Texts: John 2:13-22; 1 Corinthians 1:22-25; Exodus 20:1-17

If keeping to God’s law wasn’t hard enough, the Temple at the time of Jesus became a marketplace, selling less-than-perfect animals to God’s people to sacrifice to God to fulfill the Law He gave them, and all-the-while exchanging money. Since the Romans occupied the Holy Land, people were required to use their money to buy and sell things. That makes sense. But the Temple didn’t want anything to do with Roman money. No, they wanted their own money. So the Temple changed Roman money for Temple money, money that would be used to purchase sacrificial animals and make donations to the Temple.

Only problem, the Temple was making out like bandits. They exchanged money for rates that benefited the Temple. They sold animals that weren’t up to snuff and far from perfect, but that wouldn’t stop them from charging a premium for their animals. In the end, the Temple marketplace made a fool out of God. They took His perfect Law and made it a joke and worthless to the lives of the children of God. And Jesus sees what is going on and acts.

He makes a whip out of cords and overturns the money changing tables. He throws the Temple’s bankers and less-than-perfect animals from the Temple courts. The place where God was to be worshiped was turned into a joke, a slap in the face to God; so God the Son cleanses the Temple of those who blasphemed God and His Law. As you would imagine, this doesn’t sit too well with the Temple leaders. Some of his fellow Jews ask Jesus why He would act in such a manner.

“What sign do you show us for doing these things?”

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” John 2:18-19

The Jews asked Jesus their questions in confusion. They didn’t understand the reasons for Jesus cleansing the Temple of those who mocked God. Further, their confusion was magnified when Jesus answered them. “You’ll raise this Temple in three days after it destroyed,” they mockingly questioned Jesus. In their minds, Jesus may have been a good son of a carpenter, but really, how could someone rebuild a destroyed Temple in three days?

Of course, Jesus was speaking of the Temple of His body; Saint John tells us as much. They will destroy Jesus on the cross and bury Him, but He would rise again in three days and reign for all eternity. It would be through the fulfillment of God’s law. seen today in our reading of Exodus, that Jesus would redeem the world from its sin. God’s law, one that the Hebrews and Jews and all sinful people ever to walk this earth could never accomplish, would be fulfilled by the only one who could do so.

For the Jews of Jesus day, and for those today who uphold God’s law instead of the Good News found in Christ, it was the necessity of outwardly acting instead of inwardly believing that was important. God can see the good things you do. That was and is important. They sacrificed an animal – God cares about that, even though the very sacrifice in the Temple was in complete violation of the law because of the imperfect nature of the sacrificial animals. Today, believing in Christ is secondary to actually showing goodness. When we show goodness to others, we are keeping the law of God – loving your neighbor as yourself, the second table of the Ten Commandments were heard from Exodus just a little earlier. It is the new religion of today — make it look good — and God will accept the outward act more than anything else.

If you believe this, you are like the Jews of the Temple questioning Jesus. To them, outward acts were more important. Fulfilling the Law of Moses was central to your life. Jesus tells them, “No.” Outward acts were nice, but the importance was what was inside. Outwardly, the Temple building looked holy, but the acts inside those towering walls was something less than holy. Jesus gives us our guidance of our lives when He tells us that the Temple of His body must be destroyed in order that it be raised again. Believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ — the destruction of His Temple and the raising of this holy Temple in three days — is more important than the outward acts.

It is something that the Jews didn’t understand at the time of Jesus, and it is something that believers in Christ today miss: it is faith that counts for everything. It is the inward believing in the Son of God and His death and resurrection and the ascension, that this was done for us and all people. Faith in the sacrificial Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice for all, is where our lives are to be centered. We are His children through faith, through our Baptisms when the Holy Spirit came to us and made us vessels of faith.

Never has our work in helping others made us more important in the eyes of God the Father — it is our faith in His Son that does it all. We hear the Word preached in church – the Word only centered on Christ and Him crucified. Nothing more. Nothing less. As Saint Paul tells us in our reading from First Corinthians today, this idea is complete folly to the world. To God it is faith in His Son that counts; but the world laughs at that. It makes more sense to sinful flesh to do acts of love toward others than trust in God and His Word alone. For trusting someone other than yourself if considered great foolishness to the world, both in the time of Jesus and also today.

When we trust our acts of love rather than our faith in Christ, we become like the Jews of the Temple period. We think we can count on ourselves rather than trusting in God.

But thanks be to God! Jesus guides our hearts and minds today. We place our trust in Him. As Saint Paul writes today: “…but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:23-24 Our strength comes not from our outward acts but from God Himself. Christ who lived, died, rose, and ascended – that is our strength and life. Trust in Him alone. Believe in Him alone. Amen.

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