2009 Year B Lent 3rd week
Temple cleaning incident
Jerusalem temple has a specific meaning to Israel people. We shouldn’t think the meaning of the temple as our church today. The building and organization like today’s’ church is similar to the synagogue of Israel. The synagogue is in many places in Israel and other places where the scattered diasporas are living. Though a synagogue is a religious place but it is different from Jerusalem for it doesn’t perform a sacrificing activity which is the most important part of a religious activity. They thought they could meet God and be forgiven in Jerusalem temple only.
Many sincere Jews use to visit Jerusalem two or three times in a year. The most important festival to visit Jerusalem was Passover. This festival followed the tradition of Exodus which celebrated the event when the angle of death struck Egypt the angel passed over the house of Israel which door frame was sprinkled by a sheep’s blood. Jesus also visited Jerusalem on Passover. The synoptic gospels positioned the story of Jesus’ visiting Jerusalem on Passover at the end of his official life but John did it at the beginning part of his gospel. The point all the four gospels deal with this matter signifies the affirmation and importance of this incident. What did Jesus do in this temple?
As we know well Jesus drove out the trading people in Jerusalem temple. According to today’s content, Jesus found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. You may think strange how the merchants openly traded in the temple. However, it isn’t big issue. When the pilgrim gave a sacrifice they offered either cow, sheep or dove according to their own economical ability. Then think of it. They couldn’t bring such animal from faraway place. Furthermore the sacrifice that offered to the Lord God should be blameless. The merchants who were trading in the temple prepared a proper sacrificial animal for the pilgrim. The role of money changers also was the same. The pilgrims came to Jerusalem from the entire of Europe lived around the Mediterranean Sea. They had to change their money in order to pay a temple tax for the temple accepted only 1/2 shekel as the annual tax per male. The 1/2 shekel was not always used in everyday commerce, but was the only coins accepted by the temple.
At this point, selling the sacrificing animals and exchanging money in order to pay the temple tax were compulsory functions to maintain the temple properly. Despite this, Jesus drove them out not by word but by force and said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" Mark delivers Jesus’ word by quoting Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11, "Is it not written: "'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" (Mark 11:17).
The reason of temple clearance
In what reason did Jesus invoke such affair at the temple? Jesus’ attitude to solve the matter by force seems a little different from the Jesus who we normally imagine. Furthermore, according to the synoptic gospels which took this incident as the latter part of his official ministry, the leader group of Jews had their will confirmed to remove Jesus from their society. Was the temple clearance matter that much serious even at the risk of his life? As I explained earlier this was not the matter of risking of his life for animal trade and exchanging money was for the pilgrims’ convenience.
We can just explain the reasons of Jesus doing such thing. First, though it was for the convenience of the pilgrims it had a possibility to damage the essence of religion that we have eventually to meet God through sacrifice and prayer. Through Jesus’ rebuke, “Do not turn my Father's house into a market!" we can read the essence of religion and Jesus’ anger for the activity to destroy it. We also should be careful and remind how much we pure in the essence of faith. Despite pureness of motivation, man’s brain always used to turn to ‘trading’ there will be possibility of forgetting prayer.
Second, Jesus might criticize the power structure of Jerusalem temple through the action of cleaning temple. There should be profit when the traders sold an animal and changed money. The ample portion of profit might be given to the priests. Jesus’ anger might not be for the trading of publics but for the priest class who skillfully disguised themselves as a good and structuring and normalizing their vested rights. The record of the synoptic gospels that the priests decided to kill Jesus after this incident was the proof that they penetrated into such Jesus’ mind.
Two reasons mentioned above have its own reasoning power. Based on such interpretation, many preachers cry out for the reformation of church today. They proclaim that church should not fall into seeking a profit, promoting mutual friendship, self-satisfaction but concentrate on a spiritual understanding with God. And also it is right to proclaim the reformation of the church’s power structure that shouldn’t be reproductive like as the priests in Jerusalem temple. I also use to preach while I was young.
However, when we think about the content a little deeper, it may not be limited in this level. If we see the temple clearing incident itself it matches to the image of John the Baptist rather than Jesus. It was the mission of John the Baptist, the last prophet of Israel who preached in the desert with burning passion to restore consensuses, to make righteous society and to clear the temple. Jesus is not a forerunner for a religious and social reformation. However, you may not misunderstand. It doesn’t mean the uselessness of church reformation and social reformation. Rather I would like to say that Jesus’ temple clearing incident is connected to a spiritual incident that fundamentally transcends the reformation of temple, or to be returned ceaselessly. What is this?
The authority of the temple clearance
Though the synoptic gospels keep silence but John’s gospel added the story after the temple clearance. Jews demanded Jesus, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" (18) Jews thought that the prophets and the man of God should have the power to perform miraculous sign. They understood God in that way. The story of splitting Red Sea, stopping of the sun and the moon, revival of a dead were the proof of God’s togetherness. The demand of Jews to Jesus to show them the miraculous sign was to prove whether Jesus’ activity was rooted in God or not. Such question was the very problem that the early Christians faced. They had to answer to Jews whether Jesus was the son of God or Messiah. This question also is the matter we face today. We are demanded of proving whether Jesus is Messiah and the judge of the end. Though many Christians may answer it is not the matter of proof but belief. However, the world is not satisfied with such answer.
“What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Nowadays such challenge against the church is so widely raised. Why should we fulfill the command to preach the gospel till the end of the world? Why do we reform social structure in order to give human-like treatment to the isolated people? Why do we reform the economical structure from the poor get poorer and the rich get richer to equivalence? We cannot ignore the demand to prove such voice. The demand of the Jews to prove the authority to reform the temple is exactly of ours today.
As we’ve seen before, the demand of Jews was to show them miraculous sign. Even today our society demands of us to show them the miracles that everybody eats and lives well. They urge us to show the miracles like splitting of the Rea Sea, showering of Manna and quails in the desert. They shout that such miraculous sign is only the proof from God.
Look at verse 19. “Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’” Then the Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" This conversation sounds anyhow strange. The original Jerusalem temple that Solomon built was destroyed by Babylon. After that there were several times reconstruction and even Jesus’ time the rebuilding process was going for 46 years. Jesus’ word to rebuild Jerusalem temple, the superlative building in those days, within three days sounded nonsense for anybody and the Jews who accepted it as it was also seemed too naïve. What was the matter between these conversations?
Miracle or resurrection?
The reason of conversation problem in between two was that Jews didn’t understand Jesus’ spiritual word. Jesus now was telling about his body not the building, Jerusalem temple. It signifies the resurrection that he would be raised three days after his crucifixion. Jews were not able to think such meaning. They thought if man died they would go to Sheol or Gehenna. They had no idea about resurrection. Such Jews might not understand Jesus’ word to destroy the temple.
If we examine today’s content a little bit more with theological insight, such statement was not Jesus’ direct word but of the interpretation and religious confession of the early Christian community. For it was hard to believe Jesus himself had conviction of his resurrection. Like the fundamentalist, if we believe the entire words of Jesus in the gospels as the direct word of Jesus then there will be fundamental problem will be happened. Think of it. If Jesus knew his resurrection beforehand then his suffering and crucifixion doesn’t have much meaning. Jesus’ incident on the cross doesn’t have much difference to a major surgical operation which is dangerous but eventually can be healed completely.
Early Christian community experienced the fact that something new incident had happened to Jesus who executed on the cross. It was just resurrection, the completion of life. Jesus’ official life was newly understood at the light of resurrection. Jews were proud of building Jerusalem temple but the early Christian community absolutely depended on Jesus’ resurrection. The Jews thought they could understand God’s will through supernatural miracle but the early Christians thought Jesus’ resurrection was God’s will. The Jews demanded the miracles that destroyed the natural law but the early Christians concentrated on resurrection, the completion of the natural law. Resurrection is the completion of the law of nature means that the nature is the order toward the ultimate life.
The temple clearance in today’s content still is necessary thing for us. A fervent struggle to actualize a righteous society also is necessary. However, we cannot avoid the question, what meaning all these things have? The question, what is the source of justice and peace? Without such source, the entire human activities are fertile. John explains the resource as follows, “the ultimate life incident that happened to Jesus is the answer.” The resource of authority is not Jerusalem temple, a compilation of human technique and inspiration but Jesus’ resurrection, the activity of God, the creator of life.
JERUSALEM TEMPLE AND JESUS’ RESURRECTION
John 2:13-22 Temple cleaning incident
Jerusalem temple has a specific meaning to Israel people. We shouldn’t think the meaning of the temple as our church today. The building and organization like today’s’ church is similar to the synagogue of Israel. The synagogue is in many places in Israel and other places where the scattered diasporas are living. Though a synagogue is a religious place but it is different from Jerusalem for it doesn’t perform a sacrificing activity which is the most important part of a religious activity. They thought they could meet God and be forgiven in Jerusalem temple only.
Many sincere Jews use to visit Jerusalem two or three times in a year. The most important festival to visit Jerusalem was Passover. This festival followed the tradition of Exodus which celebrated the event when the angle of death struck Egypt the angel passed over the house of Israel which door frame was sprinkled by a sheep’s blood. Jesus also visited Jerusalem on Passover. The synoptic gospels positioned the story of Jesus’ visiting Jerusalem on Passover at the end of his official life but John did it at the beginning part of his gospel. The point all the four gospels deal with this matter signifies the affirmation and importance of this incident. What did Jesus do in this temple?
As we know well Jesus drove out the trading people in Jerusalem temple. According to today’s content, Jesus found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. You may think strange how the merchants openly traded in the temple. However, it isn’t big issue. When the pilgrim gave a sacrifice they offered either cow, sheep or dove according to their own economical ability. Then think of it. They couldn’t bring such animal from faraway place. Furthermore the sacrifice that offered to the Lord God should be blameless. The merchants who were trading in the temple prepared a proper sacrificial animal for the pilgrim. The role of money changers also was the same. The pilgrims came to Jerusalem from the entire of Europe lived around the Mediterranean Sea. They had to change their money in order to pay a temple tax for the temple accepted only 1/2 shekel as the annual tax per male. The 1/2 shekel was not always used in everyday commerce, but was the only coins accepted by the temple.
At this point, selling the sacrificing animals and exchanging money in order to pay the temple tax were compulsory functions to maintain the temple properly. Despite this, Jesus drove them out not by word but by force and said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" Mark delivers Jesus’ word by quoting Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11, "Is it not written: "'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" (Mark 11:17).
The reason of temple clearance
In what reason did Jesus invoke such affair at the temple? Jesus’ attitude to solve the matter by force seems a little different from the Jesus who we normally imagine. Furthermore, according to the synoptic gospels which took this incident as the latter part of his official ministry, the leader group of Jews had their will confirmed to remove Jesus from their society. Was the temple clearance matter that much serious even at the risk of his life? As I explained earlier this was not the matter of risking of his life for animal trade and exchanging money was for the pilgrims’ convenience.
We can just explain the reasons of Jesus doing such thing. First, though it was for the convenience of the pilgrims it had a possibility to damage the essence of religion that we have eventually to meet God through sacrifice and prayer. Through Jesus’ rebuke, “Do not turn my Father's house into a market!" we can read the essence of religion and Jesus’ anger for the activity to destroy it. We also should be careful and remind how much we pure in the essence of faith. Despite pureness of motivation, man’s brain always used to turn to ‘trading’ there will be possibility of forgetting prayer.
Second, Jesus might criticize the power structure of Jerusalem temple through the action of cleaning temple. There should be profit when the traders sold an animal and changed money. The ample portion of profit might be given to the priests. Jesus’ anger might not be for the trading of publics but for the priest class who skillfully disguised themselves as a good and structuring and normalizing their vested rights. The record of the synoptic gospels that the priests decided to kill Jesus after this incident was the proof that they penetrated into such Jesus’ mind.
Two reasons mentioned above have its own reasoning power. Based on such interpretation, many preachers cry out for the reformation of church today. They proclaim that church should not fall into seeking a profit, promoting mutual friendship, self-satisfaction but concentrate on a spiritual understanding with God. And also it is right to proclaim the reformation of the church’s power structure that shouldn’t be reproductive like as the priests in Jerusalem temple. I also use to preach while I was young.
However, when we think about the content a little deeper, it may not be limited in this level. If we see the temple clearing incident itself it matches to the image of John the Baptist rather than Jesus. It was the mission of John the Baptist, the last prophet of Israel who preached in the desert with burning passion to restore consensuses, to make righteous society and to clear the temple. Jesus is not a forerunner for a religious and social reformation. However, you may not misunderstand. It doesn’t mean the uselessness of church reformation and social reformation. Rather I would like to say that Jesus’ temple clearing incident is connected to a spiritual incident that fundamentally transcends the reformation of temple, or to be returned ceaselessly. What is this?
The authority of the temple clearance
Though the synoptic gospels keep silence but John’s gospel added the story after the temple clearance. Jews demanded Jesus, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?" (18) Jews thought that the prophets and the man of God should have the power to perform miraculous sign. They understood God in that way. The story of splitting Red Sea, stopping of the sun and the moon, revival of a dead were the proof of God’s togetherness. The demand of Jews to Jesus to show them the miraculous sign was to prove whether Jesus’ activity was rooted in God or not. Such question was the very problem that the early Christians faced. They had to answer to Jews whether Jesus was the son of God or Messiah. This question also is the matter we face today. We are demanded of proving whether Jesus is Messiah and the judge of the end. Though many Christians may answer it is not the matter of proof but belief. However, the world is not satisfied with such answer.
“What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Nowadays such challenge against the church is so widely raised. Why should we fulfill the command to preach the gospel till the end of the world? Why do we reform social structure in order to give human-like treatment to the isolated people? Why do we reform the economical structure from the poor get poorer and the rich get richer to equivalence? We cannot ignore the demand to prove such voice. The demand of the Jews to prove the authority to reform the temple is exactly of ours today.
As we’ve seen before, the demand of Jews was to show them miraculous sign. Even today our society demands of us to show them the miracles that everybody eats and lives well. They urge us to show the miracles like splitting of the Rea Sea, showering of Manna and quails in the desert. They shout that such miraculous sign is only the proof from God.
Look at verse 19. “Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’” Then the Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" This conversation sounds anyhow strange. The original Jerusalem temple that Solomon built was destroyed by Babylon. After that there were several times reconstruction and even Jesus’ time the rebuilding process was going for 46 years. Jesus’ word to rebuild Jerusalem temple, the superlative building in those days, within three days sounded nonsense for anybody and the Jews who accepted it as it was also seemed too naïve. What was the matter between these conversations?
Miracle or resurrection?
The reason of conversation problem in between two was that Jews didn’t understand Jesus’ spiritual word. Jesus now was telling about his body not the building, Jerusalem temple. It signifies the resurrection that he would be raised three days after his crucifixion. Jews were not able to think such meaning. They thought if man died they would go to Sheol or Gehenna. They had no idea about resurrection. Such Jews might not understand Jesus’ word to destroy the temple.
If we examine today’s content a little bit more with theological insight, such statement was not Jesus’ direct word but of the interpretation and religious confession of the early Christian community. For it was hard to believe Jesus himself had conviction of his resurrection. Like the fundamentalist, if we believe the entire words of Jesus in the gospels as the direct word of Jesus then there will be fundamental problem will be happened. Think of it. If Jesus knew his resurrection beforehand then his suffering and crucifixion doesn’t have much meaning. Jesus’ incident on the cross doesn’t have much difference to a major surgical operation which is dangerous but eventually can be healed completely.
Early Christian community experienced the fact that something new incident had happened to Jesus who executed on the cross. It was just resurrection, the completion of life. Jesus’ official life was newly understood at the light of resurrection. Jews were proud of building Jerusalem temple but the early Christian community absolutely depended on Jesus’ resurrection. The Jews thought they could understand God’s will through supernatural miracle but the early Christians thought Jesus’ resurrection was God’s will. The Jews demanded the miracles that destroyed the natural law but the early Christians concentrated on resurrection, the completion of the natural law. Resurrection is the completion of the law of nature means that the nature is the order toward the ultimate life.
The temple clearance in today’s content still is necessary thing for us. A fervent struggle to actualize a righteous society also is necessary. However, we cannot avoid the question, what meaning all these things have? The question, what is the source of justice and peace? Without such source, the entire human activities are fertile. John explains the resource as follows, “the ultimate life incident that happened to Jesus is the answer.” The resource of authority is not Jerusalem temple, a compilation of human technique and inspiration but Jesus’ resurrection, the activity of God, the creator of life.
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