3RD SUNDAY OF LENT B
Today we see Jesus arriving in Jerusalem for the Passover. He walks into the Temple and gets angry. The important piece is not that Jesus gets angry really, but why he gets angry. And he’s angry because he finds that the Temple has been turned into a marketplace.
We need to talk about the Temple for a moment to understand this. The Temple was designed to be the place that represents the presence of God among his people. God knows that we, as limited humans need something solid to hold onto in order to grasp the infinite God – we need signs and symbols and actions, as well as words to experience the presence of God.
The Temple was that place for the Jewish people. It was holy ground where people were supposed to come to fix their eyes on God, experience his presence, get their priorities in order, and to realize that not only were they blessed by God but they were also to be a blessing to others.
Instead, the Temple leaders saw the Passover feast as a way to take advantage of the poor and those who had traveled great distances to fulfill their obligation. These people couldn’t bring their animals on a trip on foot to be sacrificed, so the Temple leaders inflated the cost of the animals.
People also had to pay the Temple tax – their tithe – but they couldn’t pay with Roman currency. They had to pay with Temple coinage and then were charged exorbitant rates of exchange in order to line the Temple treasury. And all of this violated the spirit of the law, and Jesus got angry and did something about it.
When the Temple authorities ask him about what he has done, Jesus says that he is the new Temple of God’s presence and if you destroy this new Temple it will be raised on the third day.
…As beautiful as our church is, I have to admit that I get building envy when I see what other churches have
- (St Al’s - paved parking lots, doors that don’t let in cold air, roofs that don’t leak)
- (St John’s – warmth in the winter, air conditioning in the summer, restrooms on the main level).
But today’s gospel reminds us of an important truth. The presence of God is not about a building. It’s not about power or money or even success.
As the Church – the Body of Christ – we are called to love the world the way God loves the world. We are called to love the things and people that God loves, and sometimes we may even have to get mad when we see people hurt and abused, when we see the weak and the poor treated as outcasts.
The fact of the matter is that Jesus emptied himself of all those things and became a servant. He let himself be ridiculed, misunderstood, and crucified, so that we might have life. And then, he breathed his Spirit into us, so that God could be with us as we gather around the Body of Christ in the Eucharist and as we go into the world to be the hands and feet of Jesus.