Did Jesus love the moneychangers? What about the Pharisees? Of course He did. We all know that. His love for them tended to look a little different than his love for overt sinners or even his own disciples (who were constantly blowing it). Was "turning over the tables" in the temple an act of love? It was an act of love for God for certain. I also think it was an act of love for the people who were being taken advantage of in the name of religion. But, what about those pesky moneychangers? Was it an act of love for them as well? Could it be that sometimes love is confrontational. Could it be that Jesus knew that they were "better than that?" Could it be that He loved them too much to let them get comfortable in a system where they were using religion for their own benifiet at the expense of others, when it is supposed to be exactly the other way around? And what about the Pharissees? I can't find anyone that Jesus was harder on in scripture than them. There's no question that He loved them though. Could it be that Jesus' love for them wouldn't allow Him to prop themselves up with false religion when the real thing was so much better? Could it be that His dream for them was so much bigger than the lie they had accepted that He just couldn't stomach it? Was He just trying to get their attention by any means neccessary so that they could find a better way? As followers of Jesus, we are called to love everyone. Somtimes that love requires confrontation. I hate that because I'm not a confrontational person. I don't like being confronted (who does?) and I don't like confronting others. Maybe sometimes I love my own comfort more than I love others, whether they are caught up in an overtly sinful lifestyle or whether they are living out a self centered Christianity. Maybe sometimes I don't love people enough to point them toward the dream that God has for this world and their part in it. Maybe sometimes Jesus turns over some tables in my life because my Christianity is too much about me and not enough about God's dream that I would love Him and let Him love and change the world through me.

AE