STS Lent 3B March 7, 2021

John 2:13-22 | by the Rev. Dr. Judson F Merrell |

¹³ The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁴ In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.

¹⁵ Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.

¹⁶ He told those who were selling the doves, „Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!“

¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it was written, „Zeal for your house will consume me.“

¹⁸ The Jews then said to him, „What sign can you show us for doing this?“

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, „Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.“

²⁰ The Jews then said, „This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?“

²¹ But he was speaking of the temple of his body.

²² After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. (Joh 2:13-22 NRS)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Several years ago I made the conscious decision that I would never ever preach politics from the pulpit.  This decision came after teaching a Sunday School class at another church where I was asked:  “Is it the duty of a Christian to pay our taxes?”  That question was prompted by an individual who made his living off of politics.  My answer to him was biblical:  give to Caesar was is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.  Since that conversation happened, politics is by far the #1 thing that I leave out of a sermon.  But there are also other reasons that I leave them out.  For example, not everyone here believes in the same way.  That’s ok.  Our congregation proves that people of differing opinion can live, work, and pray peacefully together.  There are too many congregations out there (mainly on TV) that I think cross the line between teaching and brainwashing, and they supposedly do it in the name of Jesus.  I remember the presidential election that we had 4 years ago, and how a church not 10 miles from here had a candidate preach on a Sunday morning.  If that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is.  In my opinion, our denomination, the ELCA, gets way too involved in politics.  Letters have been sent to the Secretary of State, both for and against issues, money gets spent in ways that I don’t think that it should.  Political agendas get pushed for and against issues.  As the church, I am not sure we should be doing that.  But that is me.  I know plenty of pastors also in this denomination that would disagree with me.  As much as I’d like to call them idiots and say they are wrong, I also have to keep in mind that they are doing the same thing, calling me an idiot and saying that I am wrong.   Maybe I am wrong, and if so, I can live with that.  But my core convictions tell me that our focus as a church should not be on politics, but should constantly be on God and trying to live the example set by Jesus.

The example that we see today is of a Jesus that publicly confronts both the religious and political institutions for wrong-doings.  This story, often called “The Cleansing of the Temple” is one of the few stories that appear in all four Gospels.  The inclusion by all four lifts up its historical importance and accuracy.  Today we have the version out of John’s accout of the Gospel, which portrays this text in the early parts of Jesus’ ministry.  This is actually the second sign in John’s account, the first being the miracle at the wedding of Cana where Jesus turns water into wine.  In Jerusalem at Passover Jesus has a much larger crowd than he had at Cana.  Passover was important to the Jews, and thousands of pilgrims flocked to Jerusalem because that is where the temple was.  Being a good Jew, Jesus also went there, but when he gets there, he sees a sight that makes him very mad.  He makes a whip, and drives out the animals.  He takes the money changers coins and dumps them on the ground.  He turns over their tables.  I would argue that this is perhaps one of the most emotional moments in the life of Jesus.  This emotion is centered on where Jesus is, which we see is in his Father’s house.  The sanctity of God’s house has been desecrated.  A mockery has been made of the Jew’s most holiest and sacred place.  But for Jesus, this place has another name:  “My Father’s House.”

Back then the temple was a very complex place.  It was God’s permanent dwelling place, a sign of the covenants, and God’s eternal presence with his people.  Jews throughout the region made pilgrimages to it during the major feast times.  It was the cornerstone of the Jewish faith, especially since the region was occupied and controlled by the Romans.  Even the Chief Priest, although there for the people, was appointed by the Romans.  The temple itself stood as a reminder that God was bigger than Rome or politics.  That is the message that I hear when I recall Jesus’ name for the temple:  “My Father’s House.”  But that designation got the attention of those in charge.  Like good, religious Jews, they want a sign, something tangible, so that they may believe.  And Jesus tells them “destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”  The Jews focus on the temple and its enormous presence.  They focus on the time it has taken to build something so magnificent.  The tangible stones are their sign.  But Jesus wasn’t talking about the temple.  He was talking about himself.   John tells us that after his resurrection, the disciples remembered Jesus saying this and they believed.  The scriptures tell us they shared their belief, and the church was born.  And then in 70AD, the temple was destroyed.  To this day it is not yet rebuilt.  But faith continues to grow and to spread.  Despite politics over the centuries trying to hamper Christianity, it has continued to spread and to grow.  That is because we put our faith not in a building, but in the empty cross.  As Christians who now celebrate the season of Lent, we look to the cross as a follower of Jesus.  The gospels portray Jesus in a public act against the religious and political institutions of his time.  We have many examples of the saints doing the same, and sometimes it is necessary.  Martin Luther and the other reformers stood up for what they believed in and it changed the church for the better.  But even today, the Spirit is at work re-forming the church in positive ways for the good of the kingdom.  Politics aside, we look at the work of God in the world and see that it is bigger than any building we can build, any institution that claims to be “the one and only way”, and any political leader that thinks they know best.  All that can be destroyed, as history has shown time and time again.  But the word of God, the word that Jesus has spoken, has come to us and cannot be destroyed.  The Word is forever.  In the name of the Father, and the +Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.