JOHN 2:13-25
THE OLD TESTAMENT IS FULL OF PROPHETS
WHO PERFORM PROPHETIC ACTIONS. UNDER THE INSPIRATION OF GOD THEY
WOULD ACT OUT A MESSAGE. EVENTUALLY PEOPLE WOULD ASK, WHAT IS ALL
THAT ABOUT? AND THEY WOULD THEN GIVE THE ANSWER. JEREMIAH WAS TOLD
TO TAKE AN EARTHEN POT AND BREAK IT IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. WHEN
ASKED, HE SAID THAT THIS WAS WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO ISRAEL,
BECAUSE OF THEIR UNFAITHFULNESS. EZECHIEL WAS THE MASTER OF
PROPHETIC ACTIONS. HE WAS TOLD BY GOD TO LAY ON HIS SIDE FOR 300
DAYS, SO HE DID. WHEN ASKED, HE TOLD THE PEOPLE THAT THIS WAS HOW
LONG THEIR EXILE WAS GOING TO LAST. ON ANOTHER OCCASION, HIS WIFE
DIED. HE DID NOT MOURN PUBLICLY, AS EVERYONE EXPECTED HIM TO. THE
LESSON WAS THAT ALL THE EXILED ISRAELITES MIGHT AS WELL SETTLE DOWN
AND QUIT MOURNING THEIR LOST TEMPLE AND HOMELAND, BECAUSE THEY WERE
GOING TO BE GONE A LONG TIME. WELL, YOU GET THE IDEA.
I THINK THAT'S HOW WE SHOULD LOOK AT
TODAY'S GOSPEL. JESUS WAS PERFORMING A PROPHETIC ACTION.
IF YOU WERE A JEW, THE TEMPLE WAS THE
VERY CENTER OF YOUR RELIGION. THANKS TO CYRUS, THE RULER OF PERSIA,
THE JEWS HAD BEEN ALLOWED TO REBUILD THE TEMPLE THAT HAD PREVIOUSLY
BEEN DESTROYED. THE GREEKS, AND LATER THE ROMANS, ALLOWED THE JEWS
TO WORSHIP THEIR OWN GOD IN THEIR OWN TEMPLE, A PRIVILEGE NOT
EXTENDED TO ANY OTHER PEOPLE. FOR THE JEWS, THE TEMPLE WAS GOD'S
DWELLING ON EARTH. THE TEMPLE WAS LAID OUT LIKE A RECTANGLE; AT ONE
END WAS THE HOLY OF HOLIES, A ROOM WHICH COULD ONLY BE ENTERED BY THE
HIGH PRIEST AND ONLY ONCE A YEAR. THE NEXT ROOM WAS THE COURT OF
PRIESTS, THEN THE COURT IN WHICH JEWISH MEN IN GOOD STANDING COULD
ENTER. BEHIND THAT COURT WAS THE COURT OF WOMEN. AND FINALLY,
BEHIND THAT WAS THE COURT OF THE GENTILES. THESE WERE SPECIAL
GENTILES – PEOPLE WHO WORSHIPED THE JEWISH GOD BUT HADN'T
CONVERTED. SURROUNDING THE TEMPLE WAS A COURTYARD, AND THEN A LARGE
WALL, FENCING OFF THE TEMPLE AND ITS GROUNDS FROM THE REST OF THE
WORLD. IN THE COURTYARD, MONEY CHANGERS AND PEOPLE SELLING ANIMALS
PLIED THEIR TRADE. FOR THE JEWS, THIS WAS ACTUALLY A GOOD AND
IMPORTANT THING; IF YOU WANTED TO OFFER A SACRIFICE, ONLY A PERFECT
ANIMAL WOULD DO, AND THE ANIMALS BEING SOLD IN THE COURTYARD HAD BEEN
CERTIFIED ACCEPTABLE. BUT IF YOU WANTED TO BUY AN ANIMAL FOR
SACRIFICE, YOU DIDN'T WANT TO USE ORDINARY MONEY, SO YOU CHANGED YOUR
MONEY FOR TEMPLE MONEY. THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT WEREN'T
ALLOWED ON THE TEMPLE GROUNDS. LEPERS, PEOPLE WITH DEFORMITIES,
PEOPLE WHO DID BUSINESS WITH OR FOR THE ROMANS; SAMARITANS, PEOPLE
WHO WERE KNOWN TO BE SINNERS, AND OF COURSE SHEPHERDS AND TANNERS AND
OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAD TRADES WHERE THEY COULDN'T HELP BUT BE UNCLEAN.
WOMEN WHO HAD RECENTLY HAD A BABY COULDN'T GET IN EITHER; NOR COULD
MOST GENTILES.
IN THE BOOK OF ISAIAH, GOD SAYS, “MY
HOUSE WILL BE A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL PEOPLE”. BUT AS YOU CAN
SEE, THERE WERE VERY FEW PEOPLE WHO COULD PRAY IN THE TEMPLE.
THE OTHER THING ABOUT THE TEMPLE WAS
THAT IT HAD INDEED BECOME A PLACE WHERE YOU HAD TO BUY ACCESS TO GOD.
OF COURSE THAT HAD GONE ON FOR A LONG TIME, NOT ONLY AMONG THE JEWS
BUT ALL THROUGH THE WORLD. BUT THE PRINCIPLE WAY YOU WORSHIPED GOD
WAS BY SACRIFICE, AND SACRIFICES COST MONEY. AND THAT AUTOMATICALLY
SEPARATED PEOPLE. YOU REMEMBER HOW JOSEPH AND MARY COULD NOT AFFORD
A LAMB, SO THEY OFFERED TWO PIGEONS AT THE PRESENTATION OF JESUS.
THAT SEPARATED POOR PEOPLE FROM RICH PEOPLE.
TEMPLE JUDAISM HAD GOTTEN MORE AND
MORE RESTRICTIVE, MORE AND MORE EXCLUSIVE. BEFORE YOU COULD EVEN GO
INTO THE TEMPLE, YOU HAD TO KNOW YOUR STATUS, YOUR PLACE. THAT'S WHY
THE PHARISEE STOOD IN THE FRONT OF THE MEN'S COURT, AND THE TAX
COLLECTOR IN THE FAR BACK.
WHEN THE JEWS ASKED JESUS WHY HE WAS
DOING THIS, WHY HE WAS DRIVING OUT ALL THE MERCHANTS AND MONEY
CHANGERS, THEY RECOGNIZED THAT HE WAS DOING A PROPHETIC ACTION.
INSTEAD OF ARRESTING HIM FOR DISORDERLY CONDUCT, THEY WANTED HIM TO
EXPLAIN WHAT IT MEANT. AND JESUS TELLS THEM “DESTROY THIS TEMPLE
AND IN THREE DAYS I WILL RAISE IT UP.”
JOHN WRITES THAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT
HIS BODY AND THE RESURRECTION HE WOULD UNDERGO, AND THAT'S CERTAINLY
TRUE. BUT JESUS IS ALSO TALKING ABOUT THE VISION OF ISAIAH, IN WHICH
ALL THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD WOULD STREAM TO THE HEAVENLY TEMPLE IN
JERUSALEM. ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WOULD COME TO THE TEMPLE
PROPHESIED BY EZECHIEL, FROM WHICH STREAMS OF LIVING WATER WOULD
FLOW.
JESUS IS THE NEW TEMPLE. JESUS IS
WHERE YOU AND I GO TO FIND GOD. JESUS, BEING MAN AND THEREFORE OUR
BROTHER, IS GOD AS WELL. THE ONLY WAY WE CAN ENTER THE TEMPLE IS TO
GET TO KNOW JESUS. AND JESUS PUTS NO RESTRICTIONS ON PEOPLE. ANYONE
CAN APPROACH HIM, ANYONE CAN BE HIS BROTHER OR SISTER. HE WAITS FOR
US TO COME TO HIM.
THE OLD TEMPLE HAD BECOME JUST THE
OPPOSITE OF WHAT GOD WANTED. IT WAS RESTRICTIVE, IT DIVIDED PEOPLE
FROM EACH OTHER. IT EXCLUDED PEOPLE AND REMINDED THOSE WHO WERE
INCLUDED THAT SOME WERE BETTER THAN OTHERS. IT SAID THAT HOLINESS
HAD TO DO WITH HOLY MONEY AND PERFECT SACRIFICES, AND KEEPING OUT
THE WORLD. THE NEW TEMPLE SAID THAT ALL WERE INVITED, THAT THOSE WHO
WERE IN THE TEMPLE REACHED OUT TO THOSE WHO WEREN'T. IT SAID THAT
THE WHOLE WORLD WAS HOLY, NOT JUST A SMALL SPACE.
JESUS IS THE NEW TEMPLE. DURING THIS
LENT MAY WE LOOK AT OURSELVES AND FIND OUT WHETHER WE WORSHIP IN THE
OLD TEMPLE OR THE NEW TEMPLE. THANK GOD.
