“Getting the point?”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Saturday, January 15, 2022

John 2:13-22 (Forward, p. 78) CEV p. 1102

This account, John’s version of the ‘cleansing’ of the Temple by Jesus, has got to be one of the most contested and disputed passages in the entire New Testament. That is because it shows up here, in John’s Gospel, at what is close to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and in the three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, at almost its very end. There it appears on Palm Sunday--or shortly afterwards--at the start of Holy Week and leading up to and climaxing in His death on Good Friday. Because of this duplication, many scholars assume that it is the same incident merely placed, out of order in John’s account--simply for theological reasons.

So, let’s look at the evidence. Both incidents take place in Jerusalem just prior to the Passover Festival and both involve various merchants doing business right in the Temple precincts, probably in the Court of the Gentiles. Presumably, given Jesus’ strict orthodoxy and observance of the statutory feast days, Jesus has been up to the Temple for Passover on previous occasions. One would think that the buying and selling that so now offended Him on this occasion, had been present before. (In fact, from various outside sources, we learn that this was a recurrent practice, one that was officially sanctioned by the Temple authorities).

Interestingly, even apart from the timing of the event, there are some significant differences—yes, even apart from the possible theological reason for John having placed it where it is. John’s account talks about Jesus action as being premeditated in the sense that He took the time and effort to take some rope and fashion a whip from its strands. And it talks about a wide variety of merchandise, sheep and cattle in addition to the doves, and, of course, the money changers. The synoptic gospel accounts mention only the doves and money changers. And Jesus’ words on this occasion vary as well: in John’s account, He speaks of the Temple becoming a marketplace but in the other accounts it is a den of robbers. Somehow the anti, the abuse, has been upped over the years.

The placement of this incident in the three synoptic accounts makes complete sense in terms of the playout of the action. Jesus, on Palm Sunday, has made a triumphant entry into Jerusalem, purposefully echoing and fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah (Zechariah 9:9), “behold, your king shall come to you meek and lowly, riding on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a donkey”. It is the ancient equivalent of a ticker tape parade, and with the city of Jerusalem bursting at the seams with zealous pilgrims and already at a fever pitch, it was particularly dangerous as far as the official Jewish authorities were concerned. To have someone openly claiming to be king was dangerous indeed at any time, but especially at this time, given the crowds and given the Roman presence and disapproval of any such things. The authorities needed to nip it in the bud, and that right soon. And so the timeline, with the crucifixion taking place only a few days later, makes abundant sense. Jesus had to die!

Scholars have long suggested that John had a theological purpose for placing the incident up front, at the start of Jesus’ ministry. During the first number of chapters, John highlights a number of the Jewish festivals, the Feast of Passover (2:13-4:54), an unnamed feast (5:147), a second Passover (6:1-7:1), the Feast of Tabernacles (7:1-10:21) and the Feast of Dedication (10:22-42).

His choice of Passover as a way of beginning the gospel story makes abundant sense: not only is the Passover the formative and salvific experience of the Jewish people, but our passage also has copious references to the Feast of Passover as it came to be practiced. Before the Passover could be observed within a household, the house had to be cleansed and all contamination got rid of, and, of course, the sacrifice of a pure spotless lamb was its centrepiece. Both of these are touched on, though obliquely, in John’s account. So, because of this, many scholars assert that John purposely placed it out of sequence, simply to portray Jesus in a new way.

However, it is conceivable, given the differences between the two accounts, that Jesus did do the same thing twice, once at the beginning of His ministry, before He was very well known, and once later, when He was well known. That He was so well known, so famous and so well liked, would have made this second action particularly inflammatory. I can well imagine the authorities muttering to themselves, ‘Oh, no, not this guy, not this again’, such that they were determined to snuff it out for good this time. Certainly, given the three-year break between these incidents, it is possible that the Temple had lapsed into its formerly decadent and sinful state!

However, it may well be said about John’s mention of the various Jewish festivals that Jesus was choosing to make a point in each of them: the living water, the water from the rock, at the Feast of the Tabernacles, for instance. And perhaps this is what we are meant to take from these passages in John, some spiritual lessons, which really have nothing to do with where they are placed.

So, I think that the point of today’s passage is this. While much could be said to refer to the Feast of Passover, probably much more is said about the Temple itself. Maybe Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple was meant as a kind of object lesson, as a foil to get their attention. Maybe He was saying to them, ‘You see this glorious Temple: it will be destroyed and come to nothing. Yet here is a greater temple which too will be destroyed but will be rebuilt in just three days.’ By this, He was pointing to Himself as being a greater Temple, a living Temple, by which and in which, we could always find access to God. John’s Gospel is full of signs which are not meant in themselves to be the focus of our attention, but to point beyond themselves to a greater reality, which is Jesus Christ. So here then, we see Jesus as our Temple, the place where God truly dwells, our ultimate place and focus of worship. And so our focus is in Jesus, where it belongs and where it always should be. Amen.

Forward notes: “The Jews then said, ‘This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After 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” (verses 20-22).

“As I traverse my forties, I am coming to see that what I take into my body no longer sheds away as rapidly as it once did. Foods I used to love are not as exciting. The way I take care of my body has changed.

“These days, I am very aware of what I put into the temple of my body, particularly with food, language, and television. I believe this awareness is a part of coming back to life. News reports and social media—and even our image of ourselves in the mirror—offer intoxicating reminders of how short we fall. Yet, like the temple that underwent forty years of renovation, so we too are still under renovation.

“Through God, we can come back to life. We can be resurrected anew.”

MOVING FORWARD: “How are you treating your body as a temple? What one thing can you do today to nourish and nurture your body?”

A concluding note: our author’s meditation for today is a precise and eloquent example of what we should not do, namely, to miss the original context and point of a passage and instead personalize it. While there are certainly passages that speak of our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit, this is not one of them. This one explicitly speaks of Jesus as being that Temple. And, while we are enjoined to take care of our bodies, once again, this is not one of them. In this passage we are enjoined to focus our attention, not on ourselves, but on Christ.