The ‘Cleansing of the Temple’ — Jesus’ premeditated ‘direct action’ against the economic system of animal sacrifice, just prior to his arrest…
Today’s Gospel reading (for the third Sunday in Lent) was the Cleansing of the Temple. http://www.io.com/~kellywp/YearB/Lent/BLent3.html
John 2:13-22
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”…
Although I’ve never heard it mentioned anywhere other than in J.R. Hyland’s articles & book, it amounted to a public act of animal liberation — the last straw before Jesus’ arrest. One of the other Gospel accounts implies pretty clearly that it was intentional and premeditated, whether or not the animals were the main thing. But in any case, it was a deliberate act that brought down a centuries-old, entrenched, accepted-without-question cultural system of abuse that had been perpetuated to the honor of an institutional god (like so many entrenched abusive systems of our day). Gotta love it!
Book:
God’s Covenant with Animals: A Biblical Basis for the Humane Treatment of All Creatures
Spirituality without action is fruitless and
social action without spirituality is heartless.
We are boldly political without being partisan
Having a partisan-free place to stand liberates the religious patriot
to see clearly, speak courageously, and act daringly.”
– The Rev. J. Edwin Bacon