He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money-changers seated there.
Jesus went to a place that was meant to be "a house of prayer for all the peoples" (see Isaiah 56:7) but instead found "a den of robbers" (see Jeremiah 7:11). Jesus himself was deeply concerned that the Court of the Gentiles described here and the entire temple fulfill its true purpose. He was zealous for it in a particular and remarkable way because it was his Father's house. And for the same reason he had the authority to drive out those who misused and abused the temple. Jesus, as the Father's only begotten Son, desired to establish a chorus of right praise, true and spiritual worship, for which the temple was always intended.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God,
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
The temple in Jerusalem only signified the presence of God. We are each of us temples of the Holy Spirit in a way that far surpasses that temple. This should make us thankful, but should also inspire in our hearts some holy fear. For if Jesus treated the money changers as he did for the sake of temple worship, what might he not do in our hearts in order that our own worship be made right and true? Might he not even come to us with a whip of cords in order to help chase from our hearts the false claimants to our attention, our love, and our worship? We can see that there is precedent for this. But if he does so, we are to recognize it as his mercy, helping rid us of the noise, the frequent injustice, and the subjugation inherent in the world of give and take, that we might have room for worship in the freedom of the Spirit.
“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
Jesus will in fact tear the temple down to its very stones in order to raise it up again in perfection. But he takes this first upon himself, as he takes all of our sin upon himself, to refashion our very human nature back to the blueprint of the divine image in which it was made. What is happening when Jesus cleanses the temples of our hearts is not so much him going from building to building tearing us down and building us up, but rather incorporating us into that great building of which he himself is the cornerstone, the Church. This does necessitate some adjustments to the component parts, but only so that they may fit the more perfectly into the place for which they were always intended.
But each one must be careful how he builds upon it,
for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there,
namely, Jesus Christ.
It is easy to get hung up preliminary steps that involve refashioning and, at some level, destruction, and forget about the hope in which this is done. But the construction project we're describing is ordered toward the resurrected life of Jesus himself in which we hope to share, in which we in fact do share even now by faith. And this risen life is more than a fair trade for the money changers and the rest. The hope contained herein is far greater than anything that the world alone could offer. May we learn to appreciate the zeal of Jesus for us and begin to let that same zeal characterize our own lives.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.
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