SERMON FOR MARCH 7, 2021          TEXT: JOHN 2:13-22

          What is going on with Jesus in the temple? The story of his outburst appears in all four gospels, but John’s presentation differs significantly from the other three. In the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, the cleansing of the temple occurs at the beginning of Holy Week, right after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It is the final straw that breaks the back of the outraged religious authorities and drives them to seek his death.    Here, for example, is Mark’s account of the event:    “Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching” (Mark 11:15-18). People came to the temple in Jerusalem from all over to participate in the sacrifices. Remember how Mary and Joseph traveled there with the infant Jesus and offered two pigeons for the rite of purification after his birth. The trade Jesus now interrupts was essential to the worship life of the temple. There were merchants who sold the animals required for sacrifice. There were money changers who provided the local currency foreigners needed to make those purchases and pay various fees. The implication is that the buyers of currency and sellers of sacrificial animals were cheating their customers. Jesus is attacking their corruption by denouncing them as “a den of robbers.”

          John tells the story of the cleansing of the temple in the second chapter of his Gospel, right after the wedding at Cana. It comes, then, at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, rather than at the end. It is not the event that seals the Lord’s doom before he celebrates his last passover in Jerusalem. According to John, it is the raising of Lazarus from the dead that causes Jesus’ opponents to plot his death.    The cleansing of the temple may offer a critique of corrupt practices. It was no secret that the Roman government meddled in temple affairs. Roman authorities appointed the chief priest, and he served their interests. The Roman treasury benefited financially from the temple trade. Jesus would have known that, and it would have troubled him. Still, in the fourth Gospel he does not say anything about a “den of robbers.” The motivation for his actions goes much deeper.             

          In John’s account Jesus refers to the temple as “my Father’s house,” which one does not find in Matthew, Mark or Luke. It is a bold claim on Jesus’ part as to his true identity and his unique relationship to God. Those present challenge him in an exchange that also does not appear in the accounts of the other three evangelists.”What sign can you show us for doing this?” they ask. By what authority does he dare to attack temple practice in this very public way and at such a critical time? The temple is the place where Israel’s God has promised to be present; here the divine and the human meet. It stands at the center of the Jews’ identity as a people and serves as a painful reminder of their subservience to Rome. It is Passover; the city is crowded, and the demand for the celebration of sacrifices is extraordinarily high. The influx of visitors will put the Roman authorities on red alert. It is precisely in this volatile situation that Jesus takes the stage, where he surely caught the attention of the Romans as well as the members of his own religious community. And now he responds to the latter with a challenge of his own:    Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for 46 years, and will you raise it up in three days?” Preposterous claim, even for a miracle worker. John then clues the reader in, “But he was speaking of the temple of his body.” This was a conclusion none of Jesus’s original hearers could have drawn at the time. Only later, John tells us, after the resurrection, did his disciples remember the saying and understand its meaning.

          The cleansing of the temple is the sign the Jews are asking for, although they do not realize this at the time. The paraphernalia of temple practice is swept away, making room for the one act of self-giving that will be the complete and final sacrifice. The temple of stone, the dwelling place of God, yields to the person of Jesus, where God and human not only meet but are eternally, inseparably joined. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The crucifixion and resurrection are foretold, proclaimed, promised. Jesus knows exactly what he is doing in that moment.

          When strident voices in the church are cautioned to “turn the other cheek,” they counter their critics by pointing to this incident. Jesus knew that sometimes you catch more flies with honey and other times you just have to swat the fly to get your point across. But his action was not an eruption of uncontrolled, self-serving rage. The cleansing of the temple was a form of performance art, impassioned, focused and strategic. There was no mild way to tell these people they were on the wrong track, no gentle corrective for their blind religious certainty. And so he did what was necessary for their sake.They didn’t like it; they didn’t understand at first. And when they retaliated, Jesus once again responded in accordance with their need, this time holding his tongue and going to his death.

        Twice in today’s story John jumps ahead of the events at hand to tell us what will follow. “His disciples remembered that it was written. ‘Zeal for your house will consume me’”    (v.17). “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” (v. 22). John offers this as encouragement to all who read his Gospel. Our understanding of who Jesus is and what it means to follow him grows over time. It’s a bit like reading a Where’s Waldo book. The character of Waldo wears a distinctive red-and-white-striped shirt, a red bobble hat, and black glasses, but he appears in a series of densely detailed illustrations. The challenge is to recognize him in this rich mix of competing attractions. You have be alert. You have to look carefully. You will encounter Jesus where you may not have expected him, see him in the midst of people you thought unlikely. And then you can try a little performance art of your own, some “good trouble” to open the eyes of those around you. Amen.