“Selling Jesus” (John 2:13-22)

As Americans, we understand what is going on in the temple courtyards.  It is basic economics--”supply and demand”.  The great crowds that flocked to Jerusalem could not bring the necessary items for sacrifice . . . the oxen, sheep, and doves.  Thus, born out of necessity, the business of selling the necessary critters for temple sacrifice existed . . . and, it was a good business for those involved.  These businesses had what the pilgrims and faithful needed, and they charged them well for the sacrificial animals needed.  It was simple “supply and demand”.  Also, another flourishing business there in the courtyard of the temple, were those who changed foreign currency into the local money . . . all for a fee . . . usually a hefty fee.  Again, “supply and demand”.  And, right in the middle of it all were the priests who were getting their cut of the profits . . . they had the location and the people . . . and, they brought the product straight to the people.  “Supply and demand”.

Now understand, this was business . . . religious business.  Offering sacrifices was a part of the Jewish religion at the time that our reading this morning is taking place.  The pilgrims and the faithful needed the animals in order to fulfil their obligations to God . . . to insure their rewards for being faithful.  The people had a need, and with the help of the temple priests, that need was met as a market was established in the courtyard of the temple . . . for a price.  In the end, everyone got what everyone wanted . . . the people got their animals for sacrifice and blessing . . . the merchants got their money . . . and, the priest got their cut.  This is economics at its simplest, and it is something that we Americans know and understand.

Thus we should be more than a little shocked at the actions of Jesus in this passage as he made a whip of cords to drive the merchants out, he flipped tables, and told all of them to “get out!”  Righteous anger, we say.  After all, these guys were taking the people to the cleaners . . . taking advantage of them in their need . . . and, they were unscrupulous.  At least that is what we assume; but, the writer of the Gospel of John never says that . . . not once.  Unlike the other three gospels, the writer of the Gospel of John never uses the phrase that they use in various forms: “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.” (Matthew 21:13; Mark 11: 17; and, Luke 19:46)   The writer never says that.  Instead the writer quotes Jesus as saying, “Get these out of here!  How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”  In the Gospel of John, the cleansing of the temple has a different emphasis, and that emphasis is the temple of God . . . the house of God.

The dwelling of God is not a particular building or place, though there are temples and churches of which we refer to as being the “house of God”.  For the writer of the Gospel of John, the temple or house of God is not a building or a location; no, it is within the faithful. God dwells within our hearts . . . we all believe that.  There is the temple of God . . . there is the house of God.  Why? Because Jesus is there. 

In this passage Jesus metaphorically refers to himself as the “temple” when he says: “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”  To which his listeners are astonished as it had taken 46 years to build the temple to where it was at that time; but, the writer explains . . . they did not understand.  The writer states: “But the temple he had spoken of was his body.”

Thus it is, in John’s gospel, we see this cleansing of the temple story as a call by Jesus to clean our own houses . . . to get rid of that which is the selling and buying of something that money cannot buy . . . the grace of God.  A call to allow our house . . . our temple . . . to be the dwelling place of God in which we stand in the presence of God in awe and worship . . . a place of prayer and communication with the Holy . . . a place where we are who God created us to be and God accepts us for who we are.  In such a temple or house there is no need for sacrifice . . . there is no need for orthodoxy or ritual . . . no need for artificial props or accompaniments . . . no need to sell ourselves for anything, including God or Jesus.

Because of this, this is an appropriate reading for our time in the season of Lent.  Lent, being the time of the church year when we are called to remove those barriers that block our relationship with God and others.  In this passage we are called upon to look into temple . . . the house of God . . . that dwells within us, and to cleanse it.  In this cleansing we heed the warning to clear the house of any and every false sense of security . . . misplaced allegiances, religious presumption, pathetic excuses, smug self-satisfaction, nationalist zeal, political idolatry, and economic greed in the name of God.  These are only a few of the tables that Jesus would overturn in his day and ours.

As the followers of Jesus we do not need to sell out to fulfill God’s promise and will for each of us.  We have received it through the acts of Jesus.  As curious as the words that he spoke about his body being the temple, the disciples understood when he was raised from the dead.  From there on they believed.  The writer writes: “After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said.  Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.”  The temple of God . . . the dwelling place of God . . . the house of God . . . it is within us.  It is in our each and every one of us . . . we carry God within our hearts.

We cannot purchase it . . . we cannot earn it . . . we cannot steal it.  It is ours for the taking if we believe.  The price has been paid.  The grace has been offered.  All we have to do is to receive it just as it is offered . . . God and only God.  We are to love it . . . completely--body, mind, and soul; and, we are to love others in a like manner.  In this season of Lent, where are we selling out Jesus . . . God . . . and, ourselves?  In the cleansing of the temple of John’s gospel we are called upon to do likewise.

God has what we need . . . it is as simple as supply and demand.  God will provide.  God will provide through grace and love . . . free of charge.  Believe and receive.  Amen.