Talk about a whiff; last Sunday’s sermon certainly was a fail. I have always been troubled by John’s placing the cleansing of the Temple in the second chapter. Logistically, it creates way more problems than it solves. I let myself get balled up by the problems rather than simply stating the obvious. Were we students of the late Dietrich Bonhoeffer, we could have discussed civil disobedience in the name of God. Of course, given the current radicalization of people adhering to most every world religion, we would have faced a strong headwind. I think the kindest thing I heard after worship last week was, “I wasn’t sure where you were going in your sermon.” I guess that made two of us.
I should have simply honed in on the base question, “what sign can you show us for doing this?” The secondary question is, “by what authority are you acting.” As I’ve reflected further on this passage (John 2:13-22), it is all about John establishing Jesus’ authority.
As we move into the third Chapter Sunday, we see how Jesus’ authority, given directly from God, will continue to assert itself as the gospel moves toward its conclusion. As I mentioned Sunday, John would have been a lousy mystery writer as he continues to give the plot line away. He is, however, a pretty fair gospel writer as he continues to use two of his favorite themes; double meaning and light/dark dichotomy.
We should have a pretty good idea of the what and the why of Jesus’ passion as we do our work together this week.
Our Lenten Study continues at 9:00 a.m.
See you Sunday—if you “spring forward” into daylight savings time….
Paul