Hope is in the air - John 2:13-22

All of a sudden this week, it seems like hope is in the air. Maybe it’s the virus numbers going in the right direction, and more people getting vaccinated. For the first time in a year, I think we can really start to imagine life opening back up again and eventually being on the other side of this pandemic. Or maybe it’s the change in weather, those first moments of warm sunshine and signs of spring that are starting to appear. Those feel like pure grace after a cold and isolated winter. I’m happy to report that my neighbors have started to gather spontaneously in front yards again, still socially distant but so relieved to be together. Also, hope can surely be found in the preparations we are making here at the church, to welcome you back inside in time for Easter. One thing I know for sure, Easter joy will be a real thing this year. For all of these reasons, hope is in the air. 

With all of this hope and encouraging change, frankly who’s in the mood for the story of Jesus chasing the money changers out of the temple? Angry Jesus isn’t particularly helpful or hopeful right now, and he feels a little out of sync with our current situation. The cleansing of the temple feels even more out of step given the fact that we haven’t been together in our temple for a long time now. Not to mention that the church is literally empty at the moment, not a money changer or table in sight. We had to take everything out because of the significant dust that plaster repair kicks up. So, just when we hear about Jesus chasing people out with a whip of cords and turning over tables, our church doesn’t even have hymnals or pew cushions or plaques or literally anything moveable in it. This feels like one of those rare moments when you read a hard piece of scripture and think, “Whew, not it!” 

Of course, the story is not completely irrelevant to this moment of ours. We’d be wise to pay attention so that when we fill the church back up again, we don’t fall into any of the things Jesus is mad about. The money changers and the animals for sale in the scene are part of the temple sacrifice system - not bad per se, but Jesus is angry that people are profiting inside the temple, particularly from those who come seeking God. It’s the exploitation of the vulnerable that causes Jesus to yell, “Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” Prioritizing money over God, especially in the temple, is a blatant form of idolatry. It’s one that any church can fall into without spiritual vigilance. Idolatry, of course, can take many forms, and any one of them is particularly offensive inside God’s house. Note to ourselves, as we move from an empty, cleaned out church gradually back to full parish life, let’s be careful how we proceed, and keep God first in all things. It’s a helpful reminder.  

But that is not the only, or even the most important point of the temple cleansing story. Would you believe me if I told you that the secret to understanding it is to look at what comes right before, which happens to be a wedding of all things? The other gospels place the temple story in Holy Week, just as things heat up before Jesus’ arrest, but not John. We are only in chapter two in John, at the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. And what happens right before is the famous wedding at Cana, when Jesus turns water into wine, the first sign telling us who this Jesus is. It’s a joyful story, full of happy wedding guests and an abundance of God’s glory in the form of vast amounts of good wine. But the plot is a little strange. When Jesus’ mother tells him that the party has run out of wine and wants him to do something about it, Jesus says simply,  “My hour has not yet come.” He makes the wine, but he’s got something else on his mind. In John’s Gospel, the word hour refers to the events that will come later, Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection. For now, a sign in the form of a miracle will have to suffice. 

The miracle is followed immediately by the story of the temple cleansing, so there must be a connection between the two. When Jesus casts out the money changers, he makes a second reference to his coming death. When asked what sign he is showing or by what authority he is running around with a whip of cords, he answers, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up,” a reference again to his death and resurrection. A theme seems to be emerging. 

Over and over again, John makes the point that we are saved through Christ’s death and resurrection. The whole gospel story points toward Easter, toward our salvation through those extraordinary events. That’s another reason hope is in the air, as we get closer to telling the story of those events once again.  

And in the midst of that grand and beautiful story, there is grace to be found in the details along the way, too. One jumps out at us this morning. Look closely at what Jesus says. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Jesus is speaking of the temple of his body, which will be raised from the dead. Scholars point out that Jesus is making a rather shocking claim here about God’s location - that God doesn’t live in the brick and mortar temple. The dwelling place of the Lord, the God of Israel, is now to be found in Jesus’ body. Temples can come and go, but God will be found in the body of Christ. 

John’s gospel was written after the great temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, so these words would have been deeply hopeful to the earliest Christian communities. And since Paul taught us how to speak of our community as the body of Christ, the grace-filled implication is that God will be found in our midst. As we reenter our house of worship soon, Jesus cleansing the temple reminds us that being without a building does not mean we have been without God all this time. God has dwelled in us outside of these walls. We might be tempted to feel like we’re getting back to God as we come inside the church. But let’s not confuse the building with the body of Christ. That’s exactly the kind of thing Jesus can’t stand. 

So, as we make our plans to gather and get the church ready, let’s be sure to give thanks for God’s never failing presence among us. That holy presence has sustained us during a very difficult year, and will continue to sustain us on the road ahead. And knowing Jesus, we can be sure that in addition to cleaned out churches and big, beautiful weddings, there will be many more signs of his abiding presence. Hope indeed is in the air.