Lent 3- John 2- The Symbolic Destruction of the Temple
We have great readings today.
First, we read the Ten Commandments. It has been a long tradition in the church that when we examine our lives, one of the ways to do that is to turn to the Ten Commandments and we compare them with our lives. We read them with our hearts tuned to the deeper purposes and principles behind the commands. So the warning against idolatry isn’t just about whether we have bowed before a stone statue of Zeus lately, rather it is about if we have put anything on God’s throne in our life. Honouring your father and mother isn’t just about treating your parents well, it’s also about honouring elders and showing gratitude for what our ancestors have built and handed on to us. When we read about murder, it isn’t just about killing someone, but it is also about anger, which Jesus suggests is the seed of murder (Matt 5:21-26). Adultery isn’t just about a sexual act outside of marriage, it is also about allowing lust to run unchecked in our heart (Matt 5:27-30). The command against coveting is about disordered desires. And so on. … So, there is a lot to meditate on there and it would profit our souls during Lent to take the time to really meditate deeply on these commands.
And our reading from 1st Corinthians reminds is to beware when we feel like we have everything figured out. We may desire God to work in a particular way, through “wisdom” or supernatural signs, but we may miss what God is doing right in front of us if God doesn’t choose to operate according to the rules we set up. It is a reminder to approach God with humility. The symbol of our faith caught everyone by surprise- We stand under a cross. Not a powerful golden eagle, which was the symbol of Rome. Not a sword, or an axe. … We stand under a symbol of torture and death. No one would have predicted this. Humility is our starting point as we approach God. In Isaiah 55:8-9 God says,
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways … . For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
We should expect God to work in ways that we can’t predict. Lent can be a time for us to reflect and ask if am I closed off to God in any way. Do I have rules for God? Am I open to God surprising me?
But our Gospel reading is what I would like us to focus on today. The timing for this event is around Passover, which in John, is never a coincidence. John quite purposefully shows Jesus speaking into the symbolism of these festivals. Passover was about remembering slavery in Egypt and God’s saving them to bring them to the Promised Land. It was a time of huge change for the Hebrew people- from one way of being to another. So, when we hear that this is taking place in Passover these themes should be seen as the wallpaper in the background. In what way is this about freedom from slavery? How is this about the ending of one way of life and beginning a new way of life?
When Jesus enters the Temple complex he sees people selling animals, which were then used for sacrifices. There were also some there who change money.
But our Gospel reading is what I would like us to focus on today. The timing for this event is around Passover, which in John, is never a coincidence. John quite purposefully shows Jesus speaking into the symbolism of these festivals. Passover was about remembering slavery in Egypt and God’s saving them to bring them to the Promised Land. It was a time of huge change for the Hebrew people- from one way of being to another. So, when we hear that this is taking place in Passover these themes should be seen as the wallpaper in the background. In what way is this about freedom from slavery? How is this about the ending of one way of life and beginning a new way of life?
When Jesus enters the Temple complex he sees people selling animals, which were then used for sacrifices. There were also some there who change money.
Roman coins had images on them that were not allowed in the temple. There is evidence that sellers and money changers took advantage of the pilgrims that came for festivals and inflated the prices. It’s a bit like making popcorn at home vs buying it at the movie theatre. At times, it also seems like the sellers may have spilled into parts of the temple where this was not supposed to be permitted.
Jesus then makes a whip and drives them all out of the Temple, with their animals. He dumps the coins and overturns the tables, saying,
Jesus then makes a whip and drives them all out of the Temple, with their animals. He dumps the coins and overturns the tables, saying,
“Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a market-place!”
What’s going on here?
On one level, Jesus is making his opinion known that this kind of commerce and profit-making was not to get in the way of the real reason the Temple exists. Imagine traveling hundreds of miles on foot to crowd into a busy Temple. It is supposed to be a holy moment. You don’t get to do this very often, and as you come into the most holy place on earth you hear people yelling to sell you expensive animals for sacrifices. This noise continues in the background as you try to pray and meet with your God. It would be easy for it to start to feel like a merely economic exchange. Buy your goat and hand it to the priest- “next!”.
It’s also worth pointing out that only certain people are allowed in certain parts of the Temple. These market stalls were likely in the court of the gentiles, which was as close as non-Jews were allowed to come to the inner sanctuary of the Temple.
On one level, Jesus is making his opinion known that this kind of commerce and profit-making was not to get in the way of the real reason the Temple exists. Imagine traveling hundreds of miles on foot to crowd into a busy Temple. It is supposed to be a holy moment. You don’t get to do this very often, and as you come into the most holy place on earth you hear people yelling to sell you expensive animals for sacrifices. This noise continues in the background as you try to pray and meet with your God. It would be easy for it to start to feel like a merely economic exchange. Buy your goat and hand it to the priest- “next!”.
It’s also worth pointing out that only certain people are allowed in certain parts of the Temple. These market stalls were likely in the court of the gentiles, which was as close as non-Jews were allowed to come to the inner sanctuary of the Temple.
This would not have been very hospitable for gentiles coming to pray. … Jesus may have been concerned for the negative effect this may have had on the gentiles. In Isaiah 49:6 (and elsewhere) God says to his people,
“I will give you as a light to the [nations/gentiles], that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
They are failing their calling if they are not helping the nations to come to God and are filling the gentile’s prayer space with market stalls. … It’s also possible that these stalls could have crept into the women’s court, which was as close as Jewish women could get to the inner sanctuary. Again, this would not be very hospitable to the women who had travelled a long way to pray. Jesus often shows a particular care for women who were often marginalized in their society. If their place of prayer was being crowded with stalls, it would be another way of saying they don’t really matter. And I can imagine that not sitting well with Jesus.
A common way that many people interpret this is that Jesus has just had enough, and he loses his temper with the injustice of it all. I had a friend in seminary who called this Jesus’ “Temple tantrum”. … I really don’t think that’s what was happening here. People often look to this passage to justify their own anger against teachings like Jesus gives in the ‘Sermon on the Mount’-
A common way that many people interpret this is that Jesus has just had enough, and he loses his temper with the injustice of it all. I had a friend in seminary who called this Jesus’ “Temple tantrum”. … I really don’t think that’s what was happening here. People often look to this passage to justify their own anger against teachings like Jesus gives in the ‘Sermon on the Mount’-
“I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement” (Matthew 5:22).
Or the letter of James-
“You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness” (James 1:19-20).
The Bible, as well as the writings of the Early Church, constantly warn against anger- Especially anger that is expressed outward towards others. … We actually don’t see anger mentioned here. There is the word ‘Zeal’ but that is more about being passionate, and not necessarily about anger. … I do think Jesus could handle anger in a way that we can’t, so I don’t have an issue with Jesus being angry, but I think we too quickly jump to anger. We read anger into it.
So, if this isn’t about Jesus losing his temper, then what is it about? … Jesus was at least a prophet. He was much more than that, of course. But there are times where we should look to the school of the prophets to understand the actions of Jesus. The prophets didn’t always proclaim God’s word verbally. Sometimes they had dramatic symbolic actions as well. We see this kind of prophetic action, for example, when we look at the prophet Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 19 we read about God instructing the prophet to buy some clay pots and then to smash them as a symbol of the coming destruction of Jerusalem. I don’t think Jeremiah was necessarily angry while smashing the pots. This kind of symbolic action was a common way for prophets to communicate God’s message. …
If we look at Jesus’ actions this way, we see that Jesus has driven out those selling animals (along with their animals) and the money changers. The temple sacrifices cannot function without animals to sacrifice. Jesus has sabotaged the Temple sacrifice machine. He has symbolically judged and destroyed the Temple.
This obviously doesn’t sit well with many and they want to know what authority he has to do this kind of thing- they ask for a sign. Jesus then mentions the destruction of the Temple. But, there is a switch that takes place. Jesus starts talking about his body as the Temple. What does it mean for Jesus’s body to take the place of the Temple? The Temple was the place where heaven and earth touched. The Temple was where God was present in a special way. The Temple was the place where sin was dealt with through sacrifice- blood was shed to deal with sin. … I think Jesus has symbolically judged and destroyed the Temple and is now saying that his body is replacing the Temple’s function. He is now the place where earth and heaven meet. He is the presence of God. He is where sin is dealt with. … And the sign of his authority for this switch to take place will be that his temple- his body- will be destroyed and rebuilt in 3 days. That will be God’s stamp of approval. … And remember that this is happening in the context of Passover- when they left one way of being and entered into a new way of being.
Why is this reading given to us for Lent? Perhaps this passage can remind us to look into our own temples and see if any market stalls have snuck in. What is crowding into our relationship with God? Are there money-changers distracting us from prayer? … Or, maybe we have built a temple that needs to be destroyed? Maybe we have made a way to deal with our sin that sidesteps Jesus, and that needs to be destroyed? Some people drink to deal with their sin, for example. Maybe that temple needs to be destroyed and Jesus needs to be the way sin is dealt with … Maybe we have temples that need cleansing, or destroying. AMEN.
So, if this isn’t about Jesus losing his temper, then what is it about? … Jesus was at least a prophet. He was much more than that, of course. But there are times where we should look to the school of the prophets to understand the actions of Jesus. The prophets didn’t always proclaim God’s word verbally. Sometimes they had dramatic symbolic actions as well. We see this kind of prophetic action, for example, when we look at the prophet Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 19 we read about God instructing the prophet to buy some clay pots and then to smash them as a symbol of the coming destruction of Jerusalem. I don’t think Jeremiah was necessarily angry while smashing the pots. This kind of symbolic action was a common way for prophets to communicate God’s message. …
If we look at Jesus’ actions this way, we see that Jesus has driven out those selling animals (along with their animals) and the money changers. The temple sacrifices cannot function without animals to sacrifice. Jesus has sabotaged the Temple sacrifice machine. He has symbolically judged and destroyed the Temple.
This obviously doesn’t sit well with many and they want to know what authority he has to do this kind of thing- they ask for a sign. Jesus then mentions the destruction of the Temple. But, there is a switch that takes place. Jesus starts talking about his body as the Temple. What does it mean for Jesus’s body to take the place of the Temple? The Temple was the place where heaven and earth touched. The Temple was where God was present in a special way. The Temple was the place where sin was dealt with through sacrifice- blood was shed to deal with sin. … I think Jesus has symbolically judged and destroyed the Temple and is now saying that his body is replacing the Temple’s function. He is now the place where earth and heaven meet. He is the presence of God. He is where sin is dealt with. … And the sign of his authority for this switch to take place will be that his temple- his body- will be destroyed and rebuilt in 3 days. That will be God’s stamp of approval. … And remember that this is happening in the context of Passover- when they left one way of being and entered into a new way of being.
Why is this reading given to us for Lent? Perhaps this passage can remind us to look into our own temples and see if any market stalls have snuck in. What is crowding into our relationship with God? Are there money-changers distracting us from prayer? … Or, maybe we have built a temple that needs to be destroyed? Maybe we have made a way to deal with our sin that sidesteps Jesus, and that needs to be destroyed? Some people drink to deal with their sin, for example. Maybe that temple needs to be destroyed and Jesus needs to be the way sin is dealt with … Maybe we have temples that need cleansing, or destroying. AMEN.
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