Today’s Reading: Mark 11:15-18

This passage has always been exciting, but also unnerving. I don’t know what to do with or how to feel about Jesus’ anger, particularly when it is expressed in a physical way! In our society, we (especially women) are taught not to express our anger and especially not to lash out physically. What does it mean that Jesus did in this story?

As I read the story this time, I noticed something that I hadn’t in my previous readings. The text says that Jesus drives the people out of the Temple and flips the tables as a part of teaching. This is a way of teaching a lesson, of driving home a point. I am inspired to think about my own life and my own hard-headedness (or perhaps hard-heartedness). I wonder how often I am willing and able to hear things I don’t want to hear. I wonder how often I am willing to learn tough lessons through the words of others or a gentle nudge of the Spirit. I wonder how different I am from the money-changers who need their tables flipped and their world turned upside down to get the point. I am grateful for a God who will do whatever it takes to get through to me.

What do you notice in this text? What inspiration do you find?