Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19, and John 2 all tell about Christ cleansing the temple. In later posts I’ll talk more about some of the differences in these accounts, but I thought that a fun way to initially approach this passage is through film. Here are three different video versions of Christ cleansing the temple. Which one resonates with you?
From the movie,The Gospel of John.
From the movie,The Son of God.
From LDS Bible Video Series.
While I like all of these video depictions, none of them show my favorite passage connected with this scene: “Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple” (John 2:13–15).
I love the insight that the Savior didn’t just go crazy, flipping over tables, but first took the time to make a scourge (whip). How long did that take? I think it’s a fun classroom or FHE activity to let people braid a small whip. This can be as simple as giving each participant three foot-long pieces of yarn and having them make a small whip. The only challenge is preventing whipping each other become the FHE activity!
To me, one lesson from this passage is that the Savior was in control of his emotions. Yes, things were going wrong, and so he needed to take action. But no, this did not mean that he lost his temper and lost control. In my life, the next time I’m tempted to get angry, I probably won’t braid a whip, but hopefully I can at least count to 10 or do something similar to help me remember, that I can choose to be calm. The braided yarn we make can serve as a visual reminder of this principle.
And in case you can’t get enough video clips of the Savior cleansing the temple, there are more here, here, here, and here.
