Third Sunday of Lent John 2:13-22 Exodus 20:1-17

The Temple was the beating heart of the Jewish faith. It was their holy place, where the acts of worship and sacrifice, with music and teaching, happened for the nation, and where they were drawn into the presence of God. God himself had promised that he would be there, living in the midst of his people. Imagine, then, the sudden bursting in of another Teacher, who upturns all of this, literally, and sweeps the place clean of the money-changers and others who were there selling cattle, sheep and doves, for the people’s sacrifices. The system, that they had all relied on for their religious observance being driven out by this person, who even uses a whip to chase them out. His anger at their practices was made quite clear! What’s more, he refers to the Temple as ‘his Father’s house’… and saying that it has been made into a market place! I suppose Jesus’ actions in the Temple that day raised a few hackles. So, what was going on?

Animals were sold for the sacrifices and the Temple tax had to be paid in Jewish coin, and all the different currencies that people used had to be changed into Jewish money. Among these currencies was the hated Roman coin, with the image of the Emperor. No doubt, the money-changers earned a nice living here. Jesus’ indignation was not aimed at those engaged in worship, but at the ones who detracted from it. The whole system had become corrupt when materialism crept in.

This incident also occurs in the other three Gospels, but in Matthew, Mark and Luke, it happens towards the end of Jesus’ ministry, not at the beginning as in John’s account. Why would that be? Possibly, because it explains what comes afterwards. One thing is perhaps helpful to note: it was the Passover. And Jesus, when asked by the religious authorities what he thinks he is doing, replies rather cryptically that he is the true Temple; that he, as the Word made flesh, is the true place where God dwells. When he mentions its destruction, it is a reference, then, to his death and resurrection as the ultimate sacrificial lamb, who would set the people free from their sins. This reference, saying, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’, was going to be used as part of the accusations against him at his mock trial. The disciples, though, would remember it later in the correct context and believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. Jesus is also giving the Passover a new meaning: John has already said that he is the Passover lamb that God has sent. And Jesus is going to Jerusalem when the liberation of the people and their rescue from slavery is being celebrated. In the reading from Exodus 20, which is the Ten Commandments, we are reminded of God’s first act of liberation: ‘God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.’ Now, with Jesus, God’s Son, going to perform the second act of liberation, he is reminding the people of their true calling as God’s people. Jesus is the new reality; the new Temple, the Word made flesh, bringing God among the people in a totally new sense. In a way, God has never been this close and living in the midst of the people, as now, in Jesus. His work of salvation in his death and resurrection, is to be the reality to which the Passover is pointing.

The final sentence of today’s Gospel reading mentions that the disciples believed. We are also called to believe; to accept that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are our ways his ways (Isaiah 55:8). When we see the signs that Jesus is doing, we may respond by trusting him and believing him. As he has said, he knows us better than we know ourselves, and he is faithful. Amen.