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            The temple mount in Jerusalem is surely the most contentious spot on earth, fought over by the three monotheistic faiths.  Tradition has identified it with Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:2; cf. 2 Chronicles 3:1), where Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac, until his hand was stayed by an angel of the Lord (Genesis 22:11).
            It was there that King Solomon (ca. 960 B.C.) built the first temple, which was destroyed in 587 B.C., when the Babylonian army made a breach in the city walls, burned Jerusalem to the ground, and carried off some of the population into exile (2 Kings 24).
            Seventy years later the construction of the second temple was begun, with the permission of the Persian king (Ezra 3).  After Herod the Great captured Jerusalem in 37 B.C., he rebuilt the temple, using gargantuan foundation stones, some over 40 feet long and weighing 600 tons.  This magnificent structure was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. (cf. Mark 13:1-2), leaving only the western wall (“the Wailing Wall”), Judaism’s most sacred place. 
            According to Islamic tradition, the prophet Muhammad, while sleeping near the Ka’aba in Mecca, was awakened by the angel Gabriel, lifted onto a heavenly steed, and flown to the temple mount, to be greeted there by Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.
            Today’s gospel, the Cleansing of the Temple (John 2:13-25), starts the process which will lead to Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion. This is recalled by his disciples with the help of a verse from Psalm 69 (v. 9; John 2:17): Jesus’ zeal for his Father’s house, expressed by his driving out those who were making the temple a place to do business, would lead to his destruction. 
            The Johannine Jesus does not predict the temple’s destruction, as in the synoptic gospels.  His words, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (v. 19), are interpreted of the temple of his body (v. 21), so as to become a veiled prophecy of the resurrection. 
            Christ’s body is also understood to be the body of the faithful (1 Corinthians 10:17), the church, through which one becomes a member through baptism (Romans 6:3).  How often have we heard it said, “The church is not a building; the church is the people of God.”  This convenient half-truth has justified the closure of numerous churches in our diocese.  But the church is also a building.
            Jesus zeal for his Father’s house is paralleled by the zeal of so many faithful souls over the years for this house, the Church of the Good Shepherd.  Their love and their loyalty make it possible for us to hope that we will celebrate our centenary here in 2011.            

March 15, 2009

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