Breaking the Word

Asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he said in reply, "The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, 'Look, here it is,' or, 'There it is.' For behold, the kingdom of God is among you." Then he said to his disciples, "The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be those who will say to you, 'Look, there he is,' (or) 'Look, here he is.' Do not go off, do not run in pursuit. For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be (in his day). But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation. (Lk 17:20-25)

 

 

Jesus was speaking about the kingdom of God. He was preaching about it through parables and stories. Pharisees and other leaders could not get the idea about the kingdom. They could not understand what he meant by this and so they asked for signs and when and from where it would come etc. They wanted to see it and observe it. It was becoming more and more a mystery for them.

 

Jesus’ answer was more confusing them. He said do not go around here and there for the kingdom. It is not localized (in space) and it is not fixed in time (when). Kingdom is not conditioned by time and space. Kingdom is like the son of man who appears like the lightning and disappears the next moment. In a sense do not look for it out side . It is a presence.

 

Jesus never uses God’s kingdom in the sense of purely spiritual, private and interior relationship (within you). It may be closer to saying that the kingdom is present but secret, hidden, waiting to be discovered (in your midst). But the real meaning is more active. It is not that the kingdom is present for you to just observe rather you have got to do something about it. It is within your grasp. It is confronting you with a decision, the decision is to believe, to trust and to follow Jesus.

Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said, "Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace." His disciples recalled the words of scripture, "Zeal for your house will consume me." At this the Jews answered and said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking about the temple of his body. Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.  (Jn 2:13-22)

 

 

Temple is a place of worship. For the Jews it was the place where God resided. Temple was the meeting place for God and his people. It was the place where God revealed himself, his glory and his mercy. God communicated his himself (revelation) to the people. And the people reached God through sacrifices. People communicated through sacrifices.

 

Jesus came to the temple of Jerusalem and he saw the means of communication (oxen, sheep, dove etc). He did not find communication between God and people. The means (oxen, sheep, dove etc) have become end in themselves. People were satisfied with the means and neglected God and communication with God. It was this situation that made Jesus angry. Temple without God is a market place.

 

Material places, things and even physical body can become temple if there was communication between God and person. Jesus speaks of his body as the temple because there was perfect communication between God and himself (his body). The central thing in the temple is the communication. Wherever there is communication between God and man then that place (Bethel) or body (Jesus) becomes the Temple.