A Universal Messiah

John 2: 13-25 (March 15, 2009)

1) The Text

13The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22After 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.

23When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. 24But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.

2) The Context

John is the fourth gospel and it makes no attempt to give a chronological account of the life of Jesus (which the other gospels do, to a degree), but rather "...these things are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name." John includes signs and stories of miracles to help in this process.
According to the first three gospels the incident described in the passage played a major role in the events leading up to Jesus’ execution. In this gospel it is portrayed as taking place three years earlier. Yet it is also seen as being a cause for Jesus’ death. We see this in the citation of Psalm 69:10, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’ The choice of the future tense rather than the past tense underlines this. Elsewhere John seems to have transferred traditions which pertained to Jesus’ last days back into his ministry. So the place of the temple clearing near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry is probably a deliberate rearrangement.

Whichever gospel we follow, we find that Jesus’ action is highly controversial. In the fourth gospel there are two parts to the account: the event itself (2:14-17) and the controversy about it (2:18-22). The latter section includes Jesus’ prediction that the temple will be destroyed and be rebuilt in three days. It also begins with the Jews questioning Jesus’ right to act the way he did. Both elements echo Mark’s story. In Mark the chief priests question Jesus’ right to do such things and Jesus replies by linking his authority to John the Baptist’s (11:27-33) and by telling the parable of the wicked tenants (12:1-12). In Mark, the words about destroying the temple and rebuilding it in three days appear in the trial before the high priest (14:58). Only John links this saying with the temple episode.

3) Interpretation

Each time and each culture has its reasons to believe. In the past, philosophers asserted God's existence and reasonable nature of faith. Today, psychologists propose faith as a means to mental health and personal fulfillment. We Christians want faith to fit into life, answer our questions, and give us comfort, assurance, strength. But what happens when faith causes scandal? How do people react when people of faith commit unreasonable acts? On a typical day during business hours, Jesus overturned a marketplace in a very unreasonable manner. And through his rage, he revealed himself as the Messiah.

After centuries of infighting, corruption, and palace intrigue, the Temple priests had lost the respect of average believers. In fact, many Jewish groups boycotted Temple worship. The person in the street awaited the coming of the Messiah who would sweep these men from power and restore a worship that pleased God. Why, then, did Jesus object to commerce in the Temple courtyard? This courtyard, the Court of the Gentiles, represented the universal message God revealed through the Jews. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was the God of all people. By providing non-Jews a place of worship on the Temple grounds, Judaism asserted it was a religion for everyone. But the Temple leadership gave merchants an area for trade that should have been off-limits. While Jesus drove out animals and overturned tables, his real message was to the leadership. Give all nations a place in the Kingdom. More important, he revealed to his followers that he was not a Messiah for Jews alone. He was a Messiah that would lead everyone to God!

Notice John begins with the term "Temple", changed to the term "house", and returned to "Temple" in the latest passages with a reference to "body." If we include Paul's notion of the "Body of Christ" we'll see that "body" had two meanings: a physical body and a body of people.
"Temple" to "the house of my Father" to "body." These were all titles for the dwelling place of God on earth. These were titles for Christ's body. These were all titles for the Christian community. The common thread throughout this changing set of terms was the Christian community in relation to its Master. Through the Risen Christ, God dwelt in the community.

John used the cleansing at the Temple to introduce a universal Messiah. The Messiah would bring justice to the nations through his death and his vindication (i.e., his resurrection). John ended this passage with a comment on the strength of faith. Indeed Jesus gathered many followers based upon what they saw. But faith runs deeper. The ultimate tenet of faith was a sign no one saw happen: the Resurrection. If a Christian based his faith simply upon what he saw or heard or felt, he would miss the greater point, for faith extended beyond the senses.

As someone once said: "Faith is not a convenience. It is a commitment." God gives us signs as anchors of faith. But, at some point, we must trust the Lord enough to cut ourselves from our anchors and allow him to guide us through rough currents.

4) Thought Exercise

What signs from God anchor your faith?

How does your faith extend beyond your senses?