Why Does Jesus Get So Angry at the Temple?

“It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”” John 2:13-16 (NLT)

A couple of years ago in our youth group, we were reading through the book of John together and having an ongoing discussion about it during our small groups. One of the students in my small group asked a good question about the time when Jesus gets angry at the Temple:

“This may be a stupid question but why does Jesus get so mad in this passage? Jesus didn’t really get mad at people and loves everyone so I’m a bit confused on why he’s so angry at people here but isn’t anywhere else in the Bible.”

I told her that it’s actually not a stupid question at all because like she said, from what we know about Jesus it seems a little out of character. Then, I went on to explain to her what I thought but encouraged her to do some research of her own to come to some of her own conclusions, and I gave her some additional resources.

I addressed the 2 things she brought up:

1. Why Jesus gets angry (even though he loves everyone)
2. Jesus isn’t angry anywhere else in the Bible

Because other people probably have similar questions, I thought I’d share a longer version of my response to her about why Jesus gets angry and also give some additional resources here as well.

Why does Jesus get so angry at the Temple if he loves everyone?

I think Jesus gets angry BECAUSE of his love for everyone. In this passage, he demonstrates a “righteous anger”. He had a good reason to be angry because of corruption and injustice that was hurting people. However, he still did not sin in his anger.

“Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.” Psalm 4:4 (ESV)

“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger” Ephesians 4:26 (ESV)
“This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.” Hebrews 4:15 (NLT)

Corruption and injustice

Since it was Passover, Jews from ALL over came to Jerusalem, and custom/law required them to bring a sacrifice. Many could not bring animals that far of a distance due to the cost, inconvenience, and potential of that animal becoming injured or “blemished” in some way during the travels which would have made the animal unfit for sacrifice. Therefore they had to purchase a sacrificial animal when they arrived. Some historians say that prior to coming they would have sold an animal at home that they would have used as a sacrifice and would then use that money from the sale to purchase a replacement animal for sacrifice.

In the scripture passage, the people selling the animals and doing money exchanges (just like we have to do when we go out of the country and have to exchange currency for the local currency) were taking advantage of people and cheating people out of their money by overcharging and gouging them. I think of this like when there’s a hurricane coming and the gas stations start WAY overcharging & price-gouging for gas because they know people have to buy the gas to get out of town–so basically cheating and taking advantage of people.

The focus wasn’t on God in an area designated for worship

Then on top of all of that, they were doing this INSIDE the temple courts which would have crowded out and disrupted the worship taking place there during the Passover celebration. The focus wasn’t on God with all of the cheating and merchandising going on in the temple courts. Jesus said they turned a house of prayer into a den of thieves and called these people robbers or thieves.

“He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” Matthew 21:13 (NLT)

“He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”” Mark 11:17 (NLT)

“He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”” Luke 19:46 (NLT)

“Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”” John 2:16 (NLT)

Jesus gets angry because of sinful behavior and injustice, because people were being hurt and cheated (quite possibly even women & widows—see Mark 12:40), and because they made religion a matter of monetary profit.

Jesus isn’t angry “anywhere else in the Bible”—Actually, he WAS…

As far as Jesus not being angry anywhere else in the Bible, actually, he WAS in a few different instances:

• In Mark 3:1-5 Jesus “looked around angrily & was deeply saddened by their hard hearts”.
• In John 11:33 & 38, the Bible says Jesus was angry (in fact it says “deep anger”), but this anger was directed at death.
• Mark 10:13-16 says that Jesus was “angry with his disciples” and got onto them for their mistreatment and hindrance of children coming to him (see also Luke 17:2).
• In Matthew 23 Jesus displayed a vocal/verbal anger with the Pharisees saying things like “woe to you” and “you hypocrites,” “blind guides,” “fools,” and “you snakes, you brood of vipers”.
• In Mark 11:12-14 Jesus gets angry at a fig tree for not bearing fruit and curses it (basically showing anger at unfruitfulness—not doing what you’re supposed to do).
• Then on several occasions, we can see Jesus correcting his disciples and followers.

So he DID get angry on several occasions, but the thing to recognize is that he was angry yet never sinned (Hebrews 4:15, Ephesians 4:26). Jesus got angry for the right reasons but was never malicious or hateful about it.

Even though Jesus gets angry, he still maintains self-control

Even in the temple, he merely drove the people and animals out without hurting them or causing destruction. Notice in the passage that he did not let the doves out of their cages. Had he done this the owners wouldn’t have been able to retrieve them, so he was still considerate even as he was driving them out. Nor did he ruin, throw away, or steal the money of the money exchangers. The text says he merely overturned the tables. He still maintained self-control and was not destructive or harmful. He didn’t even do these things impulsively or immediately, indicated because he took the time to make a whip out of cords in John 2:15.

Additional References/Resources on this passage:

Here’s a good YouTube video explanation:

Also–Click here for a great commentary by Matthew Henry.

Righteous anger

Sometimes there’s good reason to be angry. Anger is a normal emotion. It’s not a sin. It’s how we handle that anger and that could be displeasing to God and unhelpful to us, especially if we let anger rule and dictate our thoughts, choices, decisions, and behaviors. Therefore, anger itself is not a sin, yet it can cause us to sin. Make sense? The Bible calls the kind of anger that causes us to sin “human anger”.

“Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.” James 1:20 (NLT)

However, there IS a righteous anger. It is RIGHT to get angry about injustice, corruption, mistreatment of others, and so much more. We SHOULD get angry about these things.

Both Jesus and God demonstrated righteous anger as well as demonstrated in the previous examples stated and in the following scriptures:

“God is an honest judge. He is angry with the wicked every day.” Psalm 7:11 (NLT)

“They even sacrificed their own sons and daughters in the fire. They consulted fortune-tellers and practiced sorcery and sold themselves to evil, arousing the LORD’s anger. Because the LORD was very angry with Israel, he swept them away from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained in the land.” 2 Kings 17:17-18 (NLT)

“The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on his foes and vents his wrath against his enemies.” Nahum 1:2 (NIV)

“But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.” Romans 1:18 (NLT)

“And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.” Mark 3:5 (ESV)

“When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled.” John 11:33 (NLT)

“Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance.” John 11:38 (NLT)

“Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves.” Matthew 21:12 (NLT)

Take Some Practical Steps to Learn From Jesus Getting Angry:

• First, understand WHY Jesus gets angry. Know that it was righteous anger, not wrong in any way and that he did not sin.

• Secondly, follow Jesus’ example. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having righteous anger. Just do not sin in your anger.

Certain things, especially those things that hurt others, SHOULD make you mad. Anger is just an emotion. You just need to avoid the negative behaviors that anger might prompt your human nature to do. Stand up to those things like Jesus did without sinning or hurting, and maintain self-control as Jesus did.

“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger” Ephesians 4:26 (ESV)

• Next, don’t evoke the righteous anger of God.

Don’t take advantage of or cheat people. Additionally, don’t be a stumbling block or disruption to others’ worship of and/or walk with God.

• Finally, if you have been dealing with some of your own anger consider reading these other helpful posts on dealing with your own anger:

4 Things to Do With Your Anger

Scriptures on Anger

Does it surprise you that Jesus gets angry? How do you handle your own righteous anger? Share with us by leaving a comment below.

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are rude, disrespectful, sarcastic, offensive, divisive, or off-topic.  By posting on this site you agree to my Comment Policy.

P.S.  If you liked this post, you might enjoy receiving new posts delivered right to your inbox each week!  Sign up here. 

If you know anyone that could benefit from this, please pay it forward!  Share this post via the sharing links below.  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)

**Updated: Originally posted 10/19/2019