Passional Christi vnnd Antichristi , an annotated digital edition

Page 28

This image also is conventional New Testament fare of Christ Expelling the Money-Changers from the Temple. At right, Jesus holds a whip to scourge the offending corrupters, dressed like contemporary German peasants, who retreat, cowering, with their goods, including lambs and doves used for temple sacrifices. Once more they move toward the left, against the grain of normal reading, to show their resistance as they are being driven away from their usual stand, now marked with an overturned table in the center foreground. Behind Jesus stands the row of apostles as witnesses, discussing his righteous anger. The texts are appropriate passages: John 2: 14-16, with commentary from Matthew 10:8 and Acts 8: 20 (“May your money be with you in perdition”).