John 2: 13-22 (Common English Bible)
The first thing you might notice about this gospel reading, is that the writer places Jesus’ civil disobedience at the Jerusalem Temple at the very beginning of his ministry. This is in sharp contrast to the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke) which set this event during the last week of Jesus’ life. There are several explanations for this. One, is this gospel was written 60 years after the resurrection of Jesus and memories were clouded plus many of the people who witnessed this event were long dead. The other explanation is that the writer of John’s gospel just wasn’t interested in the chronological order of things. But I have to agree with Matthew, Mark and Luke, this important action by Jesus happened during his last week. It was part of a chain of events that led to his execution.
The reading is set during Passover and after Jesus saw this holy observance turned into a commercial enterprise, Jesus unleashed a different side of his personality. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the benches of the merchants selling doves, forbidding anyone to carry merchandise throughout the Temple courts.
During Passover, the moneychangers and merchants could become very rich. Only Jewish coins could be used to purchase animals for sacrifice. If a Jewish pilgrim came from a foreign nation, it was probable the coins they possessed had a pagan image on it. The Roman coins certainly had their Emperor on them who was considered a god. That type of currency was forbidden to use. So those with pagan coins had to exchange those with Jewish coins, but with a price. The moneychangers inflated the rate of exchange and the merchants did the same on the sale of sacrificial animals. You might say it was an ancient version of Wall Street. Now, the pilgrims who were well off could purchase a lamb or cow, but those who were poor could only afford a dove. The merchant’s stalls were set up in the Temple’s outer court reserved for the Gentiles who believed in the God of Abraham. But that was a segregated form of worship because the Gentiles were not allowed to worship alongside the Jewish pilgrims inside the inner court.
Jesus was outraged by this corrupted form of worship during the most holy of Jewish observances. He was ready to turn everything upside down both literally and symbolically for radical religious change. In one reading Jesus says the Temple dedicated to God has turned into a den of thieves. Can you really blame Jesus for showing rage on what he saw? We are so conditioned with the meek and mild Jesus who wanders in the hills with a lamb draped over his shoulders with endless patience, we forget he was following in the tradition of the Hebrew prophets who raised lots of hell to get their message heard.
There is a problem with that meek and patient image of Jesus and that’s the crucified Jesus. Jesus was executed by Rome not because of his patience with those in power, but because of his impatience with those in power. Jesus’ impatience was born out of his anger of the injustice he saw.
Anger is a powerful human emotion. It can be our anger at the way things are that is the spark to change things for the better. Anger is not the opposite of love. Anger can be a very vivid form of caring. Today, multitudes are marching in the streets in America and elsewhere angry about the killing of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and being arrested for doing the right thing. Rep. John Lewis, who died in 2020, called action like that, “good trouble” and he should know. In 1965 John Lewis was nearly beaten to death and arrested for protesting the lack of voting rights for Black people during the days of the segregated South. This happened in Selma, Alabama and it was called “BloodySunday.”
Jesus saw the Temple what it had degenerated into, a place of business, extortion and a barrier to those who came to worship God. He foresaw the end of the Jerusalem Temple. But when the authorities wanted a miraculous sign from Jesus, they were completely brainlocked about what he said. “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up.” Little did they realize, Jesus was speaking about himself.
The righteous anger of Jesus was used when he saw the exploitation of people in the name of religion. This same righteous indignation is what is moving people, and especially the younger generation, to say, “enough is enough” and moving them in actions of civil disobedience, with protests, sit-ins and prayer vigils whether the issue is gun violence, global warming, the carnage in Gaza and other issues. I was at a rally at the statehouse in Indianapolis yesterday with other clergy and citizens addressing the seriousness of these issues. Many realize if they don’t stand as a united people and address these issues now, their children and grandchildren face a bleak future.
And what would Jesus say about churches today? Would he be happy with churches with gift shops and coffee shops which have removed their pews in favor of expensive theater style seating complete with a cup holder? Would Jesus be happy with churches that are more like a social club instead of a place where God is worshiped as being present among us in Word and Sacrament? Do church goers today think of God more like a vending machine, just come to church, tally up their good deeds and present them to God in exchange for a reward? Do people attend church out of a false sense of obligation and duty, or because they are really thankful for the gift of God within their lives? It’s been said that the number one cause of atheism is Christians. Those who proclaim God with their mouth, but deny God with their life and choices, is what an unbelieving world finds hypocritical.
But the Good News is that Christ is among us and Christ is still flipping those tables of injustice. The Good News is for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear because the Good News calls for a conscious response. Something is always expected of us each time we hear the words of Christ. We’re called to embrace God’s forgiveness through Christ and accept the fact that sometimes our world has to be turned upside down to become more Christ-like.
AMEN
