John’s purpose in writing his Gospel is that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing, have life in his name (20:31). Already in the first chapter, Christ’s divinity and humanity are tightly sewn together. Jesus is the Word who in the beginning already was, the Word that was with God and the Word that was God. And yet, the Word became flesh, the Son of God became the Son of Man who is like a ladder that links earth to heaven.
Now in the second chapter, Jesus’ disciples were with him at the wedding in Cana when he changed water into wine. They saw his glory and believed in him. They were also with him when he cleansed the temple in Jerusalem. John the Evangelist, author of this Gospel, neatly frames Jesus’ act of cleansing the temple by placing it between two references to the Passover, the feast when the lamb was slain on the Day of Atonement.
The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem (John 2:13). Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing (John 2:23). John (2:13) tells us that the cleansing of the temple took place just before the feast of the Passover. The Feast of the Passover was a time when sacrifices had to be offered. It would have been difficult to travel from faraway with an animal of sacrifice such as a lamb or an ox. So, many people would wait until they get to Jerusalem and buy an animal there instead of bringing it from their home.
There were three courts in the temple in Jerusalem. There was the inner court for only male Jewish worshipers. The next separated area was for Jewish women only. Finally, there was the outer court for all non-Jewish people, the Court of the Gentiles. It was in this outer court for the Gentiles that the animal merchants were carrying on their business. There were also moneychangers in this part of the temple.
This was convenient worship. You could go to Jerusalem, change your money, buy an animal “without spot or blemish,” and take it to the priest. All this for the convenience of worshipers. You didn’t have to come prepared. You could take care of the necessities at the last minute.
This is what was going on in God’s house. Can you imagine the noise? People haggling over prices. Cattle and sheep making noise. How could anyone worship God with all that going on? Furthermore, the Gentiles had no place left to worship. The outer court was the only place where they could worship. Jesus called his Father’s house “a house of prayer for all the nations” (Mark 11:17). The place of prayer had become a confusing, squabbling, stinking, shrieking mass of people, animals, and business deals. No one could pray.
Worship should be an experience of entering into the presence of God and conversing with God. But at the Temple there was too much noise and distraction to hear anything from God. We need to be careful about our worship today. We can be guilty of creating our own distractions by introducing things into our lives, our Christian communities, and even our worship that take away any inconvenience. Our worship is not only about convenience. It is about entering into the presence of God.
We cannot enter into God’s presence if we leave other people out, not caring about their worshipping space. Our preparation for worship should take into consideration even those who have no “right” to worship with us.
Dear friends, today the third Sunday of Lent continues our forty-day journey with Jesus. We started with him in the desert on the first Sunday of Lent. From there he took us to Mount Tabor to have a first-class vision of heaven on the second Sunday of Lent. Today, he takes us to the temple to experience true and sincere worship, so all can come to God.