YouVersion

It seems like Jesus could have begun a wedding wine ministry. It worked, why not do it again and then do seminars on how to bring joy to wedding participants. How easily I can think of focusing on something that is such a small piece of what God wants to do. As in the case of the water turned into wine, it was only a glimpse, only a foreshadowing that allowed people to trust Him for the things that really matter.
So maybe it is not unexpected for the scene to change so drastically. He showed his glory and his disciples believed. And then some regular days and an event that seems so opposite, the cleansing of the Temple. Maybe it isn't actually so opposite. Maybe he still wants to bring joy and is just taking an obstacle away from those who could have joy too. Maybe it isn't that different for wine to be given to a wedding party and for the Court of the Gentiles to actually be given back to the Gentiles that they could worship, connect with God and pray.
Jesus seems unpredictable. But only because we tend to see only a trait or two and miss the complexity and the wonder o all He is. He is gentle and forgiving and then so powerful that people would rather be separated from their money than deal with this vibrant powerful man with some cords twisted together. Somehow I love it that he could be the guy to have at the party, the one to teach us to pray and turn right around and stand up to Rambo. Jesus is a man. Jesus defines manhood and it is so much more than the narrow idea we have of macho. Jesus is so alive that it makes me think that being alive is a very good thing.
There is anger that isn't a sin. Anger can be righteous. That is a dangerous statement because most of our anger isn't righteous. Jesus cared so much for the nations, like we should, that he was willing to do something to bless them, to open the way for them to experience the with-God life too.
Such actions are powerfully freeing and do so much to lift up people, just that someone would care and believe in them and make their lives better.
Such actions only take little while. The meeting to explain yourself might take longer. Jesus was questioned about what gave him the right to do such a thing. His answer is what tells us that this was for the nations, for the non-Jews that God always had in mind to bless as well. These same meetings are sometimes held in churches. "We don't want those people here." "You're gong to destroy our building." "the church isn't for people like that." And we have to be ready to say that God has always meant to bless all people. The church is here to open people to God and make the conversation (prayer) a possibility instead of excluding people from the very thing God has provided.
Of course the authority to clear the Court of Gentiles came because of how he would serve them (and us) not by a seat on the Sanhedrin. He would build the temple they destroyed by resurrecting it. He would die for the sins of all people. He did not give himself to his questioners. Not as a withholding of blessing or belonging. They weren't ready to hear, they were not ready to be his talmidim, his disciples and so he would wait for their readiness. So is that really like a rejection? Would that ever happen? O yes! God is at work drawing us to himself. Whenever Christ is lifted up, people are drawn to him. The very next passage of Scripture tells the story of a seeking Pharisee who was also part of the Seventy.
Our mission, should choose to accept it, is to keep the way open for the nations, all people, even the people who try to keep it from happening, to enter the conversation, the belonging, the forgiveness and the life that is offered: the Kingdom of heaven has come near.