John 2:15

John 2:15 - ""καὶ ποιήσας φραγέλλιον ἐκ σχοινίων πάντας ἐξέβαλεν ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τά τε πρόβατα καὶ τοὺς βόας, καὶ τῶν κολλυβιστῶν ἐξέχεεν τὰ κέρματα καὶ τὰς τραπέζας ἀνέτρεψεν" Translated: "So He made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle. He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables."

I found it interesting when I was doing the bible studies here that most were under the impression that Jesus made a whip and then was using it on the money changers and driving everything out of the temple. And when you look at much of the classical artwork that depicts the scene, they have Christ with the whip raised and the money changers all cowering under Him. But this is NOT what happened, nor is it what scripture actually says. If you read it fast, without looking to the Holy Spirit for guidance, you could easily come to that conclusion. But slow down and look at the verse. 'He made a whip of small cords and drove all from the temple courts" is the action of the verse. Then a comma and then a CLARIFYING statement, 'both sheep and cattle' and THEN a period. He did not use a whip on men, only the beasts which is how you would get them moving out of the temple. We don't stop and think about this, if Jesus used a whip on men, it would be a sin, and Jesus was sinless. All He did was overturn their tables and tell them to stop. This is a misconception that so many seem to make and it is NOT because of their ability to understand...it is because of all they have seen in the artwork, everything they have been told. Along with a little help from the enemy to confuse, after all, if Christ can beat people, why can't we, right? So it is important to understand what happened when Christ drove out the money changers. It was not a scene with Him angrily whipping people and throwing them all out, he made a whip to move the livestock out of the temple and then dumped their money over and said do not do this. Angry, yes, righteously so, but not the way it is portrayed, this was not Charles Bronson in a violent action movie. Hopefully this brings everyone a little closer to the character of Christ.