阅读经文 

在耶稣洁净圣殿的这个故事中，我们看到耶稣有些烦恼，祂看起来很气愤。这和你通常对祂的印象一致吗？

商贩们在逾越节期间亵渎了圣殿，这个问题有几个原因，最主要的是，他们在人们原本应该祷告的地方卖献祭的动物。

另一个问题是哄抬物价，节日需要献祭牲，而那些远道而来的人很难一路带着动物。因此商贩们就向他们收取高价来获取最大利润。

所有这些都令耶稣烦恼。但祂的举动并不是没有目的，也不意味着失控。相反，耶稣洁净了一个神圣的空间，保护人们免受盘剥。祂主动承担了扭转错误的责任。

我们做耶稣的门徒，乃是蒙召将神放在我们生命的第一位，并为邻舍谋福祉。（参太 22:37-40）但是，我们仍会为罪挣扎。我们仍需要被纠正，甚至有时需要被责备。在那些时刻，耶稣可能会为了引起我们的注意，甚至对我们说严厉的话，使我们不再关注自己。祂要使我们更加像祂。

In this story about Jesus clearing the temple courts, we have a picture in which Jesus is upset and seems to be angry. Does this fit with the way you normally think of him?

Vendors are defiling the temple area during the Passover festival, and that is a problem for a couple of reasons. For one thing, they are selling animals in a space where people are supposed to be able to pray.

Another concern is price gouging. Animal sacrifices are required for the festival, and it can be difficult for travelers to bring animals a long distance. So the merchants are maximizing profits by charging the travelers high prices for their animals.

All of this makes Jesus rightly upset. But this is not without purpose, and it does not mean he is out of control. Instead, Jesus is purifying a holy space and protecting people from exploitation. He is taking on something wrong and setting it right.

As we seek to be followers of Jesus, we are called to put God first in our lives and to seek our neighbors' well-being (see Matthew 22:37-40). But we continue to struggle against sin. We still need to be corrected and even rebuked at times. In those moments Jesus may need to get our attention, or even speak a hard word to us, to shake us out of focusing on ourselves. He's making us more like him.