John 2:13-22
Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it in three days.”
Our story today took place during the preparation for Passover in the city of Jerusalem. Thousands of people would return to the Temple to offer a gift to God as a way to celebrate the Exodus of the Israelites from bondage.
Unblemished cattle, oxen, sheep and pigeons were offered for sale outside the Temple gates by greedy merchants.
It had taken 46 years to rebuild the Temple and the Jews were proud of their place of worship. They believed that their rituals were important to God and were to be followed without question until the day Jesus entered the Temple.
Jesus had returned to the Temple, as was the tradition of his people. When he looked around he saw a sacred place, considered to be God’s dwelling, filled with money changers, and vendors carrying on business that cheated the poor. Jesus was angered by the greed and disrespect he witnessed. He was so angry that he drove out the oxen and sheep, flipped the table and poured out the money to the floor and he sent the men selling pigeons out of the Temple.
It must have been astounding to see this man taking on the entire courtyard of the Temple. He showed no fear in challenging the leaders in the corruption of a holy place.
What did he mean when he said, “Destroy this Temple, and I will raise it in three days.”
How could anyone understand that Jesus would soon die on the cross and raise from the dead three days later? No one realized that he would become the Lamb to be sacrificed and his body was the Temple he was speaking about.
Jesus actions at the Temple taught us that we can become accustomed to things in our lives that are unjust. We accept what is before us and fail to see that sometimes we are “sitting at a table that Jesus flipped.”
Pastor Sarah asks, “Let us not worship in the wrong Temple.
Let's turn to the true Temple....the one who put us in a relationship with God.
Serve the poor, care for the outcast, defend the vulnerable and love one another as Christ loved us."
