Bullhorn, Bullwhip, and Jesus

So I saw this youtube video called bullwhip guy which was a satire on Rob Bell’s Nooma video, “Bullhorn Guy.” I’ll be honest, I can see where they are coming from, all I’ve been taught about those passages regarding Jesus turning over the tables and releasing the animals was that what Jesus is doing at the temple is loosing his temper and being angry, throwing things about and judging and condemning.

I would like to suggest, that something else is going on here, that this story actually is a story of Jesus rebuking the religious leaders and defending the dignity of the marginalized and forgotten.

I suggest that we should look at what Jesus is doing at the Temple, and compare it to what bullhorn guy is doing on the street corners and see if they are of the same Spirit.

Let’s take a quick look at this passage (I’ve edited from what I previously had to make a more condensed and precise analysis than my original post)

Where was this act committed? Jerusalem, not just anywhere in Jerusalem…the Temple. Not just at any day of the year, but during Passover. Do you get it?… so to a Jewish mind in first Century Palestine this is in the most HOLY PLACE IN THE WORLD (Jerusalem) In the HOLIEST PLACE IN JERUSALEM (The Temple) during one of the most HOLY DAYS OF THE YEAR (Passover)! This wasn’t just a side note, this was HUGE! And it’s really hard for us to gain a true appreciation of this setting, but I think it’s safe to say that it’s something more like an incredibly popular catholic priest, going to the Vatican on Easter Sunday than it is like a random guy standing on the streets of LA on some random Thursday.

Secondly, Jerusalem was the city of the Jews, it was the Jewish holiday, it was the Jews Temple. Jesus, a Jew, was performing this act towards….Jews. Not the Greeks, not the Babylonians, not the Romans…the Jews, specifically turning over the tables of the Jewish money-changers. Not the average bystander, but the corrupt religious leaders are who he spoke against. Again, this is hard for us to fully appreciate, but I think it’s safe to say that this would be much more like speaking words of frustration and anger towards a group of pastors, deacons, and elders…than it would to be screaming words of judgment and condemnation to those who are not Christian. Bullhorn preaching of judgment and condemnation is usually aimed at the pagan…you will find absolutely NOWHERE in the gospels Jesus condemning a Gentile, a prostitute, a thief, or a tax-collector. If he speaks words of judgment they are always reserved for the religious.

Then continuing in Matthew:”And He said to them, ‘It is written, MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER; but you are making it a Robber’s Den.’ And the blind and the lame came to Him in the Temple, and He healed them.“

I have never heard this part preached during a sermon on this passage. I have always pictured this as the moment when Jesus looses his compassion, forfeits his mercy and love, and it was time for judgment, time for yelling and screaming and turning over tables…but what do we see happening here? IMMEDIATELY after he rebukes the religious leaders, he acts in compassion, grace, and love towards the unclean, marginalized, and forgotten. He brings sight to the blind and restores the lame. He brings a message not of destruction and damnation, but one of hope, of healing and restoration. Jesus makes it a habit to follow up his ‘thou shalt not’ with ‘thou shalt’ He always brings a message of love and hope and reconciliation. He sympathizes with the forgotten and marginalized.

Can the same be said about the message of bullhorn guy?

Notice what continues as well in Matthew, “But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children were crying out in the temple and sayin, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they became indignant…”

The word translated as wonderful, just simply does not capture the Greek. The word is thaumasios and it means “a miracle or a wondrous thing” I say it doesn’t capture the Greek because we say things today like, “Oh you just got a new car, that’s wonderful!” or “Your football team just won, how wonderful.” We seem to be saying something like, “how good!” or “exceedingly good.” Which of course this is, but it’s more than just a description of how “good” or “wonderful” something is, but describing the sort of thing that actually was happening. Miracles, wondrous things were happening.

This is a story of Jesus’ rebuking the religious leaders, yes, but also of miraculous healing and restoration of the unclean and oppressed.

Jesus was being praised and acknowledged as the Messiah, we read in Mark that the multitudes were amazed at his teachings, hanging on his every word.

Can the same praise be said about the bullhorn guy, that his/her teachings are so fresh, new, and creative that multitudes hang on their every word?

There’s another aspect to this. Let us look at John,

“He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money-changers, and overturned their tables; and those wo were selling the doves He said, ‘Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a house of merchandise.’ His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘ZEAL FOR THY HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.’ The Jews therefore answered and said to Him, ‘What sign do You show to us, seeing that You do these things?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’”

What is going on here? So the religious leaders see Jesus do this and their first response is not, “You evil person!” or “Demon possessed!” There first response is, “What sign do you show to us, seeing that you do these things?”

To a Jewish audience, cognizant of prophetic acts recognized that Jesus’ acts were more than an angry tirade, it was a prophetic act. Notice immediately after, he says, “Destroy the temple and I will rebuild it in three days.” This is a message of rebuilding and healing.

Can the same be said about bullhorn guy? Do the masses ask about more? Is the message conveyed a message of hope, reconciliation, redemption, and love?

Notice that it is not the prostitute, thief, or murderer that Jesus rebukes, but the religious leaders.

I agree that much of what bullhorn guy says is literally true. God hates evil. The wages of sin is death. But to make that the message is a lot like taking a beautiful symphony and putting on repeat those five seconds of build up before a beautiful crescendo, and never getting to the crescendo. Those first five seconds might be part of the song, but if that’s all that’s played…the song is never appreciated because the whole point of the song…the crescendo, is missed. You need to play the whole song.

The point is not hate, it’s not anger, it’s not judgment. The message is that the redemptive love of God permeates all throughout creation and brings life to dead places. That God is a God of the oppressed of the marginalized and forgotten.