When it comes to Jesus' encounter with the money changers, the fact is, I have no clear idea what on earth was happening.
I don’t feel too bad about that, and neither should you: we’re in pretty good company. The disciples took it as a sign of Jesus’ own crucifixion and resurrection. Or he was engaging in an act of religious purification, cleansing the temple (a view favored by my home church, which will not allow anything to be sold in the sanctuary of the church). Or he was showing the importance of keeping the church ‘pure’ (free from sin), the view of early Protestants. Or he was reacting against injustices like lending money at high rates of interest (the view of many modern Christians). Or he represented the sadness and anger of the early believers who had themselves been thrown out of the Temple by the mainstream (a common scholarly view).
There is truth in all of these views: Jesus did hate injustice. We are challenged to separate ourselves from sin. Jesus is the temple at which we worship. And keeping others away from the worship of God because they don’t fit our model of what a ‘good Christian’ should look like or be like is a recurring problem in the church.
There are many ways to understand Jesus’ radical actions in the temple. And they all carry truth. But the one for our time is perhaps the understanding that our God is freeing, not enslaving . . . that our God is a rescuing, not a condemning God . . . and that having ourselves been freed, having ourselves been rescued, to do any less to others makes God furious!
As Daniel B. Clendenin says, “The "cleansing" of the temple, a delicate euphemism to describe the only violent act of Jesus, occurs in all four Gospels. It's an unnerving story that reminds us that there's no such thing as "business as usual" with Jesus, and that all who come to him must come on his terms, not ours.”
His terms, not ours. It’s a tall order.
Give us a sign, they asked. Who are you to do this? they asked. Give us a sign.
Understand this about signs . . .
They do not exist for their own sake . . .
Signs point to something else . . .
They stand for something . . .
Jesus stood for something . . .
And he demands that we stand for something too . . .
So if we are signs . . .
What do we stand for?
To what/whom do we point?
. . . in what direction are we pointing?
Are we pointing to the world and all its pleasures and concerns?
Or are we pointing to God? . . . and which God?
Are we pointing to a God who hates and destroys?
Or are we pointing to the God who loves and rebuilds?
The moneychangers, the temple guards . . . gatekeeping signs . . .
Deciding who could come in and who could not . . .
Don’t have a sacrifice? You can’t enter . . .
Not the right kind of person . . . you’re definitely ‘out’ . . .
. . . who do we keep out . . .
Who can’t get past our gates?
Who doesn’t have the right kind of sacrifice?
Whose spots do we see more clearly than our own?
What tables would God overturn here?
What signs do we put up that keep others out?
What gates do we guard . . .
What tests do people have to pass to ‘get in’ here?
What price do we make people ‘pay’?
What tables would God overturn here?
I don’t feel too bad about that, and neither should you: we’re in pretty good company. The disciples took it as a sign of Jesus’ own crucifixion and resurrection. Or he was engaging in an act of religious purification, cleansing the temple (a view favored by my home church, which will not allow anything to be sold in the sanctuary of the church). Or he was showing the importance of keeping the church ‘pure’ (free from sin), the view of early Protestants. Or he was reacting against injustices like lending money at high rates of interest (the view of many modern Christians). Or he represented the sadness and anger of the early believers who had themselves been thrown out of the Temple by the mainstream (a common scholarly view).
There is truth in all of these views: Jesus did hate injustice. We are challenged to separate ourselves from sin. Jesus is the temple at which we worship. And keeping others away from the worship of God because they don’t fit our model of what a ‘good Christian’ should look like or be like is a recurring problem in the church.
There are many ways to understand Jesus’ radical actions in the temple. And they all carry truth. But the one for our time is perhaps the understanding that our God is freeing, not enslaving . . . that our God is a rescuing, not a condemning God . . . and that having ourselves been freed, having ourselves been rescued, to do any less to others makes God furious!
As Daniel B. Clendenin says, “The "cleansing" of the temple, a delicate euphemism to describe the only violent act of Jesus, occurs in all four Gospels. It's an unnerving story that reminds us that there's no such thing as "business as usual" with Jesus, and that all who come to him must come on his terms, not ours.”
His terms, not ours. It’s a tall order.
***
Give us a sign, they asked. Who are you to do this? they asked. Give us a sign.
Understand this about signs . . .
They do not exist for their own sake . . .
Signs point to something else . . .
They stand for something . . .
Jesus stood for something . . .
And he demands that we stand for something too . . .
So if we are signs . . .
What do we stand for?
To what/whom do we point?
. . . in what direction are we pointing?
Are we pointing to the world and all its pleasures and concerns?
Or are we pointing to God? . . . and which God?
Are we pointing to a God who hates and destroys?
Or are we pointing to the God who loves and rebuilds?
The moneychangers, the temple guards . . . gatekeeping signs . . .
Deciding who could come in and who could not . . .
Don’t have a sacrifice? You can’t enter . . .
Not the right kind of person . . . you’re definitely ‘out’ . . .
. . . who do we keep out . . .
Who can’t get past our gates?
Who doesn’t have the right kind of sacrifice?
Whose spots do we see more clearly than our own?
What tables would God overturn here?
What signs do we put up that keep others out?
What gates do we guard . . .
What tests do people have to pass to ‘get in’ here?
What price do we make people ‘pay’?
What tables would God overturn here?
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