A 40-DAY JOURNEY WITH THE KING: Lenten reflections from Mark’s Gospel (37)

 


“[Jesus] entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple…

And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.” (Mark 11.15-18) 

     Jesus came to Jerusalem as a prophet of doom – to announce and enact the outpouring of God’s wrath on the Temple, just as Jeremiah had done six centuries earlier.  There had always been a prophetic dimension to Jesus’ mission.  In Galilee, Jesus had spent much time speaking “the word” (of God) to the crowds who thronged around him in search of healing (cf. Mk. 2.2; 4.1-9, 33).  The subject of Jesus’ message (“word”) was the kingdom of God (cf. 1.14-15; 4.26-32).  The prophets of ancient Israel had proclaimed oracles on behalf of Yahweh; they had declared “This is what God says…” (e.g. Jer. 2.2, 5; 4.3; 5.14; 6.9, 16, 21-22; 7.3, 20-21, etc.).  However, Jesus never prefaced his words with this formula – he simply spoke “the word” (cf. 1.21-22).  As people listened to Jesus’ parables and watched his healings/exorcisms, they assumed that he was a prophetic figure like John the Baptist, Elijah or one of the other prophets of old (cf. 6.14-15; 8.27-28).

     Once Jesus arrives in Jerusalem, he fully unveils the prophetic aspect of his multi-faceted identity.  Like Jeremiah before him, Jesus was convinced that the national shrine and its hierarchy had become hopelessly corrupt and was ripe for judgment.  From the moment of his arrival in the capital, Jesus launches an assault on the Temple – first, he curses a fig tree and then proceeds to overturn the tables and chairs of the moneychangers (quoting Jer. 7.11 as he does so), thus temporarily interrupting the routine of sacrifices and mounting a very public challenge to the authority of the chief priests (cf. 11.12-19, 27-33).  Jesus’ adversaries immediately start looking for a way to kill him (11.18; this was a typical reaction to prophetic activity: cf. Jer. 26.7-11), and are only delayed in their plans by the presence of the crowd, who functions as Jesus’ bodyguard for several days as he teaches in the Temple courts.  Indeed, any words or actions that could be interpreted as constituting a threat against the Temple were considered highly treasonous and worthy of death (cf. Ac. 6.12-15; 7.47-60).  In Mark chapter 13, Jesus offers a detailed prophecy – as Jeremiah had done concerning Solomon’s Temple – of the destruction of Herod’s Temple (cf. Jer. Chapters 7 and 26).  Though Mark presents Jesus as having proclaimed this prophecy in the presence of only four of his disciples (13.1-4), during his trial before the Sanhedrin, Jesus is accused of having spoken words against the Temple (14.55-59).  Evidently, word had spread about Jesus’ actions/messages against the national shrine.

     Also, once the Sanhedrin condemns Jesus as worthy of death, certain members of the Council begin to beat Jesus, while taunting him to “Prophesy!”, while blindfolded, as to who is hitting him (14.64-65).  It is apparent that as far as the Sanhedrin is concerned, Jesus is a “false prophet” of the kind that Deuteronomy 13.1-5 had warned Israel about.  Ironically, since his arrival in Jerusalem, Jesus has been making several prophecies, most of which have already come true.  First of all, as he arrived at the outskirts of Jerusalem, Jesus had told two of his disciples that they would find a colt tied up in the streets of the village of Bethany; indeed, the disciples found everything to be just as Jesus had said (11.1-7; cf. 14.12-16).  When Jesus cursed the fig tree, he said “May no one ever eat fruit from you again”; the next day, the tree is found to have “withered away to its roots” (11.12-14, 20-21).  Jesus predicted Judas’ betrayal (14.18-20), the disciples’ abandonment of him (14.27) and Peter’s denial (14.30).  Ultimately, as Jesus told the High Priest during his trial, his ultimate vindication as a true prophet – as the Son of Man – would be the destruction of the Temple within one generation (14.61-62; cf. 13.1-2, 24-30).  As he had described in his parable of the wicked tenants, Jesus was the last in a long line of messengers from Yahweh, spokesmen who had been despised and killed by (the leaders of) the people of God (cf. 12.1-9).  However, as the Psalmist had said, there would be a vindication for the rejected Son:

“I thank you that you have answered me
    and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
    it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118.21-24; cf. Mk. 12.10-11)

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