Jesus Cleans the Temple!
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Like the desert (Lent week 1) and the mountain (week 2), the Temple is a place of special encounter with God. They built first an ark for the Lord in the desert, then finally a temple in Jerusalem to house God’s presence. All the Jews came to worship and offer sacrifice there. It is the, the highest feast of the Jewish calendar. Incidentally, John mentions three distinct Passovers in his Gospel, which leads us to believe that the ministry of Jesus lasted three years. ( 2:13, 6:4, 11:55). Literally, over a million people will come into Jerusalem that week of Passover, and not only come to Jerusalem, but also to this magnificent Temple, originally dedicated for one purpose, to gather God’s people into His presence.
Today we are not going to see the glorious face of Jesus; we are going to see his angry face. The Temple in Jerusalem, built in order to be the dwelling place of God on earth, built to be a place of encountering God in prayer, had become something very different. Jesus is not happy with what he sees precisely because the way the Temple worship has been organized no longer reflects God’s original idea of a worshipping community. What made Jesus so angry was that worship of God had been turned into a business, with people profiting, even being unjust to the poor, in God’s name. Here are some reasons why Jesus is angry namely, (a) the religious leaders had put rituals over morality,
(b) There was price gouging. In that religious culture, the temple tax had to be paid in one of two types of Jewish currencies, along with an exchange fee – an extra burden for the poor. (c)Then there was extortion. When people came to the temple, they needed to sacrifice an animal to God. Rather than carry an animal with them for the many miles’ walk to the temple — which was too much of a burden — the people would buy one at the temple. The poor who had saved their money over the course of the whole year, had to pay these enormous prices. On top of that, the buying and selling had moved into the court of the gentiles, preventing them from worshipping the God of Israel. For them pleasing God had become something you do in the rituals of the Temple and not in your relationship with people. This kind of religiosity makes Jesus angry.
A story is told of a priest who was coming back to his parish house one evening in the dark only to be accosted by a robber who pulled a gun at him and demanded, “Your money or your life!” As the priest reached his hand into his coat pocket the robber saw his Roman collar and said, “So you are a priest? Then you can go.”(Even here, you know priest is excused most of the time.) The priest was rather surprised at this unexpected show of piety and so tried to reciprocate by offering the robber his packet of cigarettes, to which the robber replied, “No, Father, I don’t smoke during Lent.” You can see how this robber is trying to keep the pious observance of not smoking during Lent while forgetting the more fundamental commandment of God, “Thou shall not steal.”
(d)Another reason why Jesus was mad with the Temple priests was their practice of religious particularity over against universality, of exclusiveness over inclusiveness. Some knowledge of the design of the Temple will help us here. The Temple had five sections or courts: (1) holy of holies (2) court of priests (3) court of Israel (4) court of women (5) court of Gentiles. Though these were seen as five concentric circles of sanctity, the design made room for everybody in the house of God. It was a universal house of God “for all the nations” where every man or woman on earth would find a place in which to pray. But the Temple priests forgot that and thought that it was meant for Jews alone. So they decided to turn the court of the Gentiles into a “holy” market place for selling the animals required for sacrifice and for exchanging money. You could bring Roman money as far as the court of the Gentiles but not into the other four courts. The court of Gentiles was no longer regarded as part and parcel of the house of God, it had become a market place, pure and simple. Now it was this court of Gentiles that Jesus cleansed. In so doing, he was making the point that the Gentile section was just as holy as the Jewish sections. God is God of all and not God of a select group. Like the Jews of the time of Jesus, some Christians today still think that God belongs to them alone and not to others as well.
A certain man died and went to heaven and St Peter was showing him round. St Peter pointed to different mansions: “Here are the Jews, here the Buddhists, here the Moslems, etc.” Then they came to a large compound surrounded by a high wall and inside they could hear singing and laughter. “Who are those?” asked the new arrival. And St Peter hushed him, “Hush! They’re the Christians – but they think they’re the only ones here.” Believers like these need a Temple court experience to awaken them to the universal love of God and bring them back to true worship.
Why does the Church give us this reading on the third Sunday of Lent? Because she wants us to reflect on another temple, ourselves, the Lord wants to clean in the same way.
We believe that the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation make each of us a temple of the Holy Spirit, filled with God’s life. Our body and soul become a temple of the Holy Spirit, where God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — really and truly dwell, just like God dwells in this Church and in that tabernacle. This is the temple that Jesus wants to make sure is clean, a real house of prayer, a real place where God is adored.
We can go into the temple of our minds and bodies, by going out into the wilderness of our own personal desert with Jesus. We can make idols out of social status and prestige; out of power trips, resentment and control. my heart or yours could be filled with tables piled high with coins like those of the money-changers. Not literal coins, probably: each man’s or woman’s “coin” can be a bit different. Your “coin” is the measure of ultimate value for you, the value for which you are willing to trade everything else. Your “coin” can be the approval of others, popularity, ambition, financial success, comfort, security, pleasure.
Paul writes to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Holy Spirit dwells in you (1 Cor 3:16)”, and again, “We are the temple of the living God (2 Cor 6:16)”. We are the sanctuary where Jesus has chosen to reside. As Jesus comes into this temple, will he find it truly oriented to the purpose for which God has created you and me?
There is a phrase attributed to Edmund Burke, “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil in the world is for good men to do nothing.’
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.Amen.
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
Like the desert (Lent week 1) and the mountain (week 2), the Temple is a place of special encounter with God. They built first an ark for the Lord in the desert, then finally a temple in Jerusalem to house God’s presence. All the Jews came to worship and offer sacrifice there. It is the, the highest feast of the Jewish calendar. Incidentally, John mentions three distinct Passovers in his Gospel, which leads us to believe that the ministry of Jesus lasted three years. ( 2:13, 6:4, 11:55). Literally, over a million people will come into Jerusalem that week of Passover, and not only come to Jerusalem, but also to this magnificent Temple, originally dedicated for one purpose, to gather God’s people into His presence.
Today we are not going to see the glorious face of Jesus; we are going to see his angry face. The Temple in Jerusalem, built in order to be the dwelling place of God on earth, built to be a place of encountering God in prayer, had become something very different. Jesus is not happy with what he sees precisely because the way the Temple worship has been organized no longer reflects God’s original idea of a worshipping community. What made Jesus so angry was that worship of God had been turned into a business, with people profiting, even being unjust to the poor, in God’s name. Here are some reasons why Jesus is angry namely, (a) the religious leaders had put rituals over morality,
(b) There was price gouging. In that religious culture, the temple tax had to be paid in one of two types of Jewish currencies, along with an exchange fee – an extra burden for the poor. (c)Then there was extortion. When people came to the temple, they needed to sacrifice an animal to God. Rather than carry an animal with them for the many miles’ walk to the temple — which was too much of a burden — the people would buy one at the temple. The poor who had saved their money over the course of the whole year, had to pay these enormous prices. On top of that, the buying and selling had moved into the court of the gentiles, preventing them from worshipping the God of Israel. For them pleasing God had become something you do in the rituals of the Temple and not in your relationship with people. This kind of religiosity makes Jesus angry.
A story is told of a priest who was coming back to his parish house one evening in the dark only to be accosted by a robber who pulled a gun at him and demanded, “Your money or your life!” As the priest reached his hand into his coat pocket the robber saw his Roman collar and said, “So you are a priest? Then you can go.”(Even here, you know priest is excused most of the time.) The priest was rather surprised at this unexpected show of piety and so tried to reciprocate by offering the robber his packet of cigarettes, to which the robber replied, “No, Father, I don’t smoke during Lent.” You can see how this robber is trying to keep the pious observance of not smoking during Lent while forgetting the more fundamental commandment of God, “Thou shall not steal.”
(d)Another reason why Jesus was mad with the Temple priests was their practice of religious particularity over against universality, of exclusiveness over inclusiveness. Some knowledge of the design of the Temple will help us here. The Temple had five sections or courts: (1) holy of holies (2) court of priests (3) court of Israel (4) court of women (5) court of Gentiles. Though these were seen as five concentric circles of sanctity, the design made room for everybody in the house of God. It was a universal house of God “for all the nations” where every man or woman on earth would find a place in which to pray. But the Temple priests forgot that and thought that it was meant for Jews alone. So they decided to turn the court of the Gentiles into a “holy” market place for selling the animals required for sacrifice and for exchanging money. You could bring Roman money as far as the court of the Gentiles but not into the other four courts. The court of Gentiles was no longer regarded as part and parcel of the house of God, it had become a market place, pure and simple. Now it was this court of Gentiles that Jesus cleansed. In so doing, he was making the point that the Gentile section was just as holy as the Jewish sections. God is God of all and not God of a select group. Like the Jews of the time of Jesus, some Christians today still think that God belongs to them alone and not to others as well.
A certain man died and went to heaven and St Peter was showing him round. St Peter pointed to different mansions: “Here are the Jews, here the Buddhists, here the Moslems, etc.” Then they came to a large compound surrounded by a high wall and inside they could hear singing and laughter. “Who are those?” asked the new arrival. And St Peter hushed him, “Hush! They’re the Christians – but they think they’re the only ones here.” Believers like these need a Temple court experience to awaken them to the universal love of God and bring them back to true worship.
Why does the Church give us this reading on the third Sunday of Lent? Because she wants us to reflect on another temple, ourselves, the Lord wants to clean in the same way.
We believe that the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation make each of us a temple of the Holy Spirit, filled with God’s life. Our body and soul become a temple of the Holy Spirit, where God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — really and truly dwell, just like God dwells in this Church and in that tabernacle. This is the temple that Jesus wants to make sure is clean, a real house of prayer, a real place where God is adored.
We can go into the temple of our minds and bodies, by going out into the wilderness of our own personal desert with Jesus. We can make idols out of social status and prestige; out of power trips, resentment and control. my heart or yours could be filled with tables piled high with coins like those of the money-changers. Not literal coins, probably: each man’s or woman’s “coin” can be a bit different. Your “coin” is the measure of ultimate value for you, the value for which you are willing to trade everything else. Your “coin” can be the approval of others, popularity, ambition, financial success, comfort, security, pleasure.
Paul writes to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Holy Spirit dwells in you (1 Cor 3:16)”, and again, “We are the temple of the living God (2 Cor 6:16)”. We are the sanctuary where Jesus has chosen to reside. As Jesus comes into this temple, will he find it truly oriented to the purpose for which God has created you and me?
There is a phrase attributed to Edmund Burke, “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil in the world is for good men to do nothing.’
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.Amen.
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