My sermon text for Sunday September 21st, 2025, is on Matthew 21:12-14. In this section of scripture, we see Jesus getting upset in the Temple. The temple was meant to be a place of prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7). But by Jesus’ day, the outer courts had become a marketplace. Pilgrims who traveled long distances to worship had to buy animals for sacrifice. The religious leaders allowed vendors to set up shop—charging inflated prices. The money changers profited by exchanging Roman coins for temple currency at unfair rates.
This was exploitation in the very place designed for worship. The priests looked the other way because they benefitted financially. Here’s how it reads:
12 Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 He said to them, “It is written,
‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’
but you are making it a den of robbers.”
14 The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them.
I’m human too and there are times when I get angry. Let’s look at what made Jesus angry, how He handled anger and how we can too:
Jesus’ Example | Our Application |
1. Righteous, not selfish – He was angry over sin, injustice, and dishonor to God, never personal offense. | 1. Check the motive – Ask: Am I angry for myself, or because something truly dishonors God or hurts others? |
2. Controlled, not out of control – He expressed anger with purpose, never recklessly. | 2. Stay in control – Slow down before speaking or acting (James 1:19–20). |
3. Rooted in love – His anger flowed from compassion (Mark 3:5). | 3. Let love guide it – Care about people more than proving a point. |
4. Led to action, not bitterness – His anger moved Him to correct wrongs, not nurse grudges. | 4. Act, don’t brood – Solve problems quickly, don’t let resentment take root (Eph. 4:26–27). |
5. Aligned with God’s will – He entrusted His emotions to the Father (1 Pet. 2:23). | 5. Submit it to God – Pray and let the Spirit shape your response before reacting. |
Application: Jesus confronts corruption—He won’t tolerate greed or self-interest in God’s house. Jesus restores prayer—He reminds us that God’s house and God’s people are to be marked by prayer. Jesus welcomes the broken—He makes room for the hurting, the overlooked, the ones who need healing. What tables in your life need overturning?
