By Rev. Christine Smith
See bottom of post for citation
The reading of John 2:13-22 is striking for many reasons. A few verses earlier, Jesus was attending a wedding with his mother and friends, being a “hero” of sorts, turning water into wine. A few verses later and the ground work is being laid for his crucifixion!
When Jesus entered the Temple and observed the “money changers,” most probably taking advantage of poor people, manipulating their desire to honor and obey the Temple system of sacrifice, the text says that he fashioned a whip and chased them all out! Grappling with what they just beheld, understanding the power of the religious leaders and the significance of the Temple in Jerusalem, the disciples reflected upon a verse in the Psalms, “Zeal for your house will consume me” (Psalm 69:9, NIV).
What could Jesus mean? Why was he being so disruptive? Did he have the authority to challenge the “Temple business?” The answer is a resounding “YES!!!” Jesus still has the authority to challenge, “Temple business!” Back then and today, Jesus is not concerned with a physical structure, but rather the “temples” of our bodies, hearts, and minds.
When the disciples considered Jesus’ apparent “zeal” for the Temple, they didn’t realize the power and implications of their reflection. The Temple represented the presence of God. It was meant to be a place of high worship, praise, education, sacrifice, and atonement. Religious leaders and thieves turned it into a place of oppression, abuse, and hypocrisy.
Jesus, however, wanted the people to have a deep love of God…a reverence, a desire, a hunger, a “zeal” for God. He wanted them to “do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8). The shallow religious activities that evolved over time in that sacred space grieved Jesus and thrust him into righteous indignation.
What about us? Has our worship become distorted and shallow? Do we recognize our bodies, our hearts, our minds as the “Temple of God?” Have we allowed religion to replace our relationship with God? Do we recognize how our stale “religiosity” impacts or even oppresses others?
As we walk through this Lenten season, may we seek to regain our zeal for God. May we hunger and thirst for righteousness. May we, like deer, pant for the “living water” that is Christ. May our relationship with God flow over in sweet, lifting, liberating, and strengthening ways towards all we encounter.
Rev. Christine Smith is senior pastor of the Covenant Baptist Church in Euclid, Ohio, and author of Beyond the Stained Glass Ceiling: Equipping and Encouraging Female Pastors (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2013).
Photo credit: JESUS MAFA. Jesus drives out the merchants, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48271[retrieved February 28, 2018]. Original source: http://www.librairie-emmanuel.fr (contact page: https://www.librairie-emmanuel.fr/contact).
In Their Shoes: Women Walking with Women Worldwide 