A TEMPLE IN NEED OF CLEARING?
Putin claiming the God of the Russian Orthodox Church is on his side, ex President Trump waving an upside-down Bible to assure followers of God’s blessing in his renewed election attempts, or thinking way back to those Air -Force chaplains blessing the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should all suggest a few questions about faith in practice. At the very least we should admit the way some 21st century people practice their faith is not necessarily tied to what Jesus once talked about as being important. More to the point how much of what we do in the name of faith would pass the Jesus test?
We may take well take for granted what happens in worship yet philosopher A N Whitehead reminded his readers “Collective enthusiasms, revivals, institutions, churches, rituals, Bibles, codes of behaviour can all be used as the trappings of religion, in passing forms.”
I guess I would even like to add a few more. How about denominationalism, Church hierarchies, vestments, archaic superstitions, formalized ceremonies and heresy hunts?
I guess many of us assume such trappings help us gain a degree of perspective and focus on our faith. But perhaps for Christians there is a problem when the trappings take over and we forget what the gospel is supposed to be about.
One of the key incidents in the Jesus story is surely his attack on one aspect of the trappings that affected his people of the time, and the result was the so-called clearing of the Temple.
Did you notice that John places the clearing of the Temple near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry – whereas Matthew, Mark and Luke see this as towards the end during Jesus’ last week in Jerusalem. Both versions have related intentions.
In John’s record of the significant events in Jesus’ ministry, by placing it at the start of his mission, it underlines Jesus’ uncompromising honesty and courage. It also sets the scene for his eventual collision course with the establishment. To Matthew, Mark and Luke, it is no less significant yet is presented as an important part of the climax of his ministry. Wherever it was placed it certainly clarifies perfectly why the religious leadership of the day would have been unable to tolerate his challenge.
Perhaps the first question we need to ask is why Jesus might have come into conflict with the temple authorities in the first place. Let’s look again at the setting.
Remember the Temple was constructed to reflect the Jews’ cultural pecking order of that time. In the centre was a small room – the Holy of Holies. God was in that space. Even the High Priest was only allowed to enter the Holy of Holies only once a year.
Next came the courtyard of the priests.
Outside that was the courtyard for male adult Jews….
Outside that was the courtyard for Jewish women, then finally the courtyard for the gentiles. It was in this courtyard that the money changers and animal traders were to be found. Back then animal sacrifice was an important expression of faith.
Thatthere should be money changers in the Temple was hardly surprising. Because travellers and pilgrims would come from afar for the Passover festival, it would have been most impractical for all of them to carry their own animals for sacrifice. Accordingly, the temple officials would supply a number of the animals for sacrifice. But there was a catch. Because the animals had been chosen for sacrifice, ordinary non-Jewish money was considered too base for the purchase of the animals for religious purpose.
The pilgrims were required to exchange their non-Jewish money for the required coins to pay for the sacrifice. If they were paying at the standard rate of half a shekel per person as laid down by the Talmud, this was expensive enough since half a shekel was the equivalent of two days’ wage.
Even exchanging shekels for half shekels would be a cost because the money changers were expected to take some profit. Even worse was when non-Jewish coins were brought to exchange for the Jewish shekels. The exorbitant exchange rate had grown over the years until it had become open profiteering.
The other way in which corruption had taken over was that only perfect animals could be sacrificed. For those choosing to bring their own animals for sacrifice, there were special inspectors called mumcheh, who for an appropriate amount would inspect your animal – but alas the custom had changed over the years so that virtually no animal from the outside would pass this inspection and the pilgrim would be required to buy a temple animal for sacrifice. Are you surprised this turned out to be expensive? A pair of doves sold at the Temple cost the equivalent of 24 days work.
That the Temple had become excessively wealthy through this sacrifice money and money exchange was not in dispute. Even some years previously when Crassus, a Roman, captured Jerusalem in 54 BC some contemporary historians said that he took the equivalent of something like 5 million dollars in today’s money from the Temple without anywhere near exhausting the wealth.
Are we surprised then that this exploitation of the poor in the name of God was an extreme and glaring injustice. Jesus had cause to be upset.
Jesus probably shared the revulsion of a number of the prophets who had pointed out time after time that it wasn’t sacrifices but rather changed hearts which were required. So, we recall Isaiah with his: To what purpose are your numerous sacrifices to me? Said the Lord …..bring no more your vain oblations. (Isaiah 1: 11-17) . Gentiles were allowed and even expected to get as close as possible to the Temple to offer their prayer – but it was in the gentiles’ courtyard that the worshipper would have to contend with cacophony of sound, with the bleating of sheep – bellowing of frightened calves – the shouts of those bargaining. No doubt the raised voices of those disputing their treatment at the hands of the money lenders would all combine. This in effect made a mockery of any attempt of the gentiles to offer prayer. Given Jesus’ reported sympathies for gentiles, this may have given further reason for his indignation.
I wonder if you are familiar with the old story about the man who died and went to the gates of heaven. There he met St Peter and asked to be shown around. St Peter showed him the many courtyards. “This one he said is for the good Buddhists, this one is for the Muslims, over there is the courtyard for the Hindus” – and so on.
“What about that very high walled courtyard over there where I can hear singing and organ music coming from?”, the man asked. “Well, that’s where the Christians are,” said St Peter – “but I wonder if I might ask you to be very quiet outside their wall. You see they think they are the only ones here”.
To know with certainty about heaven is way beyond my pay grade yet I suspect that story fairly describes at least some people’s attitude not only towards Christianity, but even towards their particular version of Christian faith. At one high school where I taught, I once had some Exclusive Brethren pupils whose parents would not allow them to eat lunch with the other children. My feelings of superiority towards them about their prejudice was somewhat lessened when I remembered back in primary school days chanting a rhyme aimed at the Catholic children at their separate Catholic school.
Jesus driving out the money lenders only becomes awkward when we think of some of the modern trappings which always risk growing in significance until they make a mockery of our faith.
Take religious art. Placing the occasional icon – or stained-glass window in a place of worship as a focus for thoughtful religious response is another way of reminding ourselves that events remembered in the history of the faith matter significantly. To continue to collect such items until the place of worship is groaning with opulence is bordering on the obscene particularly when the Church sometimes acts as if it is blind to poverty in the community and in the world.
Religious clothing for Church leaders is another area which might cause us to stumble. I certainly can follow that there is significance in the stole, a simple strip of material intended as the mark of ordination and intended as the symbolic version of the yoke of servanthood. Somehow however this has morphed through the centuries. The stole has become more elegantly embroidered and the simple gown into gowns of jewelled and brocaded splendour to the point where the notion of the humble servant somehow becomes lost in the visual trappings of power and significance.
If we can’t imagine Jesus arrayed like an archbishop in a Cathedral, should we ask why?
Dare I suggest that even Church ceremonies like communion need a time of re-evaluation. This simple shared meal, by which Jesus disciples were asked to remember him, so often can become formalized so that the leaders become the star turn. For some churches only the initiated may partake and perhaps the simple act of remembrance evolves to a highly formalized and stylized marathon of liturgy where the notion of a shared meal is lost amid high sounding religious jargon. More to the point, if we think of communion as a stand-alone ceremony yet, if we never get round to offering our own hospitality to strangers, have we even grasped what Jesus was on about? Remember that Jesus was often accused of eating with the undesirables. If we truly want to be reminded of what he stood for, can we act as if some are not worthy to share real meals?
We can probably get it that the Jews in their efforts to please God would have been unaware that their customs had gone too far. The Temple ceremonies became corrupt gradually over a period of some hundreds of years. In the same way, oh so gradually, an obsession with buildings and with the minutiae of Church administration can take over our meetings until the day perhaps we finally realize that mission and issues of justice and Christian responsibility have become tacked on the end of our agenda merely as a token. If so, perhaps there comes a need to clear our own temple.
Lent is the traditional time for self-examination. Today on this third Sunday of Lent we might do well to pause to wonder if we too are in danger of losing our sense of focus. Perhaps, even here, there is a need to check the practices of what for us passes as today’s Temple. AMEN
NB, I am always looking out for key ideas – and frequently learn from others’ insights and illustrations. Why not share some in the comments box below? Feel free to use as much of this material as you choose for your own (not for profit) purposes.
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