The Third Sunday in Lent
The story from John’s gospel today is one of the few stories that is contained in all four gospels. However, John’s version is very different than the other three. For one thing, it happens at a very different time. Mark, Matthew, Luke—which together we call the synoptic gospels—say that this event happened in Jesus’s last week. It’s a big part of the reason that he gets crucified. Jesus was interfering with the operation of the temple. But in John’s version of the story, this happens almost at the very beginning of Jesus’s ministry, three years before he was crucified. John is the only of the four gospels that mentions a whip. John is the only of the four gospels that mentions cattle and sheep. And in John’s gospel, Jesus says something different than he does in the synoptics. Many, many of the details are different in John’s version.
The readings we have on Sunday mornings are set up on a three-year cycle called the Revised Common Lectionary. Each year, we focus on a different gospel. This year is the year for Mark. But Mark is kind of short. And a good chunk of Mark was just copied directly by Matthew. Mark is also the earliest of the four gospels. And it’s the roughest. The author doesn’t have a very good command of the Greek language. It also portrays Jesus as the most human of the four gospels. And it happens to be my favorite gospel. But for all of these reasons, Mark often gets a bit of short shrift. This Sunday, for example, we’re reading John instead.
I looked, and we never read Mark’s version of this story in church. That’s not quite true. If you come to a service on the Tuesday before Easter, Mark’s story of the cleansing of the temple is the assigned reading. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been to a worship service on the Tuesday of Holy Week. So, I want to take a moment and look it at today. It’s not long. Let me read it now:
They came into Jerusalem. After entering the temple, he threw out those who were selling and buying there. He pushed over the tables used for currency exchange and the chairs of those who sold doves. He didn’t allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He taught them, “Hasn’t it been written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you’ve turned it into a hideout for crooks.” The chief priests and legal experts heard this and tried to find a way to destroy him. They regarded him as dangerous because the whole crowd was enthralled at his teaching. When it was evening, Jesus and his disciples went outside the city.
Mark 11:25–29
This is the version of the story that actually makes sense to me. Let me explain. Many of the things that Jesus disrupts are actually necessary for the operation of the temple. The moneychangers. Why does the temple need moneychangers? Well, every Roman coin has the image of the emperor with the inscription “son of God” on it. Many Roman coins also contain images of Roman Gods. That is to say, Roman money is blasphemous. If you’re taking your offering to the temple, you can’t take in your Roman coins. It would be like taking an idol into the temple. It would make the temple unclean. The moneychangers are there to help with this problem. They can help you exchange your idolatrous money for shekels, which do not have any idolatrous images on them. The moneychangers serve a very real, religious function. Just how much they charged for this service might be a matter for concern, but they’re services were actually needed for the operation of the temple.
And that’s true for the animal vendors, too. Remember, like nearly every ancient temple, the Jerusalem temple is a place of animal sacrifice. In order to worship in the way the Bible prescribes, Judeans need to bring an animal. That’s not too much of a problem for farmers who live nearby. You just bring one of the animals from your herds or flocks, and take it to the temple with you. But it’s not so easy for people who live far away. If a Jew living in Greece is making the only visit to the temple they’re likely to make in their lifetime, it’s not very convenient for them to bring an animal with them the whole way. What if they’re coming from Baghdad, or Libya, or Spain? It’s just not practical. That’s why there are animal vendors there, right near the temple. They’re for people coming from a long distance, or people who don’t own their own animals. Having animal vendors near the temple makes things much easier for pilgrims coming from a long way away.
So, if these things are necessary to the operation of the temple, why is Jesus so upset about them? Why does he feel the need to overturn the tables and chase out the animals? Well, the Gospel of Mark actually suggests a good reason. Jesus gives it himself when he quotes scripture: “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” A house of prayer for all nations. Mark is the only gospel that includes that detail. And it’s essential to understanding the story.
It has to do with the structure of the temple itself. The temple is organized around purity, with the purest, and thus most holy part of the temple at the middle. At the very center is the holy of holies. In years gone by, it had contained the ark of the covenant. Only one priest could enter into the holy of holies, and then only once a year. Outside of this sanctum sanctorum was the temple itself, and its immediate courtyard, where only priests could enter. The next level out, the court of the Israelites, was only open to male Israelites. Outside of this was the court of the women. This is as far as Israelite women were allowed to enter, but it was barred to any non-Israelites. The outer court of the temple, but still an important part of the temple complex, was the court of the Gentiles. This was actually the largest part of the temple. Gentiles who gathered here would still have been able to see the smoke of the sacrifice, to smell its scent, to hear the hymns, perhaps to even glimpse a part of the proceedings inside. No matter who you were, if you came to Jerusalem, you could participate here in the worship of the temple of God.
And understanding that is key to understanding Jesus’s anger at the moneychangers and animal vendors. It seems that all of this commercial activity is happening, not outside the temple complex, but inside the court of the Gentiles. It’s the only part of the temple that non-Jews can enter, but it is filled up with moneychangers and animals. God’s temple cannot be a house of prayer for all peoples, because the peoples are being excluded from their only place of worship.
Mark also notes that Jesus stopped people from carrying things through the temple. It seems like people are cutting through the temple grounds in order to shave time off their errands. Again, this would have been people passing through the court of the Gentiles. A space that is meant to be worshipful is instead being used for common business. This doesn’t necessarily negatively affect Israelites. They can still enter into the more inner parts of the temple. The only people it negatively affects are foreigners. Outsiders, gentiles, non-Jews now have no place in which to pray and worship. For these marginalized people, the temple is no longer a house of prayer. It’s little more than a tourist attraction.
Jesus goes further, though. He says that the temple has become a den of robbers, or a den of rebels. Some of the priestly class were accused in this period of stealing from the lower ranking priests. And during the Jewish Revolt, the temple grounds were used as a base of operations by the Zealots. So there is some historical reality behind Jesus’s words. The temple was sometimes used as a haven for those engaging in illicit activities.
So what’s the lesson of this vignette in the life of Jesus? Is it an indictment of Jewish worship, as has sometimes been claimed. No, certainly not. Jesus is not criticizing the worship going on at the temple, but rather the limited access provided to that worship. Is it a warning against having fundraisers in the fellowship hall of a church, as has frequently been suggested? No, I don’t think that’s it, either.
This story is about the sanctity of worship and the inclusion of all peoples in that worship. The worship space is for worship. And everyone needs to have access to that worship. This place is consecrated for the worship of God. When we are here, our focus is meant to be on worship. And our actions here should not distract others from worship. They should certainly not bar anyone from worship.
But, as Jesus suggests in John’s gospel, the temple of God is not just a building. Jesus refers to his body as God’s temple. When we celebrate communion, as we do today, we have a special connection with the temple that is Christ’s body. And we do not bar access to communion to anyone. All may partake in the self-emptying grace of Jesus Christ that comes through the sacrament.
Finally, it is not only Jesus’s body that is a temple for God. Each Christian’s body is a temple for God. And as such, our bodies are meant for worship, not only when we are in this building, but everywhere that we go. Your body is a temple for God. Treat it with the reverence that it deserves, and put it to use for the praise of the holy one.
May God inspire and equip us for meaningful worship. May God open the doors of God’s sanctuaries to all of God’s people. May consecrate the bodies of all the faithful living temples. And God keep true in us the faith of Jesus Christ, that we may carry his grace to the world.