Christ Driving the
Money Changers from the Temple
by El Greco
John
2: 13 - 16
The Passover of the Jews was near, and
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
In the temple he found people selling cattle,
sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple,
both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money
changers and overturned their tables. He told those
who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my
Father's house a marketplace!"
Matthew 21: 12 - 15
Then Jesus entered the temple and drove
out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables
of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them,
"It is written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer'; but you
are making it a den of robbers." The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured
them. But when the chief priests and the scribes
saw the amazing things that he did, and heard the children crying out in the
temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became angry.
Reflection
El Greco's
interpretation of "Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple" is probably
one of the more famous visual versions of this biblical passage. El Greco was a
Renaissance-era artist whose work became more appreciated in the 20th century
than during his own time. He is known for his elongated figures; his style was
probably influenced by Byzantine art.
Let's take
a look at this painting: Why do you
think Jesus is dressed in red? Notice
that he is brandishing a whip. In this dramatic snapshot of a moment in time,
the merchants on the left are dodging his blows. I love the ribs of the one
fellow and the musculature of the other one (in yellow), in this depiction.
Try putting
your hand over the right half of the picture and then the left half. Compare how
different the two sides are from each other - almost like two different scenes.
The men on the right are understood to be the disciples. It looks like at least
two different conversations are going on. What do you think the disciples are
saying? And how many of all these people are actually looking at Jesus? There
is an over-turned table in the foreground, but no coins are in evidence. What
else is missing? Where are the doves, the cattle, and the sheep?
As happens
frequently, the Gospel of John tells the Good News a little differently than
the synoptic versions (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). I find it interesting that
this painting has elements of each, but important pieces are left out, too.
Only in John do we read that Jesus was wielding a whip of cords, which El Greco
has depicted here. However, John makes it clear that Jesus was using the whip
to drive out the animals (the sheep and cattle), not to whip any people. Yet in
this painting, we see no animals at all.
And in
Matthew, we learn that after this dramatic act, the blind and the lame came to
Jesus, and the children were crying out in acclaim for this "Son of
David". To me, it seems that the Jesus depicted in the painting is more
violent and frightening than the one portrayed in the Gospels. If an enraged
(unbalanced?) man barged into the temple, beating people unaccountably, would
vulnerable people such as children and the blind and the lame be attracted to
him? I think not.
So what is
going on in this scene? My view is that not only is Jesus purifying his
Father's temple, but he is also standing up for the "little guy".
People who could not easily afford to travel have made their pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the
Passover. Imagine arriving in town after a long journey - you're tired, dusty,
maybe hungry, and probably feeling a little disoriented. This may be the only chance in your lifetime
that you'll be able to offer a sacrifice in the Temple. And now you're being charged
exorbitant, perhaps prohibitive, fees by these "insiders". It's no
wonder that Jesus' actions resonated with the people. He was "doing
justice" - standing up for people
being taken advantage of. Speaking up
when we see someone being wronged, standing up to bullies: following in those
footsteps is how we can all try to be more Christ-like.
Nancy Langham
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