March 7, 2021- John 2:13-22
John 2:13-22
Angry King
3rd Sunday in Lent – March 7, 2021
First Lutheran Church – Winnipeg, MB
The title comes from a recent Burger King advertising campaign promoting their burger,
“The Angry King”
Presumably, the burger has some heat to it – kind of like Jesus in John’s Gospel today.
All four Gospels have this story about Jesus “cleansing the temple” of exploitative practices.
Matthew, Mark and Luke have it as the last action of Jesus’ public ministry.
In other words, it is the thing that finally drives the authorities to do something about Jesus –
in Mark and Luke,
it is after he cleanses the temple that the authorities look for a way to kill him.
In John’s Gospel, though, the cleansing of the temple is placed at the very beginning of
Jesus’ public ministry, right after the wedding at Cana, as if these two actions –
celebration and the confrontation with injustice –
set the stage for all that is to follow.
In any event, the cleansing of the temple is clearly a very important piece of Jesus’ ministry –
it either sums up his ministry or sets the stage for the ministry that follows, as here.
What makes Jesus angry here is the exploitative temple practices of the time.
Jesus is a faithful Jewish person – and he simply cannot abide the injustice of what is happening.
Animal sacrifices were part of the system of temple worship.
People sacrificed animals when something good happened to them as a thank offering.
Or they sacrificed animals when they did something bad as a forgiveness offering.
Either way, they needed animals.
And animals could conveniently be purchased at the temple.
However, the usual currency of the day – Roman coins – could not be used in the temple,
since the coins had images of the emperor on them,
and graven images were not allowed in the temple precincts.
Before one entered the temple, though, one could exchange Roman coins for temple coins that
could be used to purchase the animals for sacrifice and pay the temple tax.
At Jesus’ time, however, the temple was run by authorities chosen by Rome.
The temple system was heavily taxed by Rome and a high percentage of the money raised by
exchanging coins and selling animals – as well as the temple tax – went to Rome.
The high mark up and the practice of exploiting sincerely religious people
was more than Jesus could take.
And he explodes in righteous anger against the injustice of it all.
We see the angry king today in opposition to Rome and its unjust practices.
A few weeks ago we noted how clearly you can see in Mark’s Gospel that
Jesus is portrayed in a great showdown with the powers of evil that
prevent human flourishing.
But you can clearly see that in John’s Gospel too, even though John is so different.
This showdown is clearly what gets Jesus killed.
He runs afoul of the temple authorities and, hence, Roman Authority.
And Rome simply will not tolerate any opposition.
And so they crucify him.
But Jesus speaks very directly to that in this story.
“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up,” says Jesus.
The temple authorities are perplexed by this.
However, John helpfully adds, “Jesus was speaking of the temple of his body.”
And where is Jesus’ body now?
Jesus’ body is the church.
On the evening of the third day, Jesus appears to his disciples and breathes his spirit into them.
The church, now, is Jesus’ body on earth.
That body of Jesus, for 2000 years, has been at its best when it lives in opposition to injustice,
perhaps sometimes – like Jesus – fueled by righteous anger.
Jesus, certainly, could get angry.
We know from many other accounts that Jesus had a short fuse.
Sometimes he simply gets frustrated with his followers.
And sometimes, like today, he loses his mind over injustice.
It is not, however, his base emotion.
His base emotion is compassion.
Sometimes, though, as in today’s story,
the flame of his love for people seems to be ignited by the spark of anger.
I think we can take away from this that it is okay for certain things to make us angry.
It is okay for injustice to make us angry.
It is okay for racism and sexism and heterosexism to make us angry.
It is okay for poverty and hunger and exclusion to make us angry.
But we must always let our base emotion – deep compassion – guide us into action.
We are Jesus’ body.
Every week at the First Lutheran Church building Melinda and I welcome people to our door.
They come and ring the door bell and we attend to their needs in whatever way we can.
In our way, at First Lutheran Church we are still caught up in the same showdown Jesus was:
the showdown between the forces of prejudice, poverty, and injustice.
We battle hunger with love when people are invited to food bank or given emergency food.
We battle poverty with love when we employ local neighbourhood people
for the upkeep of our grounds.
We battle racism with love when we advocate for those who experience prejudice.
We battle exclusion with love when we live up to our inclusive welcome statement and
walk alongside those journeying through the valley of hate and misunderstanding.
We battle war and its ravages with love by sponsoring refugees and supporting them
when they arrive.
We talk little, we listen much – and, in the immortal words of Francis of Assisi,
we preach the Gospel at all times, using words if necessary.
These things that confront us may spark anger, but they are best opposed with love.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus may be angry today, but next week – and in just a few short verses –
we will see how Jesus, too, confronts that which opposes him with love:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have fullness of life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)
So may it continue to be for us, the Temple of his Body.
Amen
Pastor Michael Kurtz
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