Sunday Meditation: The Temple of His Body

This week Jesus is neither in the desert nor on a mountain, but takes us into the city of Jerusalem.  More specifically He takes us to the Temple Mount and into the Courtyard of the Gentiles.  Three places to encounter God in three weeks: the desert, the mountain, and the temple.  Year B, the Gospel readings during Lent switch to the Gospel of John after beginning with the Third Sunday. 

 

Since the Passover of the Jews was near,

Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,

as well as the money changers seated there.

He made a whip out of cords

and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,

and spilled the coins of the money changers

and overturned their tables,

and to those who sold doves he said,

“Take these out of here,

and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”

His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,

Zeal for your house will consume me.

At this the Jews answered and said to him,

“What sign can you show us for doing this?”

Jesus answered and said to them,

“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”

The Jews said,

“This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,

and you will raise it up in three days?”

But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,

his disciples remembered that he had said this,

and they came to believe the Scripture

and the word Jesus had spoken.

 

While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,

many began to believe in his name

when they saw the signs he was doing.

But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all,

and did not need anyone to testify about human nature.

He himself understood it well.

~Jn 2:13-25

The most fascinating explanation of the Gospel, complete with sketches of the Temple, comes this week from Fr. Geoffrey Plant.

 

Fr. Geoffrey has perfected these videos.  He tells us everything one could think of, and lots one cannot think of.  The only thing to add I think is that Christ’s body is the new temple, the Church that replaces the Jewish temple.

Meditation: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”