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?