Fierce or wrathful activity is one step more dramatic and aggressive than powerful activity. Instead of displaying authority, we blaze with it to ensure that truth prevails. . . . This ferocious form of love and warning is embodied in the images of the wrathful deities we see in the art of Tibetan Buddhism as well as other religions, such as Hinduism. We can also see it in the story about Jesus wrathfully chasing the moneylenders out of the holy temple. We can appreciate that the same Bodhisattva who can be peaceful (like Jesus in his sermons and his acts of benevolent mercy) can also be intensely wrathful in righting wrongs and bringing things back into balance. It all depends on the Bodhisattva's ability to choose the most skillful means at hand to promote the truth. Sometimes strong or even bitter medicine is required.
— Lama Surya Das, Buddha Is as Buddha Does