March 7, 2021
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois
John 2:13-22[1]
This passage from John is known as “The Cleansing of the
Temple.” You might also call it, “Jesus Loses His Temper.” Like many of the
things Jesus did, it was shocking, scandalous even. Rocking the boat, upsetting
the status-quo, can get you into trouble quick, and I’m sure this outburst was
used as an excuse to have him arrested. And like many of the things Jesus did,
he was teaching through action. There is some background that we may not know
which would have been understood by those present at the time.
The Passover was near, the annual celebration of the exodus
from Egypt. Faithful Jews would come to the temple in Jerusalem to offer
sacrifices, and pray for deliverance. This sacred space was considered the
dwelling place of God on earth. At the time Jesus came through, it was a
magnificent sight. A restoration and expansion project had been underway for
many years, started by Herod the Great in 20 BCE. There were walled courtyards,
many gates with special significance, and separate areas for priests, ritually
pure men, women, and even Gentiles.
The Court of the Gentiles was where the market-like activity
took place. It would have been bustling with cattle, sheep, doves, people
shouting, and coins clanging. The temple tax had to be paid in temple coinage,
hence the need for money-changers to make the exchange. Sacrificial animals had
to be without blemish – a challenge for those travelling any distance – so
animals were available for purchase. These were all understood as necessary for
the functioning of the temple. One might ask, however, if it was necessary for
the market to be within the temple walls, in the one area in which Gentiles
were allowed to enter and pray.
Jesus had been here before, and with the wisdom of years and
an eye for injustice, he saw a sacred space being profaned by commerce. We may
see it too, in subtle ways, when the mission of our churches slowly gives way
to the functions and bureaucracy of a business. The focus shifts, unintentionally,
from making disciples and nurturing ministry to filling the pews and meeting
the goals of the capital campaign. Soon the building is full of cattle, sheep,
and accountants!
Jesus loses his temper, makes a whip out of cords, and
creates holy havoc. You can imagine the scene, tables turned over, coins scattered
every which way, animals squealing, and people yelling. “Stop making my
Father’s house a marketplace!” he shouted.
As the dust settled, they may have remembered being warned
that something like this would happen. The prophet Malachi had said “See, I am
sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek
will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you
delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.”[2]
They knew that someday the Lord would show up in the temple, they just didn’t
expect it to be Jesus. “What sign can you show us for doing this?” they asked.
How do we know you have the authority to stop us?
They thought they were doing the right thing, after all.
They had been doing things this way for years. They never intended to go
against God. Sure, the exchange rate might have favored them some, but everyone
has to make a living, right? What did they do wrong? In his response, Jesus
confuses and points in a new direction, to a new authority: “Destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
Destroy the temple? Destroy this huge complex that has stood
for over 500 years, and has been under repairs for 46 years? And you will raise
it up in three days? Ludicrous. They misunderstand him, of course. He’s not
talking about the temple building, as John explains, but the temple of himself.
In this moment, as Jesus causes a ruckus, the dwelling place of God on earth is
the body of Jesus. The Lord has come to the temple, in the flesh, and this is
the sign that they are given. They don’t understand it. Even the disciples fail
to grasp the meaning of his words until after the resurrection. God is not
confined to the Holy of Holies, and the temple economy of sacrifices is coming
to an end.
There is more depth to this moment, seen only in light of
the larger story being told. The temple will be destroyed. The journey of Jesus
leads to the cross, and on it the temple of his body will be destroyed. They
will think they have won, but that is not the end of the story. In three days,
the temple will be raised up, Jesus will be raised from the dead, and God’s
Holy Spirit will dwell in the hearts of believers.
How are things going in your temple? Is there peace or
turmoil in your mind? Is there a part of you that has become a marketplace
rather than a sacred space? Perhaps we have been going along, doing things the
same way for years. We’ve become used to things so much that they don’t serve
their intended purpose any more. Perhaps a cleansing is in order, or at least a
clearing of the cobwebs.
As we move week by week through this season of Lent, we are
reminded that the cross is on the horizon. We also know the larger story being
told, that Christ is raised from the dead, and in Christ we too are reborn.
God’s Holy Spirit dwells in us, a new temple, and the time is now here to
worship God in spirit and truth.
How shall we worship God: with sacrifices, or sacred
rituals? What if we worship instead with our lives? Our bodies, and the bodies
of everyone we know, are sacred spaces, temples where God’s Holy Spirit
resides. We serve God by serving one another. We worship God by caring for
ourselves and our neighbors. We celebrate the resurrection by the renewal of
our lives as we follow the resurrected one.
Amen.
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