Where Does God Dwell?

Where does God dwell?

Presently we are in the midst of Lent. At the end of winter we set forty days aside as a time of reflection. Symbolically we give something up for this period.  This represents the main questions we should have in mind during Lent.  Is anything in my life taking me away from God?  Am I worshipping the idols of the world more than God? 

We only need to look at the natural world around us to see a striking reflection of the Easter story.  The trees are bare, gardens are neglected even the birds are quiet. It almost seems life is absent.  In the Gospels we are at a time of crucifixion and death.  We are also at a time of Resurrection. A moment that would change all moments, past present and future.

God is always with us.  No matter how we sin.  If we give up chocolate for Lent but succumb to the temptations, God will still be with us.  But are we with God?

The Gospel reading today speaks specifically of that.  In a seemingly violent manner, Jesus asks the people of Israel; Are you with God?  All four Gospels tells us of the “Temple Incident”.  Matthew, Mark and Luke place the incident towards the end of Jesus’s public ministry.  John meanwhile places it at the beginning of his Gospel.  Some scholars have suggested that there may have been two “Temple Incidents”.  The possibility of that though does not affect the meaning of today’s reading.  

The temple John speaks of is of course the temple in Jerusalem.  N.T. Wright describes if as the “beating heart of Judaism”.  Technically though we should be using the term “Temple Courts”. In fact Jesus never entered the Temple himself.  Only selected priests were to enter the Temple sanctuary.  The High Priest once a year, would go into the Holy of Hollies in the back of the Temple. There is only one incident in the New Testament that takes place inside the Temple. This happens when the priest Zechariah enters the Temple to burn incense at the golden altar.

The Jerusalem Temple was first built by King Soloman.  Destroyed by the Babylonians it was rebuilt and stood for 500 years.  King Herod renovated the Temple and turned it into the largest sacred site in the Roman Empire.  What was accomplished during these renovations is staggering.  

The Temple Mount plaza surrounding the Temple itself was nearly 30 football fields in size.  The walls were ten stories high with the foundations 60 feet in some places in order to reach bedrock.  Some of the stones used in the Western Wall are so large, that to this day we still do not understand how they could have been transported. The Second Temple, this marvel of construction and the very centre of Judaism is where we find Jesus at the beginning of John’s Gospel.

This fourth book of the New Testament does tell the story of Jesus but in a markedly different way. Only twenty-two days of Jesus’ life are covered here.  John explores the deity of Jesus and the personal union of believers with him. There are 9 “I Am” statements in the Gospel of John. In Judaism, “I Am” is unquestionably understood as a name for God.  When Jesus makes and “I Am” statement, he is claiming the attributes of deity, he is identifying himself as God. This Gospel has always been considered the “spiritual gospel”, the first verse certainly leads in that direction; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. The whole point of the Gospel of John is to see Jesus and in particular Gods glory.

John 2: 13, tells us it is the time of Passover. One of the three Pilgrimage Festivals, it marks the Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egyptian slavery. Jerusalem a busy city at normal times is flooded with pilgrims at this very important and sacred time.  And Jerusalem is where Jesus travels to.

Imagine the scene. You are standing in the middle of the Temple Plaza. There are people everywhere. It’s loud, the sound of sheep and cattle compete with thousands of human voices. Organized mayhem. And in walks Jesus.

“In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables”. Normal enough it seems, especially during Passover. “Making a whip of cords, he drove out all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables”. Jesus did this? This man who speaks of love and compassion? “He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” Jesus, whose calm and peaceful demeanour seemed to be ever present had suddenly became angry and violent. Why?

Jesus saw before him hypocrisy. What was taking place in the Temple was to all outward appearances religious but in truth was not based in actual reality. Motives had become mixed.  It seems it was more of what people could get from the Temple, instead of responding in joy to what God had done in their lives. What Jesus saw before him was people using religion to avoid God. This was religious pretension, and as we see Jesus hated it. 

The Temple had become a marketplace. In response to that Jesus ,with his whip of cords drove to cleanse it.  God wants true worshippers. He is against anything and everything that becomes a substitute for true worship. Including religion.

Obviously the religious establishment will question this, as they did in Jesus’ time; “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them; “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Pharisees and the scribes looked at that answer logically and made no sense of it.  The temple had been under construction for forty-six years and Jesus was going to rebuild it in three? This was not possible, a man could not accomplish this. It was only after Jesus’ resurrection that his disciples realized two things.  1-What man can’t do, God can and will. 2-The Temple was no longer the centre of worship. The centre of worship was and is the Body of Christ. The Body of Christ in turn is everywhere. 

We are now into the second year of the Covid pandemic. A time of lockdowns and fear.  Our churches have shut their doors to in-person services. Many of us are adrift, wondering how we are to worship God.  We can’t sing the hymns, we can’t as a group say the prayers. How am I to have a true and strong relationship with the living God?

Lent is the time is a time of reflection. We ask ourselves about our relationship with God. Is anything in my life taking away from that?  In Exodus, God tell us not to have or make idols, wether in the form of anything that is in heaven, on earth or even in the water. Do I hold dear any of these idols that take away from my relationship with God? Am I pretentious in my relationship with God? Am I using my religion as a disguise?  

John tells us, the disciples remembered a passage from Psalms that perfectly described Jesus. “For zeal for your house consumes me”. I too, need to be zealous in my relationship with God. That relationship is all consuming there can be no idols or temples that can come in between.