Take these things away!

 

 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.   And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  

 

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

 

- John 2:13–22 

 

Yesterday we read about the sixth and seventh days of the beginning of Christ's earthly ministry given to us in John's Gospel:   There was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."  Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water."  And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast."  And they took it.  When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.  You have kept the good wine until now!"  This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.  After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.

 

  Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.   And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  In the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) this event occurs at the end of Christ's ministry, at the start of what we call Holy Week.  But John places it at the beginning.  There are certain Church Fathers who teach that Christ performed this act twice.  Those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves traded in live animals to be used for sacrifices.  The money changers would trade Roman coins for Jewish coins.  Roman coins, my study Bible explains, bore the image of Caesar and so were considered to be defiling in the temple.  My study Bible adds that the cleansing of the temple also points to the need to keep the Church free from earthly pursuits.  Moreover, as each person is considered to be a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19), so it's also a sign that our own hearts and minds be cleansed of earthly matters.  The disciples recall a passage from Psalm 69:9.

 

 So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.  Because Jesus is not a Levitical priest, His authority to cleanse the temple is challenged by the religious authorities.  The term Jews in John's Gospel is most often a reference specifically to the Jewish leaders.  Here, it's a reference to the chief priests and the elders (see Matthew 21:23).  As Christ is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers, my study Bible remarks, He answers in a hidden way.  The ultimate sign will be Christ's death and Resurrection. 

 

 My study Bible cites St. Paul, who teaches that each of us is a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19).  In that respect, Jesus' example of cleansing the temple serves as a reminder that our journey as Christians is not one merely of nice and beautiful things added to us, but it is also a call for us to be discerning, and even to put down boundaries toward things that take away or diminish this understanding of ourselves which Jesus gives, together with St. Paul.  Christ's action here is decisive.  While it's done in accordance with His identity as Messiah, the application of such decisive action also belongs to us in our own private lives.  It is in the nature of sin to be something that has effects that spread beyond the single person responsible, or the one separate act of sinning.  In Christ, of course, we have repentance and forgiveness, and we are blessed with grace through our baptism.  But the effects of sin nevertheless are always things we need to consider.  Perhaps the most stark example of such is the example of a parent who commits a serious crime, and goes to prison.  While the crime can be forgiven in the context of repentance and forgiveness in the Church, and the person may pay the adjudicated debt to society, nevertheless the effects of the sin persist on those who are affected in relationship and proximity.  Children pay a price for a parent who is in prison, or for violence encountered within the family, even for the social stigma that may be attached -- real or imagined by the child.  This is but one small example of how sin is not a private affair, but is rather like the effects of a rock cast into a pool.  The ripples continue and affect the whole pool.  The same can be said for something unclean or poisonous cast into that pool.  In this sense, we should think of what we decide we want to "cleanse" from our lives as that which we neither want to cast into the pool around us or perhaps want to distance ourselves from for protection of ourselves and others.  Gossip is one such thing we could consider under these circumstances.  The effects of malicious gossip can range from harmless if ignored to exceptionally tragic when they take their toll.  But either way, we don't want that to spread into our "pool," neither to us nor to others around us.  Perhaps we don't want to spend so much time around people who constantly bring this into our lives.  Especially as it is now Lent, let us consider giving up those things which pollute our own temples, and give them up in exchange for things we can think of doing that add beauty to our "pool" instead.  Rather than using time to spread a rumor or story we don't know is even true, why not take that same time instead to pick up a book on an uplifting subject, to plant some flowers, to walk in a park, to say a prayer?  There are all kinds of ways we can think of beautifying our lives in a spiritual sense, and so let us do so.  Equally important is to rid ourselves and our environment of the things which pollute and poison, for sin has such effects, whether we see them or not.  

 

Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up

 

 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  

 

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. 

 

- John 2:13–25 

 

Yesterday we read that there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."  Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water."  And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast."  And they took it.  When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.  You have kept the good wine until now!"  This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.  After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.  Yesterday's reading gave us the sixth and seventh days of the beginning of Christ's earthly ministry, corresponding to the sixth and seventh days of creation in Genesis 1.

 

  Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  In the synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, this event occurs at the end of Christ's ministry (it is His first act after the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem beginning what we know as Holy Week).  But here in John's Gospel, it is placed at the beginning.  There are some patristic commentaries that Christ performed this act twice.  Those who sold oxen and sheep and doves traded in live animals which were to be used for sacrifices. Those who sold doves are profiting from the smallest animal for sacrifice, the one the poorest would purchase.  The money changers were trading Roman coins for Jewish coins; Roman coins had the image of Caesar on them (treated as a god) and so were considered to be defiling in the temple.  My study Bible comments that the cleansing of the temple also points to the necessity that the Church be kept free from earthly pursuits.  In the verses that follow, Christ will speak of His body as a temple.  But we are reminded that each person is considered to be a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), and so the cleansing of the temple is also a sign that our hearts and minds should be cleansed of earthly matters that draw us away from the love and guidance of God.

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.  As Jesus is not a Levitical priest, my study Bible explains, His authority to cleanse the temple is challenged by the religious leaders in the temple.  The term the Jews, some say, is more properly translated as "Judeans."  In this context, we remember that the temple is in Jerusalem (in Judea), and Jesus is from Galilee, where His ministry is based.  Moreover, by the time this Gospel was written, persecutions had begun of the followers of Christ.  So, this term "the Jews" when it appears in John's Gospel is used most often to indicate the religious leaders.  Here it refers to the chief priests and the elders (see Matthew 21:23).  We need to recall that Jesus, His family, and His disciples (including John the author of this Gospel) are all Jews.  My study Bible also comments that as Christ is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers, He answers in a hidden way:  the ultimate sign will be His death and Resurrection.  

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  In John's Gospel we find three Passover feasts reported that were attended by Jesus, between His Baptism and Passion (see also John 6:4; 11:55).  This is how we know His earthly ministry lasted three years. 

 

 It's interesting that today's passage ends with this statement:  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  Over the course of the past several readings -- in particular the readings of Wednesday and Thursday, when Christ was choosing His first disciples -- we have seen Christ repeatedly using this characteristic, that He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  This is part of His divinity, and He is known as the Discerner of Hearts.  In the Book of Acts, there is a particular Greek term applied to Christ, a noun used when the disciples, now founding the Church, seek Christ's discernment through prayer.  That word in Greek is καρδιογνώστης/kardiognostes ("heart-knower").  It's usually translated by invoking an address to Christ, using the term Lord, or God, referring to One who knows the heart (see Acts 1:24; 15:8).  But the term "heart-knower" as direct translation from the Greek, is important, as it gives us a solid and foundational identity of the Lord, and this expression manifest in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ, as experienced and witnessed by the disciples.  For this is part of the power of faith, a kind of experience that they who knew the human Jesus Christ have witnessed directly, but that all believers can witness through prayer and worship in spiritual experience, if you will.   With the experience of living our faith, we come to perceive that Christ knows our hearts before we do, and we continually witness through the stories in the Gospels that Jesus manifests this ability; it is characteristic of Him.  There are times when He will assertively draw out from people their heart's desire by asking, for example, "What do you want Me to do for you?" (Matthew 20:32 and other locations).  But in John's Gospel, we have already understood it clearly established that this is part of who Christ is; it is part of the manifestation of His divinity even in the human Jesus in the world.  It is in John's Gospel that Jesus explicitly tells us (in His final address to the disciples at the Last Supper), "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him" (John 14:7).  This is such an important tenet of our faith that we must remember it when reading the Gospel, for it is one of the purposes of the Incarnation, that through Christ we know God the Father.  We are given explicit knowledge of God's desire to save, to heal, to restore, together all of us to God.  This is God's love explicitly expressed for us, so that we know God's love, and we learn love as well.  Again, it is John the Evangelist who will also tell us, "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:8).  The "heart-knower" then, we can be assured, is also love, and the author of love, the One who teaches us love -- and we need love to know God.  So when we read in today's reading that Christ also fulfills the prophesy of the Psalmist, "Zeal for your house has eaten Me up" (Psalm 69:9), we should know also that this zeal is a zeal born of love, a compassionate, rigorous love for human beings who need God and God's love.  The full text of that psalm verse reads, "Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on Me."  This is surely true of Christ, who out of love bore those reproaches Himself.  Let us consider today that zeal, the love that motivates Christ to cleanse the temple for it is the place where the people are cared for and nurtured by God, but unfortunately can also become a place of corruption, where people are led astray.  May we all carry and experience Christ's love for ourselves, and grow in that love in response.

 

Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up

 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

- John 2:13-25

Yesterday we read that there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?  My hour has not yet come."  His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it."  Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water."  And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast."  And they took it.  When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.  You have kept the good wine until now!"  This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory;   and His disciples believed in Him.After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), this event is reported at the end of Jesus' ministry.  But in John, it is given to us right in the beginning.  There are some patristic teachers who say that Christ performed this act twice.   Those who sold animals did so for the purpose of using them in live sacrifices.  The money changers traded Roman coins for Jewish coins.  Roman coins bore the image of Caesar and were considered to be defiling in the temple.   The cleansing of the temple, my study bible says, reminds us that the Church should be kept free from earthly pursuits.  Moreover, each one of us is considered a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19).  Therefore Christ's cleansing of the temple is a signal regarding our own need for internal "cleanups" of earthly matters -- the things that are extraneous to our lives as those who understand the indwelling of spirit.   The quotation is from Psalm 69:9.

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.  Jesus is not a Levitical priest, and therefore His authority to cleanse the temple is challenged.  Here, we recall that the term the Jews is most often used in John's Gospel to denote the leadership.  Here, it specifically means the chief priests and the elders (Matthew 21:23).  My study bible notes that Christ is careful not to reveal Himself to scoffers; therefore, He answers in a hidden way:  the ultimate sign will be His death and Resurrection. 

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  John will give us three Passover narratives during Jesus' ministry, and from this we understand that Jesus' ministry lasted three years (see also 6:4, 11:55). 

There are several hints of a mystical understanding in today's reading -- one that has become necessary in order to understand our faith.   In the first verses and the story of the cleansing of the temple, the disciples recall a line from Scripture:  "Zeal for your house has eaten me up" (Psalm 69:9).  The psalm verse continues, "And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me."  This recollection is an internal connection that teaches meaning and gives depth to experience.  It is a way of understanding Christ and their own experiences as His disciples.  It also interconnects the experience of faith through time, and this is the way that spiritual experience works.  This is connected with the important point my study bible makes about the cleansing of the temple:  that we, too, are temples.  We have spirit indwelling within us which makes us capable of such connections, insights, and mystical experience.  In our core, we are spiritual beings just as much as we are physical and mental beings with consciousness.  All are intertwined, but at the core is our connection with God, with Creator, which makes such experience possible.  John's Gospel reflects this collective experience of the Church within the first century.  Jesus tells the leaders, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."   They reply to Him, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  They don't have this spiritual insight or understanding, but the text does, teaching us what His disciples have come to understand.  John writes, But He was speaking of the temple of His body.   Finally, John reports again this mystical connection between people and Christ, and His understanding of what is in the depths of people, their character, their heart and their ways of thinking.  John writes that many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.   That word commit is really one that literally means "entrust," but is also the same word used for "faith."  Our Creator, it seems, not only asks for our faith in God, but must also discern where to place His faith in us.  Jesus' knowing "what was in man" as well as this mutually connected two-way faith that forms a link between Creator and creature also teaches us about the mystical reality that we step into when we live a life of faith.  There is a depth of communion and relatedness going on here that extends through a kind of network of faith or holiness.  It's not challenged by time or space; these form no barriers upon it.  What it relies on is precisely this faith, this mutual trust, a willingness in the heart for openness to what it offers us -- to the connectedness and depth we are capable of receiving.  John's Gospel opens us up to this gift that is the treasure of our faith.  Let us grow as we are capable of receiving.  

Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up." So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said. Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

- John 2:13-25

In yesterday's reading, we read about the wedding in Cana. Jesus, His mother, and His disciples were there. When they ran out of wine at the wedding, Jesus' mother said to Him, "They have no wine." Jesus asked what this had to do with Him or her. "My hour has not yet come," He told her. His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." At the wedding were six large waterpots of stone, for ritual purification. Jesus told the servants to fill them to the brim with water. Then He told them to draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. The master of the feast told the bridegroom, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!" This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. Then Jesus, His mother, brothers and disciples went for a short time to Capernaum.

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In John's Gospel, we will read about three different Passover feasts Jesus attends during His ministry. Scholars believe this three year span is historically accurate. My study bible points out that "Jesus performs His miracles during the major Jewish feasts, demonstrating that the Old Law is fulfilled in Jesus Himself." As a devout Jew, He worships at Jerusalem during the feasts.

And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables. In the other Gospels, this incident takes place during Holy Week, just before His Passion. But John places it at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. St. John Chrysostom believed that there were actually two such cleansings of the temple, at the beginning and at the end of Jesus' ministry. My study bible notes that, "by transferring this incident from Holy Week (where it is related in the synoptic Gospels) to the beginning of Jesus' ministry, John emphasizes that Jesus' ministry is not, like that of the prophets, merely to renew faith under the Old Covenant. Rather, He is instituting a new kind of worship altogether." Jesus' public ministry is startling in this context, opening, in a sense, with a violent act. He's shaking things up. Confrontation with the established order is necessary from the beginning.

And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up." Here is the fulfillment of a prophecy about Him. Jesus is stating quite clearly something powerful and unavoidable: the gifts of God to us don't have a price-tag to put upon them. They're not exploitable. They're not merchandise, commodities. They are given by grace and through God's love. God's truth is not for sale. My study bible says, "By this cleansing, Jesus vigorously protects the purity of worship against commercialism. Likewise, He zealously desires His Church to be a holy, pure house of prayer."

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said. Here we begin the refrain of the leadership: "Show us a sign." Jesus' ministry already has signs (such as in yesterday's reading of the wedding at Cana), and will have many more. But the authorities demand proofs of His identity and authority; they will show their lack of capacity for faith. In Matthew's Gospel, we've just read that false witnesses will arise against Jesus for making this statement. He was also mocked while being crucified for the same.

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. John's Gospel tells us that after all, there are many people who believed in His name after seeing the signs He did. But He doesn't trust Himself to them; He understands what they are about. And this is clearly the problem with a reliance on signs. Faith is the real key to understanding who He is and what His authority is. My study bible says, "In His divine foreknowledge Jesus knew many were misreading His signs."

There are a lot of elements to consider in today's reading. There's first of all the violent explosion upon the consciousness of all at the temple of this cleansing by Jesus. It makes a great impact, startles and shakes things up. He's not the usual preacher! He acts with authority and command of Messiah. He challenges things in a profound way. Furthermore He makes a bold pronouncement (quoting Scripture) against commodifying what is holy: "Do not make my Father's house a house of merchandise!" God's holy things are only "bought and sold" by those who think like thieves, who cannot understand the power of true faith which is of the heart and soul. He makes a bold prediction of the greatest sign of all, His Resurrection, and yet it will be misused, misunderstood and misinterpreted by those without faith in Him. So this statement is like His preaching in parables: it's for those with ears to hear, hearts that can receive it. In one of the endless ironies of the Gospels, the sign the leadership demands is one they cannot read. And yet, there's still more: there are those here who believe in His name because of His many signs (what they are, we're not told -- John will report seven in all), and yet Jesus in turn does not trust them, does not commit Himself to them, because He knows all men and what is in their hearts. Jesus has no need of testimony about anyone: He has the knowledge already and the gift of absolute discernment. So we have to think again about relationship in this context. How would you know Christ and understand His authority? How do we resist the powerful human impulse to commodify everything, to turn everything into something to exploit, put a price on? For that we truly do need eyes to see, the right spiritual eyes. We need to find a value that's not in money, but of the heart. And that's where we need the eyes to see with faith. Otherwise, we'll never get it, we'll miss it. How does Jesus' faith challenge you and shake you up? What things do you treasure so much that they can't have a price put on them? What's worth selling all for and cherishing in your heart above everything else? What comes first? Jesus challenges the temple authorities, He shakes up the established order. What is He challenging them to see and to know? Ultimately, they will all seek to judge the One who is truly the Judge, and in whom all things are reconciled. How does His faith shake up your life? What does He teach you to love?