John 2.13-22

Lent Three (Revised Common Lectionary) | 03.03.24 | John 2.13-22 | Carl A. Voges |

The Passage

“The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.

“And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen.  And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.  And he told those who sold the pigeons, ‘Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.’

“His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’”

“So the Jews said to him, ‘What sign do you show us for doing these things?’  “Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’  “The Jews then said, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?’

“But he was speaking about the temple of his body.  When therefore 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.”                                    [English Standard Version]

  In the Name of Christ + Jesus Our Lord

This is an intriguing Lenten season because its six weeks shift our focus from concentrating on what baptized people do on their own initiative to the LORD God who baptizes and sustains them in his Life and ways!  On this third Lenten Sunday then, we, because of the Lord’s disrupting and rescuing activity, continue the deep repentance which began on 14 February.

Looking at our own lives as well as the world’s, we see, uncomfortably and distressingly, the messes swirling around it and within us.  The problem as we confront those messes is the tendency to focus on what we need to do so we can confront those messes.  While some of us may have the skill set to do just that, the reality is that such accomplishments often elude us.

Gratefully, the Lord’s baptized people always have access to him through the holy places of the Scriptures and Sacraments he has given to the Church.  Today, on Lent’s third Sunday, this passage from John 2 pulls us more deeply into the disrupting activity of Jesus Christ, an activity that rescues us from the world’s life (given at birth) and steadies us in the Life pouring out from his incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension.

As the passage opens, John states that the Passover is near; this is the annual observance recalling the Exodus of the Lord’s Old Testament people from their slavery in Egypt, a bondage that had stretched out more than four hundred years!  Jesus is going up to

Jerusalem to take part in it.

In the outer court of the temple he finds people selling oxen, sheep and pigeons; there are others exchanging money.  Here is some background about these practices.  First, faithful Jewish people traveled from all over the world to be in Jerusalem for the Passover – clearly it was not practical for them to bring the sacrificial animals and birds with them!

Second was the payment of the temple tax (this contribution supported its worship and work).  The tax was a half-shekel, equivalent to two denarii, that is, the wages of a working person for two days.  Such a tax required Hebrew money – imperial or pagan portraits on the money of foreign countries were not allowed.  This requirement forced an exchange of the pilgrim worshiper’s currency.  Third, the people handling such transactions were allowed to make a small profit on them.

Making a whip of cords (no sticks or weapons were permitted in the temple areas, most likely Jesus tied together the rushes from the bedding for the animals), he drove everyone and everything out of the temple area, beginning with the sheep and the oxen!  He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables!

Further, he told the people selling pigeons (the birds used for the sacrifices purchased by lower income people), “Take these things out of here!  Stop making my Father’s House a house of trade!”  In the Old Testament, the temple is described as the House of God; here, in the Greek, John is playing on the two words for “house.”

John notes later that Jesus’ disciples remembered the passage from Psalm 69.9 – “Zeal for your house will consume me.” This psalm, which opens with the phrase – “Save me, O God, for the waters have risen up to my neck” – describes how the Lord is being harassed and threatened by the wicked persons around him.  Such a reality, though, has stirred within our Lord a consuming zeal for the Father’s House (a zeal which will take him to his crucifixion and resurrection!).

The Jewish leaders say to Jesus, “What sign can you show us for doing this action?” A sign is a miraculous demonstration offering a signal to unbelievers; in the four Gospels Jesus never obliges such request!

So Jesus answers them, “Destroy this temple (a reference to the building itself) and in three days I will raise it up”.  Literally, he is saying, “Go ahead and do this and see what happens!;” while they are not aware of it, the Jewish priests and authorities are destroying the temple (they are focusing exclusively on themselves) and, as they do, Jesus will replace it with his resurrected body!  Jesus’ zeal for the temple (his Father’s House) will destroy him, triggering his death!

The Jewish authorities respond, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years and you will raise it up in three days”?  Yes, Jesus will raise it in three days!  Here Jesus is speaking of temple of his Body; his temple, which looms much larger, can be understood on three biblical levels: First, there is the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church established by the Father, Son and Spirit; Second, there is each person baptized into the Holy Trinity; Third, there is the completion of the LORD God’s Life in eternity.

After Jesus is raised from dead and ascended, the disciples remember he said these words to the Jewish authorities.  They believed the Scriptures and the Word that Jesus had spoken.  The Jewish authorities, on other hand, reacted with incomprehension and hostility, a reaction shown in verses following this passage when Jesus does not trust himself to them because he already knows from where they come.

While this passage is familiar, it ranges widely with its impact and meaning, a range reaching out from the Old Testament.  Jesus’ cleansing of the temple brings up two things: One, it is a protest like that of the prophets against the profaning of the Lord’s House; Second, it is a sign that the purification of the temple by the promised Messiah is approaching (such purification is accomplished in Jesus’ dying and rising).

Concerning the protests of the prophets, there was Jeremiah who warned that the temple had become a den of thieves and the LORD God would destroy it.  There was Zechariah who promised on the Lord’s Day (the arrival of Jesus in his Incarnation and at the end of the world’s life) that all would be holy in Jerusalem and no merchant would be found in the temple.  There was Malachi who had the LORD God intervening after worship abuses in the temple.  There was Isaiah who had the temple becoming perfect; it would be the House of Prayer on the holy mountain in the Lord’s presence, attracting all the world’s people.  In all these situations, the prophets were alerting the Lord’s people to what  occurs if they focus only on themselves.

Concerning the approaching purification, Jesus’ looming death and resurrection is the Ultimate in the purification of his presence in this world.  This presence already tumbles out of his Church on a weekly basis from the Scriptures and Sacraments given to its parish communities.  As the Lord’s baptized people make their way into those holy places, he disrupts the lives given them at birth by the world while imbedding them more fully in the Life poured out on them by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit at Baptism.  He disrupts our lives so we can be reminded vividly of how his Life is continually rescuing, sustaining and creating them.

When Jesus tore through the temple during that Passover, he was doing it in a culture eerily similar to the one around us today.  The country had been and continued to be occupied by the Roman Empire.  While Jewish people could function in that environment, their lives were controlled by Rome’s military and political capabilities. It is intriguing, then, that Jesus’ actions of disrupting and vacating the temple area are not directed to Rome, but to the Lord’s people, the ones observing the Passover!

This is important to catch because we tend to think that all the messes in the world exist because of the people in Teheran, Moscow, Beijing or Washington.  While there is some truth in that, it is vital to notice that Jesus’ actions of disrupting and rescuing are directed to the Lord’s people today, not to the world’s messes!

When Jesus stormed into the temple area, it was because he recognized that the Lord’s

people had gotten caught up more with their activity rather than the Father’s.  This

happens because, having been born into the world’s life, our instincts are always pulling back to its life, the one that always has us focusing on ourselves.  It is these instincts which create and sustain the messes we encounter in our lives as well as the world’s.  As the Lord’s people today, we continue the wrestling with such instincts.  That’s why our parish communities often reflect more of what we are doing rather than what the Father, Son and Spirit are doing in them.  We need their Life so we can say No to such instincts.

That’s also why, from the Trinity’s grace and mercy,  our parish communities are gifted with the Lord’s Holy Writings along with their Sacraments of Baptism, Forgiveness and Eucharist.  When we step into the liturgies of those parishes, the Lord disrupts the life given us by the world, rescues us from it, and imbeds us more fully in the Trinity’s Life and Ways.  These exposures to the holy places are vital and necessary.  They trigger many strengthening conversations among people and pastors in the week that follows.  They remind us that the deep repentance which began on 14 February continues to run!

But what about all the world’s messes?  Certainly they are out there and not just in its  major cities!  You will find them in our city or county councils, in our state capitols and, yes, even in Washington, DC!  The world, even though it cannot see it, has been given its life by the LORD God.  It has been given laws to shape and guide that life.  It also has a responsibility to exercise that life as well as it can.  The world, though, even with its best intentions and efforts, cannot duplicate what Jesus is doing as he tears into the temple area!

Since the messes originate from the natural drive for self, the Lord storms into the lives of his baptized people from the holy places in his parishes.  He is determined to free them from such instincts and keep them centered in the Life he gave at their Baptisms.

It is conceivable that as the world’s people see more of the Lord’s people streaming into the liturgies of their parishes where real Life is restored, Jesus’ actions of disrupting and rescuing may mysteriously reflect into the lives of those who are not making their way into the Church’s liturgies.

Let us, then, continue the deep repentance called for in today’s Gospel.  Yes, it takes strong men and women to fully absorb and reflect Jesus’ actions on a steady basis!  But let us also remember that his Spirit enables it to happen!

Now may the peace of the LORD God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our

   hearts and minds through Christ + Jesus Our Lord

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Pr. Carl A. Voges, Columbia, SC; carl.voges4@icloud.com