New Testament 273

Bloch, Jesus, Temple, Moneychangers — “Jesus Casting Out the Moneychangers”
Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890)
Wikimedia CC Public Domain
(Click to enlarge.)

Compare Matthew 21:12-13; John 2:13-17

Once more, the ever-accepting, totally non-judgmental Jesus asserted by some seems to be completely invisible in the New Testament.

Obviously, we can’t use his example here to charter our own harsh behavior toward those of whom we disapprove or with whom we disagree. Jesus was the Only Begotten Son of God, the Messiah, and the Redeemer. He was morally perfect. We aren’t. Thus, we lack not only the authority but the standing.

But it seems clear that the notion of Christianity as a vague thing without standards and unable to form judgments has no basis in the gospel accounts of the life of Christ.

Incidentally, the harmony that I’m following — Kurt Aland, Synopsis of the Four Gospels: Greek-English Edition of the Synopsis Quattuor Evangeliorum, 14th ed. (Stuttgart: German Bible Society, 2009) — makes this a separate entry (273) from 271, for reasons that aren’t immediately clear to me.