Tag: cleansing the Temple

Dedication Service for Emmanuel

Psalm 122  Ephesians 2:19-22  John 2:13-22 

Welcome to the Temple of Sidlow Bridge for our Dedication Service this morning. As Emmanuel is not named after a saint with a specific date attached, we are able to celebrate the church with a Dedication Festival. My hope is that we will again show our thanks for all that God has done and continues to do for His little temple here. We also must show our love and gratitude for the wonderful humans who do so much to keep this place going. 

What springs to mind when you hear the word temple? Stone? Hindu or Buddhist temples in India or Thailand? Jerusalem? A massive building? Something cold and imposing? 

All three of our readings for today feature the temple in Jerusalem. 

The Temple was the beating heart of Judaism. Anyone who has been fortunate enough to visit Jerusalem can appreciate the size and scale of it as the centrepoint of the city. The Temple was the home of worship, music, the focal point of politics and Jewish society, a place of national celebration and mourning. Westminster Abbey or St Paul’s Cathedral are somewhat a parallel in terms of significance to the people. The Temple was the place where YHWH, God had promised to live in the midst of his people. 

It is useful to remember that Jerusalem has had two temples. The First Temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians around 587/586 BCE as the Jews were sent into exile by King Nebuchadnezzar. This was a devastating event for the Jews that reverberated for centuries. The house of the Lord referred to in Psalm 122 was likely connected to the First Temple.  

The rebuilding of the Second Temple began about 50 years after the first destruction. It then stalled out for about 20 years. Two to three generations had passed, the exile was over and they could return home to Jerusalem. The Old Testament prophet Haggai was the great encouragement to get the Jews to go home again.  

Haggai is a tiny two chapter book towards the end of the Old Testament. Not much is known about Haggai: his name means ‘festal’ which is fitting for the prophet who called the Jewish people to rebuild the temple of God and to bring back worship in Jerusalem. 

In Haggai’s second sermon, he is reminding the Jews of the exodus when God called the Hebrews out of Egypt. Jesus and the disciples arrived in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover. Passover is a time to remember what God had done in the past when he saved the Jewish people from Pharaoh in Egypt. It was also a celebration of liberation, freedom and rescue from slavery. 

Haggai was a champion for the homeless as he called the Jewish community to action in the rebuilding of the Temple. He was also calling the Jewish people to wake up to their responsibilities, obligations, privileges and promises of their heritage. And they do. 

Jesus appears in the temple a few hundred years later. Sweet baby Jesus carried into the temple by his young parents for the expected rituals required by their Jewish faith. This ordinary event transitioned to a divinely appointed meeting with Simeon and Anna. Jesus is revealed as the light of the world and an ominous warning was given to Mary. Grown-up Jesus returns to the same Temple and causes some havoc. 

Over time it became more of a market-place and one of corruption; and it is now under God’s judgement. Those who were selling the animals for sacrifice and the money-changers did need to be there. Jewish law required the right sacrifices to be offered. Unfortunately dodgy practices had infiltrated and corrupted the Temple. People were being cheated out of money by their own people. This is what Jesus was raging against.

We see Jesus on the side of those being cheated, devalued and treated badly. Jesus certainly had zeal; both for the Temple as his Father’s house and for the oppressed people. The Temple had been made into something it was never supposed to be. Jesus is correcting a serious wrong by showing that He will restore things to the way they should be.

Jesus did this by reminding the Jews of the Ten Commandment as they were breaking at least two of them: the making of idols (money) and stealing. Jesus was referring to himself in the remark about the destroyed Temple rising up in three days. Jesus is the true temple, the word made flesh and cannot be corrupted. Haggai proclaimed that the true glory of the Second Temple will not be the gold and silver of the nations but of God himself.

Jesus appeared in the Temple as a six week old baby and was shown to be the light of the world. He returned at that Feast of Passover pointing to himself, the temple of his body. Jesus is the one we are to watch and wait for. It is not always easy waiting. There is always work in the wait… 

Lessons for Emmanuel 

The whole structure is held together in him. Our temple is not a building but God. Churches/temples are places where people come together to worship God, meet each other, hold special events. And we should be able to do that anywhere. We are the dwelling places for God. 

For the sake of the house of Lord, I will seek to do you good. Psalm 122 one of the ‘songs of ascent’; these were the travelling songs of the Jewish people as they travelled to the temple in Jerusalem for the yearly festivals. What good can we be doing for our neighbours? 

Temples can be destroyed, and can be brought down. We need to resist the temptation to make this place a temple, a reservoir of memories of the past, how it used to be. We need to lean into what God is calling this church to be.   

Temples can also be rebuilt. Jesus was raised from the dead, He is the resurrection and the life. We need to be built on his foundation.    

Watch for the signs. Who here does not like a sign? We will reflect on the significance of signs for a few minutes. There are the obvious signs that feature in everyday life; fire exits, stop signs, traffic signals, push/pull, open/closed enter/exit, etc.  These signs provide practical information and direction, keep us safe, and bring order to the world around us. 

Then there are the signs from God. Many prayers have begun with, ‘God if you are real…give me a sign.’ These tend to be prayed in times of desperation and fear, when all control is lost and people come to the end of themselves. God in his infinite goodness answers these prayers. Often not as expected as the external conditions might not change and/or even get worse. The answer can be an internal sign or feeling of overwhelming peace and love, a change of perspective or defusing of intense emotion that can allow for clearer thinking. 

We need to be people who can read the signs of the times correctly and it takes work.  

My prayer for the next year is that this little Temple, on this side of the A217, is for clarity of purpose, that we put Jesus as the centre and foundation of all that we do, that we seek to do good for the parish of Sidlow Bridge. The secret is in our name, Emmanuel. God with us.  

Thank you to each of you who work so hard to keep this temple going. Peace be with you.

Lent 3: Health & Safety

17th Century Ethiopian found in the British Library.
Jesus cleansing of the temple –

3/3/24
Lent 3

Exodus 20:1-17
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
John 2:13-22

O God, we give you thanks because,
in the carnation of the Word,
a new light has dawned upon the world,
that all the nations and peoples may be brought out of darkness to see the radiance of your glory.

Disorder, disruption and chaos! How do you cope with it? It is everywhere at the moment and it always has been. Take your pick; the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, climate change and its consequences, the Northern Runway Project examination hearings happening in Crawley, the state of the UK government with huge amounts of uncertainty and mistrust in politicians. These are of course the public issues. Many people have health issues (physical and mental), family problems, relationship breakdown and financial worries that never make the headlines or even the village gossip.

In any of the above events there are times when we may want to turnover the tables and upend everything. We want to cause disorder and disrupt and bring chaos; maybe to change things, to vent our own anger and acknowledge a sense of powerlessness or injustice. Try to make things right again.

There can also be temptation to harken back to the days of old, the good old days to find some comfort or at least distraction from the worries of the day. Some people may look to their faith to find guidance or encouragement to carry on. Today’s readings remind us that the world is not as it should be and has not really ever been. They also nudge us to look towards God, Jesus, be mindful of the stumbling blocks and the foolishness of ourselves and the world.

Jesus’ cleansing of the temple appears in all four Gospels, indicating that this is a significant moment. Matthew, Mark and Luke place this event much later in the life of Jesus as he enters Jerusalem for the last time. John places it right at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. In John’s timeline, Jesus and the disciples have left Cana after the wedding and have arrived in Jerusalem, they go directly to the Temple and Jesus turns over the tables. Miracles to mayhem.

The Temple was the beating heart of Judaism. For those of you who have been to Jerusalem, you can appreciate the size and scale of the Temple in the centre of Jerusalem. It was the centre of worship, music, the focal point of politics and Jewish society, a place of national celebration and mourning. Westminster Abbey or St Paul’s Cathedral are somewhat a parallel in terms of significance to the people. The Temple was the place where YHWH, God has promised to live in the midst of his people.

What was so wrong with it that an unknown prophet from Galilee disrupts and disorders the Temple?

Jesus and the disciples arrived in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover. Passover is a time to remember what God had done in the past when he saved the Jewish . It was also a celebration of liberation, freedom and rescue from slavery. John has already told us that Jesus is the new Passover Lamb. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Now, the people in the Temple that day would not have known that. The Temple had over time become more of a market-place and a corrupt one. It is now under God’s judgement. Those who were selling the animals for sacrifice and the money-changers did need to be there. Jewish law required the right sacrifices to be offered. Yet unfair, dodgy practices had corrupted the Temple. People were being cheated out of money by their own people. This is what Jesus was raging against.

The idea of Jesus getting angry and violent can be hard to picture. According to John, he took the time to stop and make a whip of cords. Imagine Jesus sitting down, getting the materials together and then making it all while watching the goings on. Instead of calming down in the pause, Jesus gets more worked up. We do not know if any one was injured, impossible to imagine Jesus whipping anyone but He certainly disrupted their livelihoods and work.

We see Jesus on the side of those being cheated, devalued and treated badly. Jesus certainly had zeal; both for the Temple as his Father’s house and for people. The Temple had been made into something it was never supposed to be. Jesus is correcting a serious wrong by showing that He will restore things to the way they should be and not in a predictable way.

Jesus is doing two things: He is reminding the Jews of the Ten Commandments. There were a few being broken: the making of idols (money) and stealing. He is also referring to himself in the remark about the destroyed Temple rising up in three days. Jesus is the true temple, the word made flesh and cannot be corrupted.

So which is it?!

The Ten Commandments and all Jewish laws were given to the Israelities to be followed. They believed that by following the law to its letter the Messiah would come. Obedience would make God happy and inclined to do things for them. Jesus, the Messiah, appears and seems to be breaking all the laws and disrupting the Temple. Paul is writing to the new church at Corinth about a God who is incomprehensible and seems to want everyone to know God through the cross of Jesus.

Many of the new Corinthian converts considered themselves wise and intelligent. Paul is talking about God as unpredictable, one who overturns convention and includes everyone; the wise and the fools together. God who loves the least, the lost and the last, who prefers to the poor and the powerless. The God who demands loyalty and worship, not for His sake but for ours.

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis reminds us that the meaning of Jesus is neither tidy nor tame but that it is nonetheless one that we can embrace with confidence. Susan and Lucy ask Mr. and Mrs. Beaver to describe Aslan (Lewis’s representation of Jesus). They ask if Aslan is a man. Mr. Beaver replies.

“Aslan a man? Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion — the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh!” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he — quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will, dearie, and make no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about being safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”


We are left with Jesus whose cleansing of the temple should warn us of every false sense of security and belief. We can hold a lot of them alongside misplaced allegiances, presumptions and assumptions, spiritual complacency, political idolatry and financial greed. These are some of the tables Jesus would overturn today. We may not understand, in fact Jesus does not call us to understand him, He calls us to follow him.

To follow Jesus is a far more radical thing to do. He will feed us in the desert, tend to our wounded souls. He will lead and guide us and upend the stalls we have set up. Jesus will dismantle our false routines and comforts to show us what true and abundant life is. We can find our safety in the one who is not safe but good.