Something Greater Than Any Temple
John 2:13-25

When was the last time you felt genuinely shocked and outraged? If you follow current events, there is a fairly steady stream of shocking and outrageous stories in our nation and in the world. Still, the event that stands out for me was the breach of the nation’s Capitol on January 6, 2021. I was working in my office doing sermon preparation. One of our members called me to ask if I was aware of what was happening at our nation’s Capitol, which I was not. After hanging up, I got on my computer and watched the events of the day unfolding before me in real time. I could hardly believe my eyes as I saw what appeared to be thousands of people breaching the nation’s Capitol. We did not know exactly what was happening in that moment, but I quickly drafted an email to the congregation alerting them to the unfolding events and asking their prayers for the nation.

Our nation’s capital buildings are a secular temple to our constitutional republic where our democratically elected representatives conduct the affairs of government for the benefit of the people (at least in theory). Seeing an unruly mob smashing windows, fighting with police officers, and storming through doorways into the Senate and House chambers was shocking and outrageous.

The feelings that the events of January 6 engendered in us are akin to what the Jewish people and their leaders must have felt the day Jesus entered the Temple precincts, made a whip of cords, drove out those who sold sacrificial animals along with their livestock, and upended the tables of the money changers. Those who were present must have been shocked and outraged by Jesus’ actions. The Temple was a most sacred place.

As N. T. Wright, the British New Testament scholar, wrote about the Temple, “The temple was the beating heart of Judaism. It wasn’t just, as it were, a church on a street corner. It was the center of worship and music, of politics and society, of national celebration and mourning. […] But towering above all these, it was of course the place where Israel’s God, YHWY, had promised to live in the midst of his people. It was the focal point of the nation, and of the national way of life.”

Jesus’ actions must have seemed irrational and unlawful to the Israelites buying and selling sacrificial animals before the festival of Passover. Moses himself had commanded Israel to buy animals for sacrifice when they went on pilgrimage to God’s dwelling place. Moses had instructed them, “Set apart a tithe of all the yield of your seed that is brought in yearly from the field. In the presence of the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose as a dwelling for his name, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, as well as the firstlings of your herd and flock, so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. But if, when the Lord your God has blessed you, the distance is so great that you are unable to transport it, because the place where the Lord your God will choose to set his name is too far away from you, then you may turn it into money. With the money secure in hand, go to the place that the Lord your God will choose; spend the money for whatever you wish—oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever you desire. And you shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your household rejoicing together” (Deut. 14:22-26).

The Jews were obeying the law of Moses in their religious observance. Why was Jesus castigating them for their obedience to the law? The Jewish leaders were perplexed by Jesus’ actions. They asked him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” (vs. 18). Essentially, they were saying, “Why are you doing this? What right do you have to drive out the sacrificial animals and overturn the tables of the money changers? Show us some proof that you are justified in your actions.” Jesus’ disciples were also trying to make sense of his actions. They recalled the words of Psalm 69:9. “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Jesus’ actions in the Temple that day were a harsh critique of the corruption that had slowly crept into the religious observance of Judaism. Jesus said to the people selling doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” (vs. 16). The Greek word John uses, which the New Revised Standard Version translates “marketplace,” is emporium. We still use the word today. An emporium is a store carrying many different kinds of merchandise. Synonyms for an emporium are a bazaar, a shop, or a store.

Furthermore, greed had crept into the process. Israelites had to exchange their money for Temple currency to buy sacrificial animals, and the exchange rate netted a tidy profit for the Temple. No human institution, including religious institutions, is immune to greed. As the scriptures say, “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10). The love of money and the power that comes with wealth is certainly at the heart of the corruption we see in our institutions of government today.

But Jesus’ critique of the Temple’s practice goes much deeper than matters of money. Jesus described the Temple as “my Father’s house.” Yahweh, the God of Israel, had been lost amidst the merchandise of the emporium. The Temple was intended to be the place where God dwelt with his people, but the real presence of God was being obscured by the Israelite’s religious practices. Jesus came to bring an abrupt end to corruption and misplaced religious affections.

Jesus said in Matthew’s gospel, “I tell you something greater than the Temple is here” (Mt. 12:6). John’s telling of the cleansing of the Temple is filled with subtle and profound meaning. The Temple was God’s dwelling place. The Temple replaced the tabernacle in the wilderness where God dwelt in the midst of his people. John tells us in the introduction to his gospel that “the Word became flesh and dwelt (literally, tabernacled) among us." In the person of Jesus Christ, God established a new contact point between heaven and earth. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. Something greater than any temple had appeared in Jesus Christ.

The cleansing of the Temple happens as the feast of Passover was fast approaching. People were buying their sacrificial animals for the festival, but unbeknownst to them the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world was standing in the midst of the Temple! Jesus, rather cryptically, alludes to this when he responds to the Jewish leaders' demand for a sign, by saying, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (vs. 19). John tells us that Jesus was speaking of the temple of his body that he would offer like a lamb to take away all the sin of the world. Something greater than the Temple was in their midst that day.

Finally, Jesus, unlike the rest of the human race, was fully God. He was all-knowing. John tells us that Jesus “knew what was in everyone” (vs. 25). Jesus new the thoughts and intentions of the human heart were predisposed to evil (see Gen. 6:5) and that is why he came to earth.

The Passover the Jews celebrated commemorated their liberation from Egyptian bondage. The Passover Jesus would celebrate in his death and resurrection would liberate, free, and rescue the human race from our slavery to sin, death, and evil. Something much greater than any temple was in their midst that day.

It is that new Passover we celebrate in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. There is a new contact point between heaven and earth. The problem of human sin has finally been taken away. A true liberation has taken place through the death and resurrection of the Son of God. There is one who knows us in all our brokenness and still loves us and accepts us at his table.

This new reality, this new temple, continues to abide on earth in the Church, the body of Christ. The hymn “Built on the Rock” beautifully expresses this reality.

Surely in temples made with hands
God, the Most High, is not dwelling;
high above earth his temple stands,
all earthly temples excelling.
Yet he who dwells in heav'n above
chooses to live with us in love,
making our bodies his temple.

We are God's house of living stones,
built for his own habitation.
He through baptismal grace us owns
heirs of his wondrous salvation.
Were we but two his name to tell,
yet he would deign with us to dwell
with all his grace and his favor.

What is God’s answer to the shocking and outrageous corruption, greed, and sin of the human race? It is Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the all-knowing Godman, embodied in the living temple of the Church.

Brothers and sisters, friends, there is a great deal of outrage, shock, anger, and despair in the world today. Let us not forget, as outrageous and shocking as it may seem, that we have the answer, and we are the answer to what ails the human race. Let us declare it and embody it in the Church, in the emporium of the world, and in the centers of power. Jesus Christ alone is Lord and Savior. He is greater than any temple.

All glory be to God! Alleluia! Amen.