Christ's Temple Purge: The Lesson in Righteous Anger
Understanding Righteous Anger and the Christ's Temple Purge Coin
Christianity’s influence on men, and their behavior, cannot be denied. There are small pockets of ignorance around the world, but most of humanity has a passing understanding of Christianity’s precepts. Its adoption by billions of people on earth has transformed men from barbarians to civilians. And the civilized world has been defined by its rules of behavior - do good, avoid bad.
From God's Law to Christ's Example
This journey began with Moses’ hike up Mt. Sinai and his being given the 10 Commandments by God the Father. These were God’s dictates, not simply suggestions. They were serious constraints, restraints and admonitions. Avoid them or be condemned to Hell.
When God sent Jesus, His Only Begotten Son, to earth He sought to reward and encourage men, for their good behavior rather than simply admonish them for their bad behavior. God had already told humanity the things He did not want them to do. Now, in His stead, His Son would literally come to earth to show mankind what they should do in order to gain salvation in Heaven.
2025 "Christ’s Temple Purge" Silver Proof Coin, by Chris Duane
Of course there are some gray areas within both sets of rules. And, as can be seen in Chris’s new coin, Christ’s Temple Purge, not all “bad” behavior will result in condemnation to Hell nor will all “good” behavior get you a free-ride into Heaven either. These penumbras acknowledge the vagaries of human nature as defined by God.
Christ’s birth was momentous. His mission on earth was to exemplify the best of mankind’s behavior. While living among God’s creations, Christ would emanate, embrace and seek to enhance the innate good in men and women, rather than to simply expose and criticize their bad behavior. He would become a living example of the innate possibility of mankind’s ability to attain sainthood.
There would no longer be just one set of behavioral restrictions to avoid, there would be another set of positive behavior traits to pursue as well. Unlike His Father, Christ’s teachings would encourage positive activity rather than simply stress the avoidance of bad behavior. This would complete, and define, the whole of man’s humanity, both physical and spiritual.
As mentioned, Christ was a living example of what the human condition could look like if mankind were to adhere to He and His Father’s teachings. Jesus raised mankind out of the muck and gave it the ability to do good.
Jesus's Humanity and Divine Mission
Reading about Christ’s life is like taking a psychology course. He experienced every human emotion that mankind experiences and in doing so, led the way to a better life on earth. He was truly God and man in that He was capable of raising people from the dead, walking on water, changing water into wine or multiplying the loaves and fishes, but He was also able to cry upon the death of his dear friend Lazarus.
Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple, c. 1570-1575, El Greco, Greek
Jesus experienced nearly all of the emotions associated with being human. He showed sympathy to the outcast Samaritan woman at the well and compassion for the hungry multitude who attended His teaching sessions. Christ experienced fear and anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane just before His crucifixion, but stood bravely silent at His condemnation by Pontius Pilate. He expressed His love for His 12 Apostles, but also showed disgust for the behavior of the Pharisees.
Christ showed great admiration for people with faith in God and expressed joy while blessing the little children. He remained calm while crossing the Sea of Galilee with his disciples during a ferocious storm and yet was surprised by a Gentile woman’s strong faith. Jesus expressed satisfaction in His ability to do God’s will, and yet, He also suffered the emotions associated with the agony and pain of His Passion.
“Christ’s Temple Purge” Silver Coin from Silver Shield
The Lesson in Christ's Righteous Anger depicted in a new silver coin
The topic of Chris’s new coin, Christ’s Temple Purge, depicts the expression of a human emotion that most people have difficulty associating with the sinless person of Jesus. How is it possible that Christ went on a violent rampage defined by rage and fury? Isn’t that the antithesis of Christ’s teachings of love, joy and peace? Doesn’t that make Him a hypocrite? Isn’t anger a Cardinal Sin? Somehow, this one outburst makes people very uncomfortable today.
But, if we realize that everything Christ did on earth was to be taken as a teaching moment, then what can be extrapolated from this wild scene at the Temple? If we take a step back, we can see that the defining message in this lesson is that anger is sometimes necessary in order for man to give rise to the fervor necessary to confront a publicly accepted evil. It is never easy to be the sole opponent to anything.
In addition, Christ’s righteous eruption in the Temple shows that one good man can quickly make an enormous difference when angered by the propensity of greed, lust, betrayal, thievery or any one of the other sins as defined by God. Anger is sometimes a necessary evil, and in many cases, the imperative impetus to taking action, if the preponderance of evil is to be vanquished.
So GOOD MEN, rather than sit quietly by, and silently acquiesce to the ascendancy of evil behavior in this country, as exemplified by the Minneapolis Annunciation School shooting this morning, stand up and say, NO MORE!
Rail against evil both large and small, including the ban on school prayer, because when children are systematically denied their faith, evil prevails, and mass shootings become a possibility.
Yes, we must pray for those little, innocent, wounded children that Jesus loves so much, but we must also remember to thunder against the malevolent entities that precipitate these horrific events, just as Christ did in the Temple of Jerusalem more than 2000 years ago.
Other 2025 Silver Shield Proof Round releases
