Monday, November 04, 2013

Kraybill on Jesus' upside-down fumigating of the temple

Due to Kraybill's "The Upside Down Kingdom" being (for now) readable online and Google-able  here on ISSUU (along with several theological book en espanol here),  it is nice to be able post the key sections on the temple tantrum here in one place. (see what you think about this publishing model here).
Note: a previous edition of the book is complete  and downloadable here on Scribd..

1)Page 53:

Purging the temple of moneychangers wasn't a mandate for violence..Had a major riot erupted the 600 Roman soldiers in Fort Antonia, overlooking the temple, would have quickly intervened. The temple drama was a prophetic  condemnation of profiteering by money and a sign that the temple should be opened for Gentile worship The prophetic Word--not action--stood at the center of the temple purge  

2)In a section "Fumigating the Temple,"  that is pp 150-152 in the current edition, here is the text in the older edition (161-63):





3)Page 202:
The Gentile vision  flashes through the Gospels in other places as well.  Jesus sends out seventy missionaries, a number symbolizing the wholeness and completeness of his mission (luke 10:1)  He instructs the disciples to be light and salt, not just within Judaism but in the whole world (Matt. 5:13-14.  He chases the money changers from the temple's outer court so it can be a house of prayer for all nations (Mark 11:17) Jesus' earthly sojourn begins and ends in “Galilee of the Gentiles” where his  disciples receive a final mandate to go and make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19)

4) page 275 footnote 15:

Kelber expands the traditional interpretation that the temple  cleansing was done primarily to open up the outer court to the Gentiles.   He also suggests that the prohibition to carry vessels had more religious significance than stopping people who were taking a shortcut through the temple.  Sanders contends that the temple incident was not merrly chasing out moneychangers  or“cleansing” the temple for the purpose of restoring it to routine operation It was rather a defiant public act directed against the temple itself, and it was and it was this provocative act that more than any other led to Jesus' death.  Myers argues that the temple was fundamentally an economic institution  and sees Jesus taking symbolic direct action against the temple operation.
Here below is the current edition embedded:

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