’s property, it
is sin. It
is not
an option for any Christ-honoring believer. Jesus did what He did in
the temple because He is God and He owns it all—for
Him it was not sin. We are
not God, and destroying
someone else’s property is the equivalent of theft.
Ignoring this crucial distinction not only twists the Scripture in
the worst way, the
meme encourages more sin
and violence from those who now think they have biblical permission
to destroy things. What we
need to destroy is hatred. What we need to change, are hearts.
The
Bible should have the last word: Never
pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight
of all men. If possible, so
far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
Never take your own revenge, beloved, but
leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance
is Mine, I will
repay,” says the Lord.
“But
if your enemy is hungry, feed
him, and
if he is thirsty, give
him a drink; for
in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome
evil with good. (Romans 12:17–21,
NASB95)
