Now Enter In

John 2:13-25

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the moneychangers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.

As a spiritual director, I listen to the wounds and struggles of people. Mothers, fathers, elders, young adults, single adults – all struggle with the chaos of life and especially with finding their center in God in the midst of the chaos. Between careers, raising children, dealing with health issues, fears, interpersonal relationships and all that goes with just living life, people are often stretched beyond capacity. They find themselves running on empty and achingly poor in spirit. They need the Lord to pour himself into them because they don’t have what it takes to climb over obstacles, pull themselves free of encumbrances and clear away the inner debris in order to find him. They write spiritual checks and get N.S.F. notices from their hearts. 

When Jesus walked into the outer courts of the temple, what he saw made his heart ache for his people. Before they could even enter the temple they had to deal with a chaotic cacophony of demanding noise of greed and extortion. Foreigners had to exchange their money for the Jewish currency so they could pay the temple tax, at an inflated exchange rate of course. People couldn’t just bring their own animals or doves for sacrifice because their animals would be judged as blemished and unacceptable so they would end up having to buy their sacrificial animals from the “Purveyors of Fine Cattle and Sheep – Guaranteed to be Without Blemish” (and guaranteed to line the pockets of the temple coffers). Naturally, the animals being sold were quite expensive. The law made it so that no one was exempt from having to make a sacrifice of some sort. The people were being ripped off and they were helpless to do anything about it. If this was allowed in the courts of the Temple of God, what did that say to the people about their worthiness to freely come to God in their need?

When I read the Gospel, I imagined some of the people I know feeling empty, poor and so needy of spiritual sustenance. I saw them going to the house of the Lord to place themselves before God to ask for his blessing and grace. And I imagined them in the temple court being faced with chaos and noise and grasping hands reaching out to strip them of the little they had. I saw them crushed in spirit before they even had a chance to be in God’s presence.

Jesus saw this too. When he saw the vendors and moneychangers gouging the people, people who had so little to begin with, materially and spiritually, I believe Jesus looked down through the ages and saw his Anawim, “the poor ones of the Lord”, stumbling to God to ask for his help, graces and blessings but finding themselves faced with hurdles and hoops to jump through before they could approach the throne. “My Father’s house is a house of prayer!” he said. Prayer: conversation and intimate relationship with his Abba. How can people pray to a loving Father if they’re hungry or scared of the authorities’ displeasure or unsure of whether there will be enough money left over to feed a family? How can they seek love and healing if they don’t know they are worth being loved and healed, if they feel they are only worth being taken advantage of and then ignored in their neediness?

When Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” he was referring to the temple of his body, of course, but he was also saying his temple would be a temple where the poor could come without money and without feeling like there was a price of any kind to pay before they could enter into the presence of his Father. In his temple there would be a standing invitation: “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” (Isaiah 55:1) No hoops. No distortion or extortion. No abuse. No class distinction. It was his intention that all would be priests, no one would be higher or lower than anyone else and all would be welcome. 

One of the reasons Jesus came was to let us know that God is our Abba…our loving Father or Papa. There is no good father who doesn’t want his little ones to run into his arms freely, especially if they are ill, scared or uncertain, don’t know how to handle things or just need arms of reassurance. This is Father Love. Jesus said, “Let the little children come. Don’t turn them away. Don’t make it hard for them to find my arms.” He also said, ‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea.' (Matthew 18:6)

We often think of the poor in spirit as someone other than ourselves because, no doubt, there is always someone worse off than we are. But, you know, you are allowed to be a poor one. You are allowed to say, “I have nothing. I can’t pay the price I've been told it costs to come to my Father and climb into his arms.” 

And Jesus answers, “It’s all right, Small One. I paid the price.”

This is the third week of Lent. If you have a moment in your poverty, think of Jesus stopping on his journey to the Cross to clear the temple for you. Think of him driving out the noise, chaos, unfair demands and grasping hands reaching out to rob you of your ability to freely enter the Holy of Holies. See him turn to you to say, “There. It’s done. They’re all gone. Now you can enter and be with my Father.”

Lenten question: Has anyone ever made you feel inadequate, unworthy of God's love or anything less than a dignified and beloved child of God? Remember, absolutely no one or anything has the authority to do that to you. By the same token, we all need to remember that we have no authority to do this to anyone else.