And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers (Matthew 21:12-13)
What
is Jesus doing? If you listen to many common and contemporary interpretations
of this story, one finds Jesus doing all kinds of things which have nothing to
do with these biblical texts. Jesus did not lose his cool and get ticked off.
He does not need an anger management class nor is this is case of righteous
anger like so many modern interpreters like to project onto the text. Jesus
does get angry but this text does not specifically say one way or the other.
Well, Jesus used a whip in another
version of this story and so it’s okay to use violence to protect oneself,
family or country. Again, the biblical text never says Jesus used a whip on
anybody (check out John 2:13-17). Notice nobody ends up dead in the story. Why
is it that we try so hard to find Jesus doing violence so we can justify our
own violent tendencies? All of Jesus actions were to bring life, wholeness, and
healing into this world. It is the enemy and our adversary the Devil who comes
to kill steal and destroy (John 10:10)
Since modern Christians unfortunately equate
their church buildings with the ancient Jewish temple, they believe it is wrong
to sell or purchase anything on church grounds. Again, this is simply reading
in our own modern context into scripture whose context is very different than
our own.
Then there are those interpreters who
try to apply Jesus actions to our human body made in the image of God as the
temple of the Holy Spirit. Christians need at time holy “spring cleanings” to
get rid of the junk and messiness of our lives. It is true that our bodies are
the temples of the God in the New Testament but again, this has nothing to do
with Jesus words or actions of what people commonly refer to as Jesus cleansing
the temple.
What is actually being described by
the biblical authors is Jesus is acting out like a real life play the prophetic
actions of the prophetic tradition the destruction of the temple. Jesus did not
come to reform or purify the temple, but to pronounce its coming destruction.
The temple was so politically compromised, spiritually bankrupt, and economically
corrupt, that only utter destruction would do. The temple had become an idol of
national pride that promoted nationalistic violence. Jesus came to usher in
God’s non-violent kingdom and to bring a new temple of his body to replace the
old one.
Just like the prophets of old, Soren
Kierkegaard saw a corrupt and bankrupt Christianity in the early nineteenth
century. What he described as Christendom is what needed destruction and he
became a prophet and missionary to the church of his day. Here is my short
paraphrase of what Kierkegaard provocatively describes, not literally but
metaphorically as ‘kill the commentators.’
Today’s biblical interpreters have done more damage than good. They sit
with ten commentaries in their laps but they are certainly not reading the
scriptures. The move to get back to the Bible is nothing more than a diversion
and trick to get the masses of people to get their off the Bible and onto the
commentators. How is it that these commentators simply explain away and give
excuses of why we don’t really have to follow Jesus today.
Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian
scholarship is the church’s invention to defend itself against the Bible. They
want to make sure we are safe and Christians who follow the conventional church
wisdom of the day. Even Kierkegaard sounds like he is angry or loses it when he
prophetically says out loud, ‘Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do
without you? Dreadful I is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is
even more dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.
Jesus
actions are neither safe or comfortable and actually quite dangerous. He
challenged both the religious elites and the national and political allegiances
of the people of Israel
I can only choose a select number of
this texts to show how Jesus used the Old Testament but here is one last “it is
written” text to consider. What is traditionally called the triumphal entry is
Jesus riding into Jerusalem
And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
‘fear not, daughter of Zion
Here
the gospel of John is quoting Zechariah chapter nine verse nine. When Jews
quoted scripture, they would often refer to a much larger context than just a
verse or two. Jesus actions could have followed the Messianic actions of
Zechariah chapter ten of a warrior Messiah trampling down his foes. But Jesus
used the scriptures selectively and intentionally to reveal the deeper purposes
of God and God’s character. Yes, God is depicted as a divine warrior but God is
not the one doing the killing and violence, we do the violence ourselves.
Often, God is trying to curb the violence or bring less violence and more peace
into humankind divisive situations.
Man
wants retributive justice but God desires restorative justice. Man’s vengeance
is very different than God’s vengeance. We often try to make God more like us
rather than allowing God’s Spirit and power transform us more like into the image
of his Son Jesus.
Modern Christians will ask, “Then what about the book of Revelation?
Isn’t Jesus depicted their as a warrior killing all his enemies?” The book of
revelation is a subversive book. It is like a manual for war time but it does
not tell Christians to engage war but rather how to resist it. It is a
spiritual-cosmic war by Jesus and his followers and one where evil kills and
destroys itself in the end. Ephesians
chapter six tells Christians that our warfare is not against flesh and blood.
Did you get that, not against other people! Our fight is a spiritual one which
uses spiritual weapons (2 Corinthians 10:4-5; Ephesians 6:10-18)
If Christians expect to be victorious, it will only be by their willingness to die to themselves and for God. We may suffer violence but we are not to use it (Revelation 13:10). If one will read the book of Revelation closely, despite all the images of violence and destruction, John never describes an actual battle between the Lamb of God (Jesus) and the kings of the earth. IN Revelation 17:16, the evil violent kings actually turn on themselves and destroy
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