Passover was a major Jewish festival when pilgrims from all over Palestine and beyond would come to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast and to pay their annual Temple Tax. Matthew, Mark and Luke (Matt. 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48) report that Jesus participated in the Passover feast only once in his public life and that was just before his arrest, emphasizing the time when Jesus cleansed the Temple. John put it at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry because he was not interested in telling us when Jesus cleansed the Temple, but rather in showing that this cleansing was an act prophesied of the Messiah. John considered the raising of Lazarus, and not the Temple-cleansing, as the precipitating event for Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion (John 11-12).

The Temple in Jerusalem was the symbol of Jewish religion and the only center of Israel’s common worship and sacrifices. Weekly Sabbath prayers and the teaching of the Law were conducted in local synagogues. King Solomon built the first temple in 966 BC, and I Kings, chapter 5, gives a detailed description of its solemn blessing. After 379 years, the Babylonians destroyed it in 587 BC and took all the healthy Jews as slaves. On their return, after 59 years of Babylonian exile, the Jews rebuilt the temple in 515 BC under the leadership of Sera Babel. King Herod the Great renovated it in 20 BC, and Jesus did his controversial cleansing of this Temple, in the outer courtyard called the Court of the Gentiles, since Gentiles were allowed to enter it.

The Johannine account, in which Jesus quotes Zech. 14:21, "Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace," seems at first glance to support the interpretation of the event as a cleansing. However, the greater emphasis here is not so much on the cleansing of the Temple, but on the replacement of the Temple. Jesus' promise of a new Temple suggested that God's glory would be manifested, not in a building, but in a person.

St. Paul reminds us that we are God’s temples because the Spirit of God dwells in us. Hence we have no right to desecrate God’s temple by impurity and injustice. We are expected to cleanse our hearts of pride, hatred, jealousy and all evil thoughts, desires and plans. Reminiscent of what Jesus did in cleansing the Temple, we, as 21st century disciples, must cleanse ourselves of attitudes and behaviors that prevent us from seeing and responding to hurt wherever we find it. Let us welcome Jesus into our hearts and lives during Lent by repentance and the renewal of our lives. We will drive out the wild animals that do not belong to the holy temple of our body by making a whip of cords out of our fasting, penance and almsgiving during Lent, and by going to confession to receive God’s loving forgiveness in the sacrament of reconciliation.

Our church is the place where we come together as a community to love and praise God. It is the holy place where we gather strength to support one another in the task of living the gospel. It is the place where we come privately to enter into intimate conversation with God. In this building many prodigal sons and daughters have met the merciful Lord in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and been welcomed back to our community. In this building tears have been shed by those in pain and grief. Let’s look around our church this morning and treasure it. When we pass our church, we might take the time to make a brief visit. Let us make our church even more of a holy place by adding our prayers and songs to parish worship and offering our time and talents in the various ministries.