John 2:12-22 THE LION AND THE LAMB

John 2:12–22 introduces us to the Jesus contemporary Christianity has practically edited out. This is not the domesticated, endlessly agreeable “Jesus meek and mild.” This is the Lion of the tribe of Judah—burning with holy zeal, driving corruption from His Father’s house, overturning tables, and scattering the profits of religious exploitation across the floor.

Yet this is not another Jesus. The Lamb is the Lion. His grace never compromises His holiness, and His love is fierce enough to confront whatever defiles what belongs to His Father. And we desperately need this side of Jesus, because a love that only soothes can never cleanse. Sometimes divine love comforts us; sometimes it overturns the tables of our lives. But it always loves us too deeply to leave us unchanged.