Jesus and the Temple

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION

“Jesus Christ was an extremist for love, truth and goodness.”
~Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), civil rights leader, slain on April 4, 1968

“He who is King of the angels is arrayed in a crown of thorns.
He who wraps the heaven in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery.
He who in the Jordan set Adam free receives blows upon His face.
The Bridegroom of the Church is transfixed with nails.
The Son of the Virgin is pierced with a spear.

We venerate Thy Passion, O Christ….
Show us also Thy glorious Resurrection.”
~Lenten Triodion, translated from original Greek

“If we want…justice the way God commands and celebrates, we must prioritize the gospel. If we truly want to see human flourishing and reduce global suffering, we need to deal with the biggest problem humanity faces: sin and death.”
~Jaquelle Crowe, Canadian author

“The cynics may be the loudest voices – but I promise you, they will accomplish the least.”
~Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States of America at The Ohio State University Commencement (2013)

“Human beings are hope-shaped creatures. The way you live now is completely controlled by what you believe about the future.”
~Tim Keller, NYC-based pastor and author

“…a Christian is not so much a person who has solved the problem of pain, suffering and the coronavirus, but one who has come to love and trust a God who has himself suffered.”
~John Lennox, writer and professor at the University of Oxford

“The Resurrection…is not a redemption from the creation but the redemption of the creation.”
~Ken Myers, social commentator and former NPR producer

SERMON PASSAGE

13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.