The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; you shall not make my Father’s house a house of thieves,” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for thy house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign have you to show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he spoke of the temle of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did; but Jesus did not trust himself to them, because he knew all men and needed no one to bear witness of man; for he himself knew what was in man. (John 2: 13-25)

Wow, that was a pretty angry and even somewhat violent reaction of Jesus when He saw what was going on inside of His Father’s house! He went as far as making a whip to force everyone of them out of the temple! I don’t know about you but that’s pretty darn angry. Yet, today, far too many church leaders tries to white wash the fact that Jesus got angry at people quite often, they far too often try to make their people believe that Jesus did nothing but go around preaching “peace and love bro” let’s all gather around the campfire and sing cumbiya songs.

As you can see, that’s not at all what Jesus did, oh sure, He preached love and peace but He also preached about the fires of hell and that not everyone was going to get into heaven, especially if they didn’t accept Him as the Son of God. He often reminded them that very few will enter the narrow gate but many would end up on the wide path which would lead them straight to hell.

Do you ever wonder what His demeanor would be like if He were to come to earth today? Have our church leaders prepared their flocks for what He would say and do? I don’t think they have. They have lead their flocks to believe that no matter what the situation is, don’t worry about it because Jesus has covered all of our offenses by His death on the cross. Although this is true, that doesn’t mean that His death gave us a “get out of jail free” card. It doesn’t completely clean us of all our sins if we continue to commit the same sins over and over again and then don’t humbly get down on our knees and beg for His forgiveness and then to honestly thank Him for His grace and mercy.

Answer me this, how do you think Jesus would have reacted had He walked into St. Peter’s Cathedral in NYC a couple of weeks ago during that disgusting farse of a funeral for the atheist/trans/prostitute? You think He would have just sat quietly by like the priest did and let them continue to desicrate the holiness of the sanctuary of that cathedral? Of course He wouldn’t have. In fact, if you thought He got mad in the temple for the people turning it into a marketplace, how mad do you think He would have gotten with those at St. Peter’s? To be honest, I can’t even imagine how angry He would have been. It probably would have angered Him as much as Sodom and Gohmorrah had angered His Father, when God totally destroyed both cities! Poof! St. Peter’s and all in it gone within seconds!

I can guarantee you that Jesus does not take lightly what’s happening here in our country and all over the world and even though they say He doesn’t keep a scorecard, there’s no doubt that He probably is making an exception to the rule this time. I doubt very much that He’s going to ignore and overlook the behavior of His people. It’s going to take a lot for many of us to get back in good graces with Him this time around, especially for those who participate in all of the evil that has engulfed us. I also believe that those who remain silent in the wake of it all are not going to have it easy when they have to finally stand in front of Him and answer for all they did and didn’t do.

This is why it’s so very important that as believers today, we cannot be afraid to stand up against all that we know displeases or even angers Christ. We can’t pretend to be for Him on the outside while on the inside we’re not lifting a finger to do anything to defend His honor. After all, don’t we owe Him at least that much? After all He gave up His life and suffered beyond belief while we were still sinners! And He would do it again, even though we are still sinners.

If we are courageous and stand strong in our faith and stand up for Christ, the good news is, we will be rewarded for beyond anything that we might receive from this world. If we do what we can to further His kingdom and to honor Him by speaking out for the injustice and evil of this world without worrying about what others might think or how they might chastise us, the reward for that steadfast faith will bring us eternal life and what more could anyone ask for, eternal life spent in the presence of our Holy and loving Savior! How could there be any better news than that?

With God, it’s never too late to change our ways and the path we might be on right now. But no matter who we are, time is short so that means we must make the changes we need now, not tomorrow.