Road to Emmaus Third Sunday of Lent

Mar 11, 2009

(Cycle B)

First Reading – Ex. 20:1-17

Responsorial Psalm – Ps. 19:8, 9, 10, 11

Second Reading – 1 Cor. 1:22-25

Gospel Reading – Jn. 2:13-25

Jesus’ prophetic action

In this Sunday’s Gospel reading from John we encounter Jesus cleansing the Temple, an event covered by all four Gospel writers. However, John places the event at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry whereas the others place it at the end. This is because Jesus did in fact cleanse the Temple twice, once at the beginning and once at the end of his ministry.

The cleansing of the Temple is one of many prophetic signs and actions that Jesus performs that are in full compliance with what God had foretold would happen. This particular prophetic action is one of a "judgment now" as a sign of a "judgment to come." In this instance he is kind enough to give this prophetic sign twice.

What did this prophetic action indicate? It is a sign of the forthcoming destruction of Jerusalem in general, and the Temple in particular, which in fact will mean the end of the Old Covenant and its fulfillment in the New Covenant. This destruction would take place in 70 A.D. Also, by driving out the animals this indicates the end of animal sacrifice. This would of course be the natural result of not having a Temple.

Jesus comes to the Temple

During the days preceding the feast of Passover there would have been thousands upon thousands of pilgrims entering Jerusalem from far and wide. Passover was one of three feasts that Jews were to come to Jerusalem and the Temple to celebrate. During Jesus’ day, many Jews did not live in or around Jerusalem. People would travel great distances to come to this great feast. You might recall for example that St. Paul, or Saul, was from Tarsus, which is in modern day Turkey. This was no short trip without a car, plane, etc. It would have been approximately six hundred miles.

One of the things that must be recalled is a bit of what was involved in the Passover. From Exodus 12 we know that one of the key ingredients of the Passover was the sacrifice of unblemished male lambs.

Now imagine a family like Saul’s, having to travel six hundred miles with an unblemished lamb. More than likely by the time they arrived that lamb would no longer be unblemished.

Right outside of Jerusalem throughout the year, therefore, there would be a sacrificial flock that was raised so that when Passover was near people could purchase the animals for sacrifice upon their arrival in Jerusalem. However, before doing so they would have to exchange their currency for that of the currency of the Temple.

Jesus arrives at the Temple area under these conditions. But why would he react the way he does? We find out more specifics when he does same thing again two years later. At that time Jesus will say, "It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you make it a den of robbers" (Mt. 21:13).

The Temple was divided into several courts. There was the temple itself, the Court of the Priests, the Court of the Israelites, the Court of Women, and the Court of the Gentiles. The outermost court was the Court of the Gentiles.

So, there was a court designated for Gentiles who came to the Temple to pray and worship God. It was within the Court of the Gentiles that the money-changing and selling was taking place.

Matthew records Jesus quoting Isaiah. Isaiah says, "And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, every one who keeps the Sabbath, and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant – these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Thus says the Lord God, who gathers outcasts of Israel, I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered" (56:6-8).

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God has always desired that Gentiles worship him, and has planned all along to bring them into his Temple. Isaiah speaks to this reality. The outer court of the Temple was for the Gentiles to offer prayer. Now, can you imagine trying to pray and worship God with all the commotion of large crowds hustling and bustling, money changing going on, and animals making noise and smelling up the place. Go to a mall the day after Thanksgiving and try to pray and see how it goes. This would give you a sense of what was going on.

However, it is not only this. Jesus also says that they have made the House of God a "den of robbers" (Mt. 21:13). In addition to the problems mentioned above, they were also ripping off people through inflated exchange rates.

This also harkens back to the prophet Jeremiah and his day. Jeremiah was told by God to "Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house…" to proclaim his word. (7:2). Jeremiah then goes on to say, "Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’ – only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?" (7:8-11a). This was a message of judgment for Jeremiah’s generation, and it would lead to the destruction of Jerusalem and the first Temple in 586 B.C. So too is Jesus’ prophetic words and actions a message of judgment on his generation, which he called "evil and adulterous" (Mt. 12:39). It too would lead to the destruction of Jerusalem and the second Temple in 70 A.D.

The new Temple

In the midst of all of Jesus’ words and prophetic gestures about judgment coming upon Jerusalem and Temple, he also speaks about his own body as the new Temple. Jesus says, "‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up’…But he spoke of the temple of his body" (Jn. 2:19, 21).

The old Temple, like the tabernacle in the wilderness before it, was where God’s presence abided. With regard to the tabernacle we are told, "The cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle…the cloud abode up it…For throughout all their journeys the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night…" (Ex. 40:34, 35, 38). With regard to the Temple we are told, "When the priest came out of the holy place a cloud filled the house of the Lord…for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord" (1 Kgs. 8:10, 11b).

With Jesus there is no need for an earthly tabernacle or Temple because Jesus is God’s presence. He is the Temple.

You might recall that in order for the Second Person of the Trinity to become man in the womb of Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you…" (Lk. 1:35).

In John’s Gospel, prior to the passage for this Sunday, he has already informed us that, "the Word became flesh and dwelt [tabernacled] among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory…" (1:14).

In Matthew’s Gospel the prophet Isaiah is quoted where he says, "Behold, a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be Emmanuel" (1:23). The name Emmanuel means "God with us." And at the end of Matthew’s Gospel Jesus says, "…I am with you always…" (28:20).

The Temple of Christ’s body was destroyed, but in three days it was raised up never to be destroyed again.

Wonderfully we have not only access to this new Temple but we who are baptized are part of this Temple. St. Paul says to those in Corinth, "…now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God…Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?...Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?" (1 Cor. 6:11, 15, 19).

St. Peter tells us to, "Come to him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God’s sight chosen and precious; and like living stones be yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 2:3-4).

Then in the Book of Revelation John tells us about heavenly glory: "And I saw no temple in the city [no physical building], for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb" (21:22).