240303 B Lt3 / Consumed in Zeal
Let’s explore the accounts of Jesus cleansing the temple in the Gospel of John and the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) and how they relate to Jesus’ mission:
Purity and Holiness:
In John, the focus is on the purity and appropriateness of the temple for worship. Jesus’ actions demonstrate His zeal for maintaining the sacredness of the house of God.
While the Synoptic accounts also emphasize the temple’s sanctity, they additionally highlight the loss of Israel’s meaningful engagement with Gentiles. Jesus’ mission includes restoring true worship and inclusivity. It's not only important to point out the wrongdoing of the Temple merchants, but as it happens adjacent to the Temple precincts, it also scandalizes the Gentile observers around the Temple.
Prophetic Symbolism:
In John’s Account, the cryptic statement about destroying the temple and raising it in three days points to Jesus’ death and resurrection. His body becomes the new temple, emphasizing His role as the ultimate sacrifice and the source of eternal life.
The Synoptic Accounts emphasize the temple as a house of prayer for all nations. Jesus’ mission involves restoring true worship and inviting people of all backgrounds into God’s presence.
Challenging Religious Authorities:
John’s Account shows that in Jesus' cleansing the temple, He challenges the religious establishment and their practices. His actions symbolize a new order and a call to genuine worship.
Similarly, Jesus confronts the religious leaders in the Synoptic accounts who have turned the temple into a den of robbers. His mission involves exposing hypocrisy and pointing people back to God.
Setting the Tone for His Ministry:
John’s Account Places this event at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and sets the tone for His mission. Here Jesus prioritizes true worship, righteousness, and the restoration of God’s presence among His people.
In the Synoptic Accounts, These events occur toward the end of Jesus’ public ministry, reinforcing His commitment to reforming religious practices and inviting people into a deeper relationship with God.
Both the Gospel of John and the synoptic Gospels depict Jesus’ mission as one of restoration, purification, and renewal. Whether through symbolic actions or direct confrontation, Jesus seeks to bring people closer to God and establish a new covenant.
Carrying forward this image of Jesus as the Temple raised up in three days and the notion of Jesus as the stumbling block today in 1st Corinthians, Jesus, as the stumbling block, challenged people’s preconceived notions and expectations. His message of salvation through the cross was offensive to some.
His statement about the temple being destroyed and raised up pointed to His death and resurrection, which would ultimately provide redemption for humanity.
Jesus is both the stumbling block for those who reject Him and the one who conquered death by rising from the grave. His sacrificial act on the cross and subsequent resurrection fulfilled God’s plan for salvation.
And this falls to us, today, as people yearning for pure hearts, while still coming to terms with the preconceived notions about how Jesus presents himself to us and how we expect Jesus to function for us and with us in THIS World.
We are comfortable with the Jesus of the answers. We are less comfortable with the Jesus of the Questions:
Who do you say that I am?
What do you say that I am?
The Gospel tells us today that His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” Psalm 69:9
If all the Earth is God's House – God's sacred place, is there a sense in our own time that we might, in some sense, be called to an ecological imperative?
Has there been a sense of disorder in God's Kingdom – God's holy place, where we have perverted our lands, sea, and air, as a fair, disposable game for the marketplace, where fair, prudent stewardship has been vacated?
In the context of stewardship, have we honored the Father and Mother that is our world, our families, and our relationships – those people and things meant to nourish us, now destroying us?
With the presence of our Bishop Gretchen next Sunday, we'll be invited to discern in communion with our entire Diocese a Vision of Christ alive in our midst, yearning to reach outward to all of Our Father's House, particularly in some places we might not be too comfortable to look.
Will we, like the psalmist, be consumed by a zeal for God's House? Can we reject the fear that might otherwise consume us?
