Christ Church Rockville Lenten Devotion
Deut. 9:4-12
Heb. 3:1-11
John 2:13-22
I came to this enterprise hoping to dash off something and go. Little did I expect to be upended.
John’s account of Jesus cleansing the temple follows his transforming water into delectable wine at the wedding in Cana: a dawning of the “final age” appears in the Gospel writer’s own lifetime with an invitation to us to discover the same. Commentator Gerard Sloyan, referring to the Gospel author as the believer asks:
“Has the life of the believer…filled any but the greatest ‘enthusiast’ with the conviction that this age is a time of fiery red wine and not pallid water?... John’s genius is that of the totally committed believer…. Angels ascending and descending, the Messiah discovered, six jars of twenty-five gallons each of the finest vintage turned loose on an already incandescent peasantry. This is the poetry of absolute newness. Only those who live in newness know what to make of it….” (Interpretation: John. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1988, pp.38-39.)
This cosmos-altering reality shocked me with the query—to what extent do I embrace newness? Tasting ho-hum water on my lips I know not enough.
Jesus enters Jerusalem and rids his “Father’s house” of its marketplace. When challenged by Jewish authorities as to his right to act thusly, he replies, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” John adds that the temple would soon reside not in the building of elegant stone but rather in the body of Jesus himself. The central dwelling place of God moves into Christ crucified and risen.
“To believe is to know that the old order has passed away and the new has come.” (Sloyan)
I leave the wedding and temple resolved to open myself to more daybreaks of life, with gratitude for such holy ground. Blessings be upon you as you seek this new age in whatever way you and the Spirit find is yours. Amen.
