March 5thLooking for a Sign
JESUS IN THE TEMPLE
He had overcome the temptations
in their and our world.
He had shown
in himself the brightness
of real human possibilities,
the possibility of a change,
the possibility of a makeover,
the possibility of a new human life.
That morning he entered the Temple,
the center of their old religious life,
a temple of stones,
of gold and silver,
a temple of sacrificed animals,
of dying bulls, of butchered pigeons,
a temple against which
in the name of God
The Lord says:
Do you think I like all those sacrifices
you keep offering to me?
I am tired of the blood of bulls and
sheep and goats.
No matter how much you pray,
I will not listen,
for your hands are covered with blood.
Wash yourselves clean.
Stop doing evil
and learn to do right.
See that justice is done,
help the oppressed.
Care for the orphans and the widows.
That is what he did!
It was that morning
not only a question
of chasing bankers and merchants away;
it was not only a question
of letting those animals and birds loose.
What he did went much deeper.
What he did was to
stop a temple-service
that had outlived its aim
and that was no longer faithful
to its vocation.
The onlookers asked:
What sign can you show us
authorizing you to do these things.
He did not give them the sign they asked for.
He had given them that sign already:
the new temple had been announced:
the one in which God is with
the orphans and the widows,
with the sinners and the sick,
forming through Christ one body,
God’s temple with us.
[adapted from Joseph Donders – Beyond Jesus, p.92-95]