Tear down this temple John 2:13-22

Gospel reading for Sunday 11th March 2012 John 2:13-22

I have heard this reading many times. I've always thought that Jesus was being brash - daring to challenge the people to knock down something that had taken 46 years to build. Of course it makes sense when Jesus goes on to explain that he was actually referring to his own body and giving a picture of his death and resurrection ... in three days he would rise.

I get all of that ... but for years I have missed the deeper theological significance of the story, ESPECIALLY the version that we have in John's Gospel. But before unfolding that, a bit of essential Old Testament background to set the scene.

Firstly a comment on the context of the story. It is a significant event. Aside from the Holy week events it is one of very few incidents that is recorded in all four gospels. (See also Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-19 and Luke 19:45-48.) Curiously though, John places it at the beginning of his Gospel, while Matthew, Mark and Luke all place it after Jesus finally enters Jerusalem. To add to this oddity, we note that John mentions three or even four distinct Passovers (2:13, 6:4, 11:55, and 5:1). While on the one hand, this may be an indication that John is generally not big on chronological precision, the fact that he suggests that there were several visits to Jerusalem is not surprising, given that it was the EXPECTATION that Jewish people from all over the country would make at least one annual visit to the Temple.

The rituals of animal sacrifice as prescribed under Old Testament law, necessitated that the sacrificial animals be readily available in the outer Temple precinct, after all everyone did not have a sheep or a pigeon in their back pockets - especially those travelling from afar. It was therefore probably not the trading in itself that Jesus was attacking, but rather the profiteering and unscrupulous activities associated with it ... although in John's Gospel there is perhaps a hint that Jesus is setting the scene to phase out the whole system!
 
As part of the gradual revealing of the mystery of himself to human civilization, in the early stages (Old Testament), God invoked a series of rules, regulations, requirements and understandings. In the times of the setting of this Gospel story, the Temple was understood as the House of God. It was THE place to worship, but more than that, the ONLY place to meet and worship God. Theologically, the Temple was regarded as THE place where God dwelt, where the actual presence of God could be experienced. Since it was only in the Temple that people would meet God, that's why everyone was expected to make at least a yearly visit - usually for those outside of town, in association with the passover.
 
Further, of chronological significance, is that at the time of writing (a few decades after Jesus spoke the words), the Temple had long been destroyed a second time by the Romans. The Jewish people were still trying to figure out the implications of not having the Temple for worship and as a place to meet God.

Hidden behind the words of this week's text and even the first level imagery of Jesus death and resurrection then, is the far deeper and profound truth that Jesus is telling his listeners that HE is now the Temple, that a deep and lasting connection to God can be found not through or in a building, as in the former bricks and mortar temple, but now through Him! This message would have been music to the ears of John's readers. They would have been comforted by the fact that there was now another Temple. Jesus is effectively saying, "I am the new Temple" ... the Temple as it has been known will be no more.

Is this stretching it a bit? I don't think so. The synoptic Gospels all say this in a similar way with the tearing in two of the Temple curtain incident following Jesus' death. Further along in John's Gospel Jesus says to the woman at the well ( John 4:21):  “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem."

Gerard Hughes in his book "God of surprises" sums this up beautifully as he reflects on the parable of the hidden treasure. He says something like ... Christ is the treasure ... hidden in the most unlikely field ... hidden deep within the heart of every single person including you and I.

This is a deep theological significance that has in many ways been largely lost on Christendom too. We can find God anywhere and everywhere (God of course finds us and comes looking for us too.) As we work with young people and families in our Lutheran Schools it is critical that we don't feed the Old Testament "God only in His Temple" imagery, but actively promote an incarnational God present in all circumstances, places and things.

Nev

PS. If anyone has the time or inclination for further reflection on this text and in particular this line of thinking, take a look at Beyond the God Box by David Lose at the Working Preacher site.