Jesus Cleanin' House

Jesus Cleanin’ House March 15, 2008

John 2:13-25

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.

In our Gospel lesson today we take a break from Mark’s gospel. The next several weeks we will reflect on the passion story in John. This is a powerful image of Jesus cleaning house. It runs contrary to the Jesus is my boyfriend mindset that tends to go around. Yes, there is a time and place for righteous anger. This is where Jesus finds himself at the Temple on the eve of Passover.
I like to think of on old Western movie when there is a showdown at high noon. John Wayne or Clint Eastwood is portraying Jesus. They are having a showdown with the powers that be, because the town bullies have pushed the towns people around long enough. It takes a hero from the outside to come into to town to confront this oppressive situation.
Have you ever been in crowd where you feel you hardly have room to breathe, let alone adjust your elbow? That is what Jerusalem was like during Passover. Thousands of people throughout the country side have come into Jerusalem to offer their animal sacrifice at the Temple.
So what is Jesus so ticked off about? Well for starters the temple authorities have moved the money changing tables from the traditional site the Mount of Olives to the Gentile Court in the Temple. There are corrupt temple authorities placating the Roman occupiers, and allowing price gouging and unfair currency exchanges to take place. When a faithful Jewish came into the Temple they were not allowed to carry anything with a graven image. These poor peasants from the countryside, trying to be faithful Jews, only had the Roman currency. In order for them to purchase the doves and other animals for sacrifice, first, they had to exchange their coins with the Images of Caesar on them into the local currency in Jerusalem. King Herod was smart enough not to mint coins that set off the revolutionary masses who would not tolerate a graven image in the Temple.
Jesus sees how the powers that be are exploiting a situation and profiting on the backs of people trying to be faithful observers of Judaism. This is what set him off. Why should the faithful have to go the Gentile Court to be price goughed? This is how the authorities have turned to the house of prayer into the den of thieves.
So what’s going on today that would be an equivalent? The NAACP just brought a law suit against several banks and lenders who are charged with unfair lending practices. They directed African American with the same credit history and lending status as Euro American into sub-prime loans. The temple authorities of our day are some dishonest bankers and lenders. This has been a concern for decades, yet we seem to have not made much progress. There is a time for righteous anger, when we see that the people who wield power do not seem to be held accountable. Jesus stands in the long line of the prophets of old who remembered the least among us and gave them a voice and sense of agency.
Another example comes to us from Cameroon. Sally shared this article with me from the Reuter Press. The Roman Catholic Pope, Benedict, is due to visit Africa to partake in the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the church in Africa. The security forces in Yaoundé forcibly demolished the street vendor kiosks to give the city a face lift for the Papal visit. The powers that be need to hear this story again from John’s gospel. Jesus was angry because he heard the cries of the poor and oppressed. The blinders of idolatry have again eclipsed a people’s vision of where Jesus dwells. Jesus sees and hears the plight of these streets vendors whose livelihood has been taken from them for the sake of appearances.
Those in power need to remember where God’s ultimate allegiance rests. We will always have some modern day temple and religious authorities with us. They get so caught up in the game they loose sight of what really matters. Every child of God is entitled to their access to daily bread. The authorities in Yaoundé should have explored alternative ways of using the vendors to sell all the tourist trinkets that come with a Papal visit. We all know the tourist trap and the memorabilia that is sold. Instead, the powers that be thought God’s was on their side when they pushed aside our brothers and sisters doing their best to put bread on their tables for their families.
The Judeans had a hard time understanding Jesus’ teaching and the sign he presents to them. Destroy this temple and you will raise it again in three days? The Jewish people had no idea what was on the horizon when Jesus cleansed the temple. They did not know that Nero would torch the place in 70 AD. The audience in John’s audience, however, understood what this cleansing of the temple meant, because the gospel was written a good twenty to thirty years after the Jewish temple was no longer in existence.
Jesus is trying to explain to the crowds that the temple will be destroyed and recreated through the death and resurrection of the Messiah. John’s gospel is filled with various signs and symbols that help explain Jesus life and ministry. Do you remember the first miracle in John? Jesus turns water into wine at the wedding in Cana. Now we are approaching the Passover, when the cup of Elijah is lifted up and the Jewish people remember God’ s promise to send a Messiah who will complete their exodus from Egypt long ago.
It’s interesting that in John’s gospel the cleansing of the temple comes at the beginning of the Gospel, where in Matthew, Mark and Luke this showdown comes at the very end. This is the cataclysmic event that gets Jesus arrested and tried for treason. Several scholars have questioned whether it’s accurate to place this event at the beginning of Jesus ministry.
What many people don’t realize is that every year at Passover, false prophets would ride in on a donkey, and proclaim to be the messiah that has come to deliver the Jews from occupation. And every year, the Roman centurions would arrest these people and they would be executed for treason. Jesus knows the cross he is picking up when he gets on that colt and donkey makes the fateful procession on Psalm Sunday.
For too long, Christians have pinned the blame on the Jews for Jesus’ death. We all as a collective humanity put Jesus on the Cross. If Jesus was to come back today, there are powerful people in this world who want to put him back on the Cross again. As Christians, we need to take an ongoing self-inventory lest we continue the anti-Semitism that comes from a literal reading of the passion story. Mel Gibbon’s Passion is not adequate source material to understand the historical and sociological reality of Jesus time.
The Good News is that the Temple has been restored through the death and resurrection of our Risen Lord. The body of Christ is the new temple that transcends time and space. No more animal sacrifices are required for us to have access to God. We do not need any intermediaries between us and God. We open God’s word, commune in the Spirit and we are in the standing in the temple which is the Body of Christ. Each of us carries the presence of God’ s Spirit into our communities.
In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus has modeled for us how there is a time and place for righteous anger. When we see the poor and vulnerable being exploited by the money changers of our day, we too should flip some tables and clear away the den of thieves. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the millions of unemployed today because of the money changers in Wall Street.
May the fires of God’s justice burn and a brighter day dawn. Jesus is still cleaning house and we are the brooms and mops. We keep our ears, eyes and hearts open to know where God is calling us to be. We too carry a cross of love and make sacrifices on behalf of our brothers and sisters on the margins. Never again will God’s temple be made den of thieves.
Gracious God, cleanse our hearts and minds so we can serve as pure vessels in your new temple the Body of Christ. Send us out from here to flip any table that keeps our brothers and sisters from having access to their daily bread. May your manna from heaven fall among us. We may not carry whips but we seek the sword of your Spirit. May hardened hearts be shattered into hearts of compassion. May we see and hear where you are calling us to go, and express the righteousness anger you shared long ago. We want to dwell in your holy temple all the days of our lives.