John 2:13-22
Lent 3 / Year A
Each of the four gospels describes
an event when Jesus confronts the people who make a livelihood at the Temple by
exchanging currency and/or selling animals or doves for sacrifices. Matthew, Mark, and Luke (known as the
Synoptic Gospels because the synopsis of each is so similar) report this
transpires at the Passover festival just before Jesus is arrested and put to
death, although they disagree on when it takes place (either Palm Sunday or the
following day). Each of the three states
Jesus’ objection, “My Father’s house is to be a house of prayer, but you have
made it a den of thieves.”
John’s version contains many of
the same elements – the timing of the festival, the location of the Temple, and
Jesus’ actions against the traders. But
John’s version differs from the other three in at least two key ways. First, he places it at the beginning of
Jesus’s public ministry, rather than at the end. In fact, the Synoptics indicate Jesus’ attack
on the Temple system is what leads to his arrest and crucifixion. John, however, traces the motivation for
arresting Jesus to raising Lazarus from the dead, thus, for him, the Temple
episode reflects something else.
The second difference in the
accounts is subtle, but also telling.
While the Synoptics have Jesus using the phrase “den of thieves”, thus criticizing
the corruption of what is transpiring, John records Jesus as saying, “Take
these things out of here. Stop making my
Father’s house a marketplace.” “Marketplace”
verses “den of thieves”. In John, Jesus
is not attacking the fraudulent behavior of a few, he is condemning the entire
system – even those whose business practices are marked by honestly and integrity.
One more aspect of John’s account
stands out: the challenge to Jesus by the religious authorities: “What sign can
you show us for doing these things?” In
other words, “What gives you the right?”
Jesus responds in a way we understand, but the original audience did
not: “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
The crowd caught in the confusion
of marauding animals and merchants scurrying about for their coins cannot begin
to fathom how Jesus can rebuild a structure which required generations to
erect. But the first readers of John’s
gospel (written around the end of the first century) know two things the people
in today’s story do not. First, the
Temple was completely destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Not one stone was left on top of another. And second, the crucified Jesus rose from the
dead after three days. So for John,
given the loss of the centralized place of Hebrew worship and given the
presence of the God’s Word incarnate, Jesus’ actions in the Temple at the
beginning of his public ministry indicate a shift from religion focused on a structure
and an institution to religion based on a relationship with an individual. Archbishop Curry is fond of referring to this
new type of religion as “the Jesus Movement” and “The Way of Love.”
Something interesting always
happens when a church or a synagogue has its worship space destroyed, most
commonly due to a fire. The congregation
is forced to meet in a different location, perhaps the parish hall or in a
neighboring church. It seems to result
in one of two things. Either the
congregation folds or it comes back stronger than before. Either it cannot overcome the loss of its
institutional space or it discovers anew its rootedness in relationship with Jesus,
with its surrounding neighborhood, and with one another.
Many American churches were on
shaky ground before the pandemic impeded our ability to worship together
in-person. The professionals who study
congregational vitality suspect these last twelve months will only serve to
accelerate the closing of churches whose viability was already suspect. But other faith communities will emerge from
this time poised with new purpose and a sense of what is possible. For these faith communities, the time apart
has fostered in them the desire to embrace innovative ways to be in
relationship with God and one another.
It is a passion promising to spill over into congregational life as we
emerge from this time of physical isolation.
When I consider where St. Paul’s is at, and especially as I reflect on
the focus of our Vestry leadership, I can say with confidence we are on the
second track.
The first readers of John’s gospel
knew well the experience of religious homelessness. After Jesus’ ascension, his original
followers and their initial converts understand themselves to be Jews who found
the long-promised Messiah. They continue
to make pilgrimages to the Jerusalem for major festivals and in most ways
appear no different from other Jews.
Like all Jews, when the temple is
sacked, Messianic Jews have to develop new rites and practices to replace what
has been lost, just as non-Messianic Jews have to do. Both groups find a new home in the local synagogues
and initially both groups coexist peacefully in the same place. Yes, the two camps have different ideas, but
Christians see themselves as a subset of a greater whole. And Christians feel called to witness to
their faith so there might be one flock under one shepherd.
Well, by the time John writes his
gospel, this unspoken truce is taking on water.
More and more, synagogue leaders, who are comprised of traditional Jews,
seek to banish or even persecute those who confess faith in Jesus. As an aside, this context explains why John’s
gospel has a more negative and condemning view of “the Jews” than we find in
the Synoptics.
So, those first Christians lived
through much disruption in how they experienced institutional religion. At first they remain centered around the Temple. Then they have to adapt to religion as
experienced in the local synagogue. Once
expelled from this institution, early Christians begin to develop home churches,
which focus on a Eucharistic meal and sharing Jesus’ love with the unloved. What emerges is a ‘table fellowship’ where
friendships are formed, the hungry are feed, and the Risen Christ is made known
in the breaking of bread. And while it
lacks the grandeur of the Temple, it generates enough power to change the
world.
The one constant through it all is
Jesus. His followers sense his presence
no matter the setting or focus of their communal spiritual life. It is a promise and a truth we are experiencing
anew in our day. A lot has changed in
the last year, but through it all Jesus continues to shepherd us, to feed us,
to comfort us, and to heal us. Today we
hear Jesus say, “Even if life in your physical space of worship is inhibited, I
am with you to see you through.”
