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.
Passover is an extremely important celebration because of its place in Jewish history. If you read Exodus, chapter 12, you will find that the celebration of Passover was instituted before the event even took place. How does that happen? When you are God and know the future, you can set up commemorations in advance. The fact that God commanded the commemoration underscores the importance.
The name “passover” is a reference to how God passed over all houses where blood of a lamb had been brushed on the doorposts and lintels, signifying that faithful Israelites dwelt within. Within all other dwellings God permitted the destroyer to inflict the final plague against Egypt, killing the firstborn of every family. Exodus gives no explanation as to who the destroyer is, though he is often referred to as “the angel of death”. I propose that it is Satan, himself. In Revelation 9.11 we read: They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer). With this understanding we are reminded that, though Satan conducts great evil on the earth, he is not battling toe-to-toe with God in a struggle between good and evil. To the contrary, Satan is always on a leash, able to do harm only to the extent permitted by God.
Pharaoh, famously stubborn, was finally persuaded by this last plague that he had to let the Hebrews go. The conflict with the Egyptians was not over, but the Passover marked the point in time, after 400 years of enslavement, that the Hebrews became a free nation. They had been delivered by their God. The closest parallel for Americans is Independence Day, in which the colonists gained their freedom from Britain. The difference is that Egypt was truly oppressive, whereas Britain was generally magnanimous. Another important American parallel is the Emancipation of African slaves in America. Freedom for African Americans was more of a hundred year process, but the Emancipation was a huge first step.
Jerusalem would have been packed with faithful Hebrews from near and far, all planning to offer sacrifice to their Lord and Deliverer. So Jesus went up to the temple in Jerusalem, like other faithful Jewish people, in order to worship. There he flipped out. The passage quotes from Psalm 69. Expanding the quote to include all of verses 8 & 9: I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children; for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
We should note the timing of his explosion. It’s not as if Jesus lived under a rock. One by-product of being sinless is unclouded perception. He knew there was corruption in the Jewish clerical hierarchy. The Bible records him astonishing the teachers in Jerusalem even as a young boy. He would have been to Jerusalem many times in the interim. But this time, zeal overcame him. This was a sign. While Jesus had told his mother at the wedding that his time had not yet come, now it appears his time has come. The time for secrecy is over. Jesus becomes front page news.
The phrase“zeal consumes” is generally mere hyperbole expressing strong passion. But the phrase can be literal. For example, a religious radical who straps bombs to himself and blows himself up in a crowded place—that is a case of zeal consuming a person. It is also an example of zeal without knowledge, of profound evil. In the case of Jesus, however, the phrase is both literal and prophetic. Jesus’ zeal accentuated his conflict with the religious establishment—those who had buried the heart and soul of faithful Judaism. In this case, humanly speaking, anyway, he sealed his own doom. The religious leaders responded via the crucifixion.
What was it that infuriated Jesus, anyway? In one sense, he was upset because what he saw happening to Passover was much like what we see happening to Christmas in our time. It had become commercialized. It’s not that there is something evil about commerce, but when commerce pushes God aside, it becomes an idol. Nearly all of what we do at Christmas can be traced back to it’s original intent of celebrating the birth of the God/man, Jesus, who was in himself the greatest gift ever given. But Saint Nicholas has degenerated into Santa Clause at shopping malls. We straddle the spirit of Christmas and the spirit of secularism with such stories as It’s a Wonderful Life and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. By the time we get to Frosty the Snowman and Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer, the connecting lines have gotten pretty thin and the whole business has the feel of Fairy Tales for Children. Pluralism and the culture wars have generated pressures that substitute “holiday season” for references that hint of religious associations. The quest for neutrality has resulted in a neutered culture. Mentioning Jesus Christ at Christmas may bring a joyful response…or it may bring embarrassment…or it may be taken as offensive. The accumulation of stuff is apparently neutral enough, though. There is no clamor to end the custom of giving gifts. The Christmas season has become the time of year that fills businesses with great hope—that they will remain fiscally solvent and/or can pay for that new model auto.
In Israel, religious traditions latched onto God’s commands, like parasites, creating opportunities for big business. Sacrificing a lamb was a big part of the ceremony for every Jewish family. For those traveling great distances, bringing sacrificial animals along was too difficult or cost-prohibitive. Consequently, most visitors purchased their animals in Jerusalem and, little doubt, the religious establishment had a monopoly on determining what sellers were kosher. Furthermore, it was not permitted to purchase holy sacrifices or pay the temple tribute with profane money. The religious leaders had decreed that payment for these could only be given in Tyrian shekels. Thus they fleeced the people by charging exorbitant exchange rates. Instead of guiding the people into joyful celebration and worship of their loving God, the religious leaders were making themselves rich. Ancient historian Josephus called Annas the high priest “a great hoarder of money.”
Jesus wanted to end these perverse practices. We tend to think of Jesus as humble, meek, and mild, and it is right to do, for was his normal demeanor. But in this case Jesus barked out orders, trashed sales stalls, and literally drove the businessmen and their animals out of the temple courts. But, in practical terms, it accomplished very little. No doubt, the next day all was business as usual in the temple.
It’s interesting that the synoptic Gospels place the cleansing of the temple near the end of Jesus’ ministry, whereas John placed it, seemingly, at the beginning. Some commentators resolve this discrepancy by suggesting there were two separate cleansings. This is doubtful. A more likely explanation is that John’s is far less interested in chronology than the other Gospel writers. Note that John is very conscious of chronology immediately after introducing John the Baptist. The next day he saw Jesus (1.29). The next day (1.35). The next day (1.43). On the third day (2.1). Then suddenly, when John turns his attention to the cleansing of the temple he abandons the time notations, noting only that the cleansing took place during the celebration of Passover.
I believe John is making a point. His narrative purposefully jumps from the wedding at Cana to the cleansing of the temple. In the first event Jesus resists exposure; in the second he exposes himself completely. In the first event he explains that his time has not yet come; in the second, his time (the culmination of his ministry) is at hand. In the synoptics the temple cleansing is presented as the catalyst that leads to the crucifixion. John makes the point by means of this juxtaposition. It serves to explain why Jesus was in no hurry to reveal himself fully. There was much to be done prior to the final conflict. For Christ to reveal himself is to reveal a light and a purity that is intolerable to the spirit of the world. To this day the Kingdom of God is at enmity with human ambition, which is the culture of death. John is saying, when the gloves come off, this is how the unrestrained Jesus behaves.
It’s important to not miss the meaning of Jesus’ action in the temple. It is a display of genuine offense taken at institutional decay in the Judaism of the day. It is offense taken at how God is virtually ignored by the religious establishment. It is anger at how false practice by the leaders leads the flock of Israel astray. But it is more than all this.
This event is a visible sign of the invasion of the Kingdom of Heaven. “Immanuel” means “God with us”. Jesus’ ministry had focused primarily on revealing the mercy, healing, and truth that are part of its identity. Here he demonstrates that the Kingdom is in conflict with the Spirit of Earthly Pursuits, and it breaks in with violence. This was no skirmish at a remote outpost. No, Jesus takes his case to the location that is dear to the heart of every good (and bad) Israelite. He has come to the City of David; he has climbed Mount Zion; he has entered the Temple, the visible dwelling of Jehovah with his people. There, where everyone can witness, Jesus takes on, not the capitalists in the temple courts, but the religious establishment, which is profiting (in a worldly way) from the big business. His actions imply condemnation. He is saying to the gentiles there, to the general Israelite population, and to the religious leaders, that they are corrupt. Symbolically he casts the religious establishment out of the temple.
Interestingly, it is a one-man show. He does not order his disciples to join in with him. He does not incite the people to riot or start a revolution. His zealous act would have been the moment. But he was not interested in political revolution. The revolution that Jesus brought was one that invades the hearts of individuals, changing them from the inside out which, in turn, works itself out in revolutionized relationships within families, churches, and in every sort of social structure these individuals are involved in. Jesus introduced the Kingdom that no longer is defined by racial identity, or political identity, or financial identity, or sexual identity (male or female). His Kingdom is made up of those who’ve been spiritually transformed, and who understand life according to this basic formula: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
We have witnessed much of this conquering, as Christianity has spread throughout the world over the centuries. It has never been a pure process. The Church has made many mistakes, some of them terrible mistakes. The Church has entered into unholy alliances. The Church has taken on improper missions. The Church has always been made up of sinners, which has meant that it is both glorious and problem-filled. But somehow, in spite of all the stumbling and fumbling, God has called out a great body of those who love him, who desire to serve him, and who love their neighbors.
But all that we can witness is only the beginning of the revolution Jesus initiated. He will return and finish the job he started by cleansing the whole earth. Those who cling to the earth will be returned to it. Those he has called will be internally cleansed and eternally cleansed. Jesus’ strength was best demonstrated when he willingly went to the cross. But his strength was also on display in the clearing of the temple. With justice and love and power, he is establishing his everlasting Kingdom. It is hopeless to fight against him.
So Jesus cleared the temple and then, apparently, cooled down because the Jews, i.e., representatives of the religious hierarchy, asked him to show a sign that gave him authorization to do what he had just done. You would think they would have come after him with the temple guards, whacked him on the head a few times and thrown him in a dungeon. In all likelihood they would have liked to do just that but, as is noted numerous times in the Gospels, they were keenly concerned about the reactions of the common people. Their prosperity was contingent on a compliant, complicit general population.
So, instead, they challenged Jesus’ authority. They knew he didn’t come from a respectable Jewish seminary. So they asked for a sign—something directly from God that would give him legitimacy. His response, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up,” is direct and important, though they completely missed his meaning. They pointed out that it took forty-three years to build the temple. Perhaps they understood him to suggest that they destroy the great temple so he could prove himself. What could they conclude other than that Jesus was completely out of his mind.
John leaves the discussion at this point. What Jesus said was not forgotten, however. Later, when Jesus was arrested and brought to trial before Caiaphas, the religious leaders searched high and low for individuals who would bring false witness against him. Finally, two men came forward and reported, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’” Like most lies, this one was not a complete misrepresentation. However, it is key that Jesus did not say that he would destroy the temple. In the final analysis, the religious leaders did end up destroying the temple of God.
Apparently the disciples missed Jesus’ point, as well. John explains that they recognized his meaning only after his resurrection. Jesus was referring to his own body as the temple. And this also explains the relevance of his answer to those who challenged him. This was the sign they should look for—that his body would be destroyed and that he would raise himself back from the dead. Who can raise himself from the dead? It is God who has the power over life and death. When it is observed that Jesus has the power over life and death, then it is clear by what authority he clears the temple of those who would pervert faithful practices. In fact, it is the proof that demands obedience to all of his words.
Notice, too, that when the disciples thought about all these events, their reaction was to believe. This event was the second sign that John emphasized in his Gospel. Like the first sign, the response of those who witnessed and understood was to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, and the Lord God.
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