Jesus vs. Temple (The Original Jesus: Chapter 5)

What was Jesus’ revolution all about? At its heart, he was remaking the people of God around himself, and telling everybody that they were freely welcome in it.
(Original Jesus, 60)

First century Jerusalem was, more or less, a city built around a temple. This structure was of special significance to the Jewish people– it was the place where God chose to meet with his people. It was considered to be the center of the city, the center of worship, even the center of the cosmos.

Temple was also at the center of Jewish expectancy when it came to the coming King of the line of David -- the Messiah, the anointed one. This king (it was believed) would have to go to Jerusalem to be crowned and to cleanse the Temple.

The turning point for Jesus' ministry came at Caesarea Philippi (some one hundred miles north of the Temple), where Simon Peter proclaimed: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16:16 ESV) Jesus is Messiah, the King they were waiting for. But what would this mean for his followers?

From that point on, what had been a Galilean movement shifted its focus to Jerusalem. And increasingly Jesus found himself at odds with the Temple itself. In offering the forgiveness of sins right on the spot, Jesus was claiming to do and be exactly what the temple was and did. Then, in an acted parable symbolizing judgment, Jesus actually cleansed the temple (see Mark 11:15-18). He overturned moneychanger’s tables and drove away people selling sacrificial animals, essentially preventing Temple from functioning.

Just a few days later, Jesus and his disciples celebrated the Passover– a meal to remember how God liberated the Jews from Egypt. Jesus brought to this meal new direction and significance: Real liberation was about to happen. All that the temple stood for would be summed up in Jesus’ death on the cross, through which evil would be exhausted and "the shameless, reckless love of God would come running down the road to embrace the whole world."(p. 65)

Biblical Text: Mark 11:15-18; Isaiah 53:3-9

Embedded Questions:

• Why was the Temple considered to be the center of the cosmos?
• In what ways was Jesus at odds with the Temple?
• What does Wright mean by "acted parable"? What was Jesus really up to when he cleansed the Temple?
• What does all this have to do with us today?
  

Revolutionary Rally (The Original Jesus: Chapter 4)

Jesus was calling and challenging his contemporaries to be the people of God in a radically new way. He solemnly announced God's blessings -- but he blessed all the wrong people.
(Original Jesus, 51)

The popular picture of the Sermon on the Mount today is of rolling hills and peaceful countryside. A calm Jesus delivers a flowery speech about being nice to each other, offering a quietly romantic view of religious life. But in the first century it looked more like a young leader rallying support for a new revolutionary movement.

At the time of Jesus, the hills above the sea of Galilee were a popular hangout for holy revolutionaries, who sought to gain a following. Similarly, Jesus went to the hills to commission his disciples (Mark 3:13-19) and deliver the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7). But his was a revolution unlike all the rest. It was a revolution of heart, calling for a radically different approach to life. Jesus tapped into Israel’s call to be the people through whom God would put the world right, calling all who would listen to follow him and embrace God’s agenda for them to be Israel. He was calling his original hearers, as he is calling us today, to believe that God is God, and let that turn their (and our) priorities upside down.

Jesus called them to follow him and his teachings, which is the only way to build your “house on the rock.” Jesus was declaring himself to be the real thing to which the temple had been pointing all along. Here we are called to take a hard, fresh look at God’s call to serve him in the world.

Biblical Text: Matthew 4:23, 25; 5:1-16, 38-45

Embedded Questions:

• Why did Jesus go up there (the mountains/where revolutionaries went to start rebellions) to instruct his followers?
• Why was there a “chosen people” (Israel)?
• What is the big deal about Israel in God’s plan?