God is Giving us a New Word for a New Age

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 money changers 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 money changers 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 Jewish leaders 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 Jewish leaders 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. (John 2:13-22) 

Jesus definitely caught Peoples’ attention when he caused such a ruckus in the Temple. Remember, people came from all over the Jewish world on Passover to celebrate their freedom from slavery and oppression in Egypt. They were not always able to bring a sheep, a goat or even a dove to sacrifice for their cleansing for their sins, so the vendors provided a very important service. It may be that they took advantage of a captive audience to increase prices and thus their profits. Whatever the reason, Jesus sensed that they had converted a place of worship into a marketplace. 

So Jesus, a private citizen with no legal or religious authority, declared that he was God’s son, turned over the tables of the money changers, drove the animal vendors out of the temple and TURNED THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN 

I believe Jesus’ actions in the Temple and his statement about rebuilding the temple in three days had two important consequences: first, I believe his confronting the religious and political leaders of his day (with no earthly authority) lead to his execution. 

Second, his statement that he would raise the temple up in three days, gave hope and power to his followers and through them to us. Jesus was again claiming that he was the word and that the word was with God and that the word was God. Jesus was not appealing to any past theological consensus. HE WAS CLAIMING THE FUTURE FOR GOD. 

To proclaim that he would rebuild the Temple in three days was to give hope to God’s people, to proclaim resurrection, to proclaim God’s Kingdom on Earth NOW!!! 

Jesus is moving us from the Past to the Present to the Future: only in time to come will we see what God has in store for us. Remember, Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and that you might have it abundantly.” 

GOD IS TRULY GIVING US A NEW WORD FOR A NEW AGE! 

We do not end our journey with the Bible, we begin it with the Bible! We see the saving acts of God throughout scripture, throughout history. But we do not live in the past, we live in the present and we look to the future. We learn from the Saints and the Prophets of the faith; we learn from Jesus and what he preached and what he did, including turning over tables. 

God has giving us scripture through the prophets; God has given us wisdom through philosophers and teachers, and knowledge through scientists and historians; we have learned through preachers and teachers and experience, that our faith is not simple, but that OUR FAITH IS LIFEGIVING. Lifegiving not only to us, but to others who seek God in different ways than we seek God. 

We have learned that human rights are God Given, and that God’s Wisdom is greater than our Wisdom, and that God has given us people with whom we disagree so that we can begin to understand others and see that the kingdom of God is bigger than we could ever ask or imagine. 

We have learned through the resurrection of Jesus that God is even bigger than we could ever ask or imagine. We have learned that God is using us to bring about the Kingdom of God on Earth as in is in Heaven.

 

The future is God’s, the future is ours, the future is Good! AND THAT IS GOD’S GOOD NEWS FOR US TODAY!