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| Some revolutionaries from all nations overlooking the Temple Mount, on our 2004 trip |
What came to my mind is that, for some time, I've believed that our exposition of the cleansing of the temple has missed the point. The cleansing of the temple was not a statement against capitalism. The cleansing of the temple was a statement against racism.
What was going on there was they had taken the Court of the Gentiles, the court of the other races, [which] allowed them to draw near to the God of Israel, to worship him, and they had filled that Court of the Gentiles with [commercial] stalls that prevented them from doing that. And Jesus clears the stalls out -- because they've denied the other races their sacred space to draw close to the God of Israel. If you think this is fanciful, then simply go to the two quotations that Jesus used from Jeremiah and Isaiah; the Isaiah quotation is all about the stranger in the land coming to the house of the Lord to worship him with joy.
Jesus says my house of prayer, should be a house of prayer for all races -- you've made it a "den of thieves". Why is it that in 2,000 years of Christian theology we've emphasized the "den of thieves" and not all races? My house should be a house of prayer for every race. And then in Mark's gospel there is a throwaway line which nobody ever explains, which gives the clue to what Jesus did. After having cleansed the temple, he then, we're told, lets nobody move through it. Why is that? Because he restores the sacredness of the space to the other races, so that they might draw near to worship the God of Israel. -LINK, James Jones , A House of Prayer for All Races
Anglican bishops tend to miss the central point of the Temple cleansing.
ReplyDeleteLet's work up. The disciple's are harvesting and chomping grain (like Gentiles no less)on the Sabbath. The pharisees who challenge Jesus recognize the establishment authority of the Temple system. Jesus says, "I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. (Romans 12).
When it comes time to pay the Temple tax, Jesus is shirker. When challenged, Jesus asks Peter, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” “From others,” Peter says. Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free." In other words, Jesus undermines the Temple system to tax. Matthew 12)
Then, of course, Jesus cleanses the Temple. What happens next? The blind and the lame come to him IN THE TEMPLE and the heals them.
Anglican bishops have a hard time hearing how Jesus undermines Institutional Carriers. The reason of course is the Anglican bishops are the Temple system of today. Poor Mr. Jones is looking for a challenge to POLICY. "The Institution is fine. Jesus is challenging the POLICY."
I don't think so. The policy rots because the Temple rots.