Still thinking of a letter by an Idaho Falls woman to Newsweek and my ending question, I read some interesting responses the other day . . . one from a Southern Baptist and one from a Lutheran.
A Baptist scholar wrote this about Jesus in John 2 when he cleansed the temple, “The way Jesus reacted to the Jewish merchandising in the temple troubles some who cannot conceive of a loving Jesus being angry. But spineless love is hardly love. Instead, characteristics that adhere to anger and judgment can in fact be the obverse side of the coin of love. Personality is not single-faceted, and any theology that is monofocal and fails to encompass both love and judgment ultimately ends up in heresy” (p. 164). – taken from The New American Commentary (Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996) by Gerald L. Borchert
A Lutheran scholar penned, “The public minstry of Jesus begins with an act of holy wrath and indignation. The Son cleans his Father’s house with the lash of the scourge. No halfway measures, no gradual and gentle correction will do in a matter as flagrant as this. The aorists of the narrative are impressive; they state what was done, done in short order, done decisively and completely, begun and finished then and there.” . . . “During the entire proceeding Jesus never lost his self-control; if he had, he would have sinned. The stern and holy Christ, the indignant, mighty Messiah, the Messenger of the Covenant of whom it is written: ‘He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering of righteousness,’ is not agreeable to those who want only a soft and sweet Christ. But John’s record here, and that of the second cleansing of the Temple (Matt. 21:12, etc., and the parallels), portray the fiery zeal of Jesus which came with sudden and tremendous effectiveness that before this unknown man, who had no further authority than his own person and word, this crowd of traders and changers, who thought they were fully within their rights when conducting their business in the Temple court, fled pell-mell like a lot of naughty boys” (205-207). – taken from The Interpretation of John (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1943) by R.C.H. Lenski
Jesus in Idaho Falls 
It was nice however, that, in the words of Talmadge, “he refrained from assaulting the cages containing the helpless birds, but rather commanded ‘take these things hence.'”
Seth, I would agree with you on what I believe to be an instructive nuance in the text. Lanski would not acknowledge this.
When in righteous wrath, remember compassion.
For thus it is written where Jesus “said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence.”
The money grubbers could regather their oxen and sheep, but the doves probably would have been lost from their owners. In His wrath, Jesus has mercy.
Thanks for pointing this out.