The Presence of God| John 2:13-22
John 2:13-22
The Presence of God
Early in my ministry, back in the days when I served as a pastor in the Church of Nazarene, I was not as ecumenical as I am today. As one example, I wasn’t sure what to make of those who played Bingo in church, also known as “Catholics.” I was a little worried about whether or not that was okay, probably more than I should have been.
Since then, I have come to embrace the Wesleyan principle on our relationship with other churches:
In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, love.
I’m pretty confident now, that when it comes to the heart of church doctrine, whether or not Christians play Bingo in church is a nonessential.
But there was a time whenever I would hear the story about Jesus turning over the tables of the money changers in the Temple when I just couldn’t help but think of my brothers and sisters down the street playing Bingo and what Jesus might think about all that…
To be completely honest, I wasn’t sure what Jesus would think of our own youth car washes and garage sales and that exchange of money on church property.
But as I’ve studied this passage more carefully, I think there is something more important going on than whether or not we should play Bingo at church or have garage sales on church grounds.
This text goes to the very heart and soul of Jesus’ mission and ministry. Heart and soul.
If you are familiar with this story, you might remember it as occurring late in Jesus’ ministry and in the other Gospels it does. It comes after the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He goes into the temple, drives out the money changers and the next thing you know, he is in custody, having been arrested by the Sanhedrin.
In the Gospel of John, he overthrows the money changers at the beginning of his ministry. Personally, I don’t think Jesus was just going around knocking over tables left and right, what seems to be happening is that Matthew, Mark and Luke were emphasizing one thing in their stories and John was emphasizing another.
It is helpful to remember the Gospels aren’t biographical histories of the life of Jesus, they are theological interpretations of his ministry.
In the Gospel of John, the overthrowing of the tables comes just after Jesus’ first huge miracle which suggests these two events have something to do with one another. His first miracle of course, was changing the water into wine at a wedding in Capernaum.
That might seem like an odd “first miracle “ to us, but only because we don’t know much about those jars of water that Jesus turned into wine…
We don’t tend to have large stone water jars at our weddings and so we don’t know what they were for.
They had a very specific and important function. They served a religious purpose. Those jars of water were for ceremonial washing. They provided the means for the people to be purified so that they could enjoy the food and wine served at the wedding.
That was a big deal. Remember what the Pharisee’s once told Jesus? Here is Mattthew 15:2
“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat.”
By the way, there is speculation as to whether or not Jesus was a Pharisee, and the answer is “no.” There is some overlap between the beliefs of the Pharisees and Jesus and in their respect for God’s word, but if Jesus was a Pharisee there is no way he would have allowed his disciples to eat without first ceremonially washing their hands.
Here is the thing, Jesus wasn’t just spicing up a party. Jesus wasn’t just turning water into a delicious beverage. That would make it an odd miracle, but what he was doing was providing a sign that the distinction between pure and impure was coming to an end.
It was coming to an end because Jesus came as the fulfillment of the law and to put an end to the distinction between pure and impure.
The same kind of thing is taking place there at the temple with the money changers.
There at the temple, impure money with images of the Roman emperor could not be used for offerings during worship and had to be exchanged for “pure” money that could be accepted.
However, those doing the exchanging were ripping people off. They were taking advantage of people so that instead of being a house of prayer, the temple had become a den of robbers and God’s people were being ripped off
Jesus is challenging that injustice and the Gospel of John is signaling that the time for the need for those coins is coming to an end.
Because Jesus is the fulfillment of all that the law was intended to do.
Have you ever noticed in the Gospel of John’s account of the Last Supper Jesus doesn’t take the bread and give it to his disciples and say, “this is my body…?”
He doesn’t, and he doesn’t hand them the cup and say, “this is my blood.” Like he does in the synoptic Gospels.
What he does do is wrap a towel around his waist and washes the dirty feet of the disciples.
He purifies them in the shadow of the cross.
So this passage is about a lot more than whether or not a church should play Bingo.
It is about who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for us.
The who (one) purifies us and enables us to stand in God’s presence.
No matter how we interpret the meaning of Jesus overthrowing the tables in the Temple, one thing that is very clear, the reason he became angry is because what happened in the Temple mattered to Jesus. Was it a den of robbers or was it a house of prayer?
That is kind of a big deal.
As we approach this table this morning, I want us all to ask ourselves whether or not what happens in this place matters to us.
As we reach for this bread and this cup, I want us all to ask ourselves what does this mean for how I will live my life today?