In John’s Gospel this story of the cleansing of the
temple marks Jesus letting the world know that he is God’s son. We’ve had some
clues about Jesus. There is the invitation he gives to his first disciples to
come and see, there is the gift lavish gift of joy in the gifts of water
turning into wine. But it seems like it is all leading to this particular
moment and place.
The
place is important – it is the temple mount in Jerusalem. Today it is home of the Wailing Wall where
people from all over the world come and tuck their prayer requests into the
wall. It is home of Al Aqsa mosque where the Prophet Mohamed was transported in
a dream from Meca. It is a place considered holy by Christians as they retrace
Jesus’ footsteps, to Jewish people who pray at the wall, and to Muslims who
make pilgrimages to the mosque.
In
legend it is connected to one of the rivers flowing through the Garden of Eden.
It is home of Mount Moriah where Abraham bound Isaac. It is where David brought
the ark of the Lord – God’s presence and where Salomon built the temple. It was
the centre of faith until the Babylonians destroyed the temple and is later
rebuilt. It is the place where earth and heaven meet.
Just
before Passover, the celebration of God leading the people to freedom in the Promised
Land, Jesus and his disciples go to Jerusalem. People from near and far were
gathered for the Passover celebrations. When they arrive at the temple, the first
thing that Jesus sees is the normal business of the temple. He’s probably seen
it most years as comes for holy days at the temple. The money changers, the
people selling animals for sacrifice. Something happens with Jesus. It is not
clear what. He makes a whip, he drives them all out of the temple, turning over
the tables and dumping the money of the ground as he cries out, “Take these
things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a market place!” (John 2:17)
Then
there is a strange reaction from the people watching. They don’t run and hide
wondering what this person is doing. They don’t try to stop him. They ask him,
“What sign can you show us for doing this?” (John 2:18) Really? That is their
reaction? And then to make it worse the answer Jesus gives is a strange
statement that is nearly impossible to understand unless you know about Jesus’
death and crucifixion. Jesus says “Destroy this temple, and in three days I
will raise it up.” (John 2:19) Is it any wonder the crowds starts muttering and
saying things like, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six
years, you will raise it up in three days?” (John 20) And they walk away
shaking their heads in disbelief. What just happened here?
It
is a hard story to make sense of – especially if you don’t know how the story
ends. It is only after Jesus’ death and resurrection that the disciples
remember that it is written, “Zeal for your house will consume me” (John 2:17)
and that the narrator can say “But he was speaking of the temple of his body.
After he was raised from the dead the disciples remembered that he had aid
this; and they belied the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.” (John 2:21
– 22)
In
Matthew, Mark, and Luke the cleansing of the temple happens at the end of the Gospel
as though this is the culmination of Jesus’ frustration with the authorities.
Not so in John. It is at the beginning only a few short verses after Jesus
turns the water into wine. But in John it happens at the beginning of Jesus’
ministry. It is an introduction of who Jesus is – God’s son. It is a reminder
that with Jesus everything is changed.
As
the tables are turned and the animals used for temple worship are sent packing,
Jesus is making a point about who he is and his ministry. It is like he is
saying “something new is happening starting today and our relationship with God
will never be the same.” In the place
where earth and heaven meet, the place where God dwells, Jesus is makes it
clear that God’s presence is with him. It is a complete shift in how people
meet God. Once it was only in the temple. Now we meet God in Jesus and we are
all invited to come and see what this means. The
author Phyllis Tickle who wrote the book The
Great Emergence argues that the church today is in a period of major
transition. Not as major as the day Jesus clears the temple of vendors. She
argues that this happens every 500 hundred or so years. Think of the
Reformation as Martin Luther as he nailed his statements on the wall. She says
it is like the church is having a giant rummage sale and is trying to pick what
parts of our tradition to take with into the next period, what do needs to let
go of, and what do needs to be reclaimed.
In
some ways, that is what happened in the temple. It was a complete shift in how
people are invited to meet God. We are in a shifting and changing time in our
world today too. Our culture, our way of living, our faith are all in
transition. We hear it on the news in movements like the Occupy movement and
the Arab spring. We know it in our churches. So many people are spiritual but
not religious or fall under the category of none when it comes to religion. We
feel it on Sunday mornings with fewer people in the pews. As individual
churches and a denomination we are having to make hard choices about how we
will live our faith into the next generations.
It
is a challenging time to be in the church. It is filled with so many
uncertainties and challenges. But it is not a time without hope. No matter the
challenges and changes we face we remember these words from Hebrews, “Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) This time
of challenge and change is an invitation from Jesus to go deeper into our faith.
It is time to share our story and to boldly proclaim that as followers of Jesus
we are given a gift that is truly priceless – grace. Grace is not earned. It is
freely given. Every time we gather at Jesus table for gifts of bread and wine
we are reminded of that grace. For in them we are given new life, a love that
will not let us down and strength for the coming day. Amen.
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