March 11, 2012
Cleansing the Temple
- John 2:13-22
- Dr. Teri Thomas
What picture pops into your mind when you hear the name "Jesus"?
You might visualize a painting by Warner Sallman, The Head of Christ
Jesus with blond hair and blue eyes staring off into space.
He is clean, safe, passive, harmless and respectable looking.
Or do you picture the Jesus with the neatly trimmed beard
gazing into the eyes of a beautiful little blond girl while he gently cradles her face in his hands.
Or do you picture Jesus praying in the garden, hands clasped in earnest prayer, eyes rolled earnestly toward heaven.
I am willing to guess that you do not immediately think of Cleansing of the Temple, by Giotto Bordone or El Greco's Christ Driving the Traders from the Temple.
In these paintings Jesus glares and the people around him are obviously terrified. His eyes are dark; his muscles tight. He has lunged at the tables and thrown them over. Money and merchandise scatter across the tile floor.
You can almost hear the animals as oxen and sheep run in all directions, doves fly into the sky, dogs barking.
The vendors grab their wares and begin to flee.
People are knocked over in the confusion
and stepped on by the frightened crowd.
Babies are screaming.
Children are hiding under the cloaks of their mothers.
In one version Jesus has a whip poised above his head
about to lash a half-naked slave.
In another, one hand is drawn back in a fist
as the other hand grips a merchant's robe and pulls him close.
Merchants cower and cover their faces,
women are curled up on the steps in fear.
The paintings reflect the gospel story.
A story recorded in all four gospels.
Jesus is angry,
violent,
consumed by his indignation,
fed up.
As a good, faithful Jew, Jesus joined the crowds gathering in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover at the temple. The temple was the center of commercial activity, it was filled with crowds of worshippers, it represented nationalist aspirations, political identity, historical memory, architectural splendor, and religious affiliation for the Jewish faith. (Clendenin)
The faithful traveled from all over Israel to the temple.
They came to make sacrifices and to do that they needed an animal without blemish.
So merchants set up booths to provide doves, goats, and sheep for sacrifice. The faithful also needed to exchange their Roman currency into Jewish money in order to pay the temple tax. Hence, the money changers.
They were simply providing a service.
They were meeting a need.
If they were not there the people would not be able to worship.
But Jesus had had enough. They had gone too far.
He turned the traditions upside down.
He upended the customs.
He flipped over the tables.
He sent the people scurrying head over heels.
Just because you've always done it that way,
just because it is culturally acceptable,
doesn't mean Jesus is going to like it.
In his anger Jesus says- This is not the sacrifice that God wants. Enough with the animals already. Follow me.
I've had it with you cheats and scoundrels making a profit off the poor.
Why can't you treat one another with fairness and respect?
Enough of this circus, this is a place of prayer,
a place to encounter God, and you are coming for all the wrong reasons. Get out.
Jesus says- God's compassion is deep but trust me, it is also disruptive.
Jesus says-
I've told you and told you and told you
over and over and over again
and you still don't get it do you?
I want a new way, a new path.
I read the cleansing of the temple as a warning. It warns against any and every false sense of security. Misplaced allegiances, religious presumption, pathetic excuses, spiritual complacency, nationalist zeal, political idolatry, and economic greed in the name of God These are only some of the tables that Jesus would overturn in his own day and in ours. (Clendenin)
We can only imagine that for the disciples it must have been terribly disconcerting to witness Jesus unhinged, throwing furniture, screaming at the top of his lungs, and flinging money into the air. Perhaps they ran for cover with the crowd. I would have. (Clendenin)
Jesus is very, very angry.
When Jesus is angry, I wouldn't cross him.
Quotes attributed to Dan Clendenin, Subtle as a Sledge Hammer: Jesus "Cleanses" the Temple, Essay posted 13 March 2006 on The Journey with Jesus: Notes to Myself