“Overturning Our Tables“
(Jamie Dodd)
John 2:18-19, 21 “So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things? Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”…But he was speaking about the temple of his body.”
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Near the beginning of this series in John, Matt preached a sermon on the cleansing of the temple in John 2 that completely shook me. I grew up in a Christian context and I’ve realized recently that some of my theology and beliefs are so embedded in my subconscious thinking that I often don’t realize when I have blindspots until they are challenged. This particular sermon brought me face to face with one such blindspot in my interpretation of Scripture. Isn’t the temple cleansing passage about having righteous anger? Isn’t it just about protecting the holiness of worship? I had only ever thought about it in these simplistic terms, and to be honest, this passage had always left me feeling a bit unsettled.
Matt made the assertion that we, the people of God, are now the temple–the place where God dwells. Just as the temple was the Father’s house and Jesus had dominion over it, so it is with us now. Could it be that this story is really about Jesus and His relationship with us and not about temple regulations? I had never heard the temple cleansing explained in this way before and, because I have a tendency to obsessively spiral, I listened to seven more sermons from other pastors to help me unravel the truth of what’s really going on in this passage. What started as a quest for methodical exegesis turned into a beautiful spiritual experience of God’s living and active Word. Each sermon and re-read of the text opened my eyes wider and wider to the beauty of Jesus and His unfathomable love for us.
Here are a few of my favorite take-aways from my John 2 deep-dive:
- The Lamb of Revelation walked into the temple that day. When He drove out the animals, He knew there would no longer be a need for them. Jesus knew that HE was the final sacrifice. Throughout his whole life and ministry, Jesus is always looking ahead to His own death where He will willingly “destroy this temple.”
- Jesus died so that I could have a relationship with Him and be filled with the life-giving force of the Holy Spirit. He is zealous that God would again dwell with man. Whatever is pulling me away from a relationship with Jesus needs to be driven out.
- Sometimes Jesus fills our tables (John 2:9-10) and sometimes He overturns them. Both things demonstrate His Lordship over our lives. If I claim that Jesus is Lord over my life, He has the right to rearrange the furniture.
I am grateful that the Lord used Matt’s words to grab my attention and shift my thinking away from the law and onto the person and work of Jesus. Turning my attention fully to Jesus and His mission to tear the curtain between God and man changed how I read the rest of the Gospel. I find myself at the end of this study feeling humbled by Jesus’ love for me and desiring to know Him more. My prayer is that He will continue to zealously overturn my tables and that in response I would, like Peter, dive off the boat to be in His presence and receive His forgiveness (John 21:7).
BONUS: GOSPEL OF JOHN PLAYLISTS
It has been my practice the last several years to make a playlist to accompany our lenten reading program. I’m a millennial that loves a good mixtape, but I have also found that reinforcing the reading with music helps the Scriptural truths sink in more deeply. I hope these playlists will help you continue to meditate on what we have studied together this spring.