3rd Sunday of Lent – Cycle B – March 7, 2021 Ancient Holiness and New Life: Jesus, the Living and Eternal Temple Exodus 20: 1-17 / Psalm 16 / 1 Corinthians 1: 22-25 / John 2: 13-25
In all the portrayals of Jesus on film or television that I have seen, including trailers from the series, “The Chosen,” it seems he is the faithful, understanding and patient friend and always kind and with a keen sense of humor. For me, the moment I would like to have witnessed is in today’s reading from the second chapter of the Gospel according to John. Jesus takes charge spontaneously and forcefully clears out the temple area. Jesus is clearly fed up with the corrupt status quo; he is angry, he is right.
Still, it is obvious that Jesus is the one present who has the greatest concern for the dignity and holiness of the temple in Jerusalem. There is a reason for what he did and does. In his meditation of this reading, Bishop Robert Barron writes, “We must never interpret the wrath of the Lord as an emotional outburst, but rather as the divine passion to set things right. God is not only grieved at our sin, but he is positively angry at it, because he sees what it does to his creatures and he wants to correct it”¹
At the same time, Jesus freely subordinates the temple to himself. He showed the people and now teaches us that while the temple is his Father’s house and a sacred place, more important is the “living temple.” That is, his very self, made real and visible in his flesh, the incarnation. He is the new temple, not of stones but of his very body. In him, the temple is dynamic and living.
The significance of the temple in Jerusalem in the time of Jesus cannot be underestimated. It was at the core of the religion of his people in their worship of God. In addition, it was essential to the hierarchy and standing of the religious authorities of the time. They were bent on maintaining the honor and rank of the temple at all costs. However, in the end, it was a human institution and built by human hands. Sadly, it had become lucrative and generated economic benefit for them.
What Jesus does in the reading is more than disruptive; he challenges the religious system of his people. He also demonstrates that nothing is beyond correction, beyond sincere criticism. Jesus announces a new construction: the call to those who truly love God to seek him where he can be found, not only within the confines of a sanctuary. Even more, Jesus reveals how God is now among us in the person of Christ, the living, eternal “temple.”
This message of the Lord finds further expression a little later in the fourth chapter of John’s Gospel when Jesus enters into dialogue with the Samaritan woman at the well. He says to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ….But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth…. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth” (John 4: 21-24).
Now we are called to praise and give thanks to God in all moments and places; we are called to recognize Christ’s burning desire to be present in ourselves and the people around us. Not all moments and places are holy; some are far from it. However, all aspects of our world and lives are in need of grace, Christ’s healing and redemptive touch.
In that same meditation, Bishop Barron highlights this divine purpose at work, “Might we see the angry Christ, turning things upside down, as the Lord working within us, especially during this Lenten season, to set right what needs setting right? Could we use this Lent as an occasion to invite Jesus, yes the angry Jesus, into our bodies, our hearts, our minds, our private lives, our public lives, and our relationships?”²
Redemption is God’s gift to the world and it is meant to first take root and bloom in the heart of each person. Jesus clearing out the temple brings into focus the need for purification and renewal in our own selves and lives. The good news is that Christ always brings new life and new peace. His will is never destructive, but always constructive and restorative.
Jesus not only calls people to respect the holiness of our churches and sacred places, but he also challenges us to practice the same holiness and goodness outside of the temples, especially in our hearts and minds and in the world around us. The “temple of his body” reminds us that his grace and holiness can be found anywhere he longs to be present and anytime we seek his forgiveness.
Christ is the living, eternal temple. More than a building, he beckons us to find God, “through him, with him and in him.” Christ is a temple without walls, but always embracing and sheltering us with his mercy. May we always seek to be safely there.
Peace be with you! Fr. Charles Johnson, O.P.
Notes: ¹ A Light Unto My Path meditation, Magnificat, March 2021 ² Ibid