He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area with the sheep and the oxen and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables and to those who sold doves, he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”

John 2:15-16

Jesus comes to the Temple and sees merchants selling sheep and oxen for sacrifice at exorbitant prices, taking advantage of people. He also sees that they are buying and selling in the outer courtyard, interfering with Gentiles who are praying. 

Jesus turns over the tables and yells at the merchants and money-changers to get out of his Father’s house because they are making it a place of business rather than a place of worship. They are using God to make a profit while getting in the way of people worshipping. He offers some very strong and unequivocal feedback that this was unacceptable. 

When there is evil in our lives or something we are doing wrong, feedback can feel very unwelcome — as if someone is overturning everything in our lives. Pray for the grace to get over those feelings and lean into honest feedback.