When confronted with the reality of Jesus' teachings of non-violence and self sacrificial love, many people immediately seek to undermine it - whether pro-violence Christians or non-violent atheists - by pointing to instances where Jesus seems to promote, be silent on, or actually commit acts of violence. One such event is Jesus' cleansing of the Temple.

The popular notion is that Jesus stormed into the Temple filled with fire and brimstone, whipping the money changers to within inches of their lives, kicking them and tossing them about. Yet this is a version not found in Scriptures when one actually reads them.

The story as it is found in each of the Gospels is as follows...

Matthew 21:12-16

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, "It is written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'; but you are making it a ROBBERS' DEN." And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became indignant and said to Him, "Do You hear what these children are saying?" And Jesus *said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF'?"

Mark 11:15-18

Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. And He began to teach and say to them, "Is it not written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'? But you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN." The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.

Luke 19:45-46

Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling, saying to them, "It is written, 'AND MY HOUSE SHALL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER,' but you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN."

John 2:14-22

And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business." His disciples remembered that it was written, "ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME." The Jews then said to Him, "What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

What one immediately notes is that nowhere is Jesus shown committing an act of violence against any person. Luke says only that Jesus was driving them out, which says nothing about HOW Jesus was driving them out. Mark says that Jesus was prohibiting people from carrying merchandise through the Temple, but again says nothing about HOW He was doing this. The idea that Jesus was using violence here can only be assumed by those who cannot imagine how one could accomplish these things non-violently. Either that, or they are simply unaware of the techniques of non-violence, thinking it to be little more than the stereotypical "asking them nicely to stop."

To be generous, I think it is reasonable to think it the latter case. Many think that non-violence means passive non-resistance, and so non-violence entails letting people go about doing whatever they wish to do and not getting in the way, not causing social disruption. Causing social disruption and throwing a monkey wrench into the wheels of the culture is exactly what non-violent resistance is all about. And this is exactly what Jesus did in the Temple.

What Jesus IS shown doing is using the whip to provoke the sacrificial animals to leave the Temple. Otherwise, He is only shown overturning tables, kicking over stools, and dumping our bags of money... All of which are acts of "violence" against property. Jesus was disrupting the process of commerce in the Temple by attacking its infrastructure, not the people perpetrating it. Nor did the moneychangers feel exceptionally threatened by Him: indeed many would have fled out of cowardice, but many also stood around talking to Him, which provided Jesus the opportunity to preach to them.

All of this is rather standard non-violence tactics... It might even be said that these tactics originated with Jesus Himself. First one must disrupt, to shut down the system of oppression so that grievances can be thrust into the limelight. This disruption must come to the system only, and not to individuals. One of the cardinals rules of pacifism is that it is the system which should be destroyed, not the individuals in that system. Holding the blame on the individuals allows one to dehumanize them which then allows one to justify acts of violence against them. If we are to love our enemies, then we cannot see them truely as our enemies, but rather as potential converts. And this is the essense of non-violence: not to defeat the enemy, but to convert them.

To not commit acts of violence against a person is also just smart. Had Jesus actually attacked someone physically, then Jesus would not have been blameless: His arrest would have been immediately forthcoming as an assaulter and a criminal. Yet here we have the Temple priests sitting back and plotting, trying to find an excuse to get Him arrested. Evidently at the time, civil disobedience wasn't even illegal! This theme of engaging in resistance but being open and responsible for it while being blameless for it before the law is a theme that comes up again in the writings of Peter and Paul.

In not attacking people, Jesus didn't come across as fearsome. He was certainly angry, but it was a righteous anger and it is righteous anger, carefully discerned as such, which drives all non-violent resistance. We already demonstrated that the moneychangers themselves stood around talking with Jesus. But we are also shown the children and the sick flocking to Him! Would they have done so, singing His praises, if we had been running around attacking people?

After the Luke passage, Jesus is shown preaching at the Temple day after day. Luke 19:47-20:8: And He was teaching daily in the temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men among the people were trying to destroy Him, and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said. On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him, and they spoke, saying to Him, "Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?" Jesus answered and said to them, "I will also ask you a question, and you tell Me: "Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?" They reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why did you not believe him?' "But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet." So they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, "Nor will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

The people are hanging on Jesus' every word, and can one blame them? Here they are, oppressed by both the religious and the political systems of their time, and then along comes this Rabbi who has led a populist non-violent uprising which confronts this very system they are oppressed under. Jesus, in His preaching, even goes so far as to undermine the very authority of the Temple priests themselves!

Far from an act of violence, Jesus action in the Temple was a case study - THE case study - of non-violent resistance in action. Every step of non-violence is here: disrupt the system, convert the enemy, undermine the authority of the system, teach a new and better way, work from the grassroots. Like many passages taken to support violence, on careful examination, it becomes one of the stronger statments against violence.