GodReflection: How About A Better Way?
Early in his gospel, John starts to set the stage for me so that I might begin to understand the significance of resurrection. Had I been among those in the Temple courts that day, my comprehension of what had just happened would have been similar to the Jewish leaders.
I too, like the religious leaders, and those with sale items for the people to use in their temple worship as sacrifices, wouldn’t have understood. In Holy Indignation, Jesus went through the Temple courts turning over tables and driving profiteers off the grounds. They couldn’t believe it—how could Jesus mess with our church?
Occasionally, I wonder how many times have I missed or misconstrued teachings from the Holy. Since my gnat-size brain is so often uncoordinated with God’s best for my life I know my misconceptions are in numbers far beyond what I could ever imagine. It’s so easy to accuse Jesus of “messing with my church”.
John uses Jesus’ court-cleaning as the proclamation of a truth that will unfold as he continues to write. It is an important event in preparation for what would happen three days after his secret disciples, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus bury their hope. So, the accusation rings out with a question, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” (John2:18).
John’s account of Jesus Temple disruption is only one of Jesus’ miraculous signs that he uses to point to the most significant sign of Jesus as our new king—his resurrection.
As the Temple cleanup draws to a close, we hear this insightful exchange (John 2:19-22), Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
Let’s now move to the end of the story as we begin to understand that Jesus’ resurrection is our resurrection to open a better way for you and for me. Let’s visit the empty tomb with Mary.
She arrives in the dark of Sunday morning at the garden tomb. Mary Magdalene was the first to report the tomb empty. Alarmed, she calls Peter and John who came, saw and at least John believed. His running partner may have been a little slow, but Peter caught up with John and both arrived as fast as they could. By the time the inspection is finished, and the apostles depart to inform the others, Mary too has caught up and is back at the empty tomb.
The others gone, she remains alone as she continues to weep in sorrow. Her devotion to Jesus started as a healed invalid cured by her new friend-the teacher (Luke8:21). Full of gratitude, trust, and hope, Mary was a leader among those who followed Jesus. She had supported him financially (Matt.27:56) throughout his ministry. Twelve times she is mentioned in the Gospels. She had stood at the cross and watched him die.
As tears flow from her eyes, she must investigate the tomb one more time. This time, she sees two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father . . . I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God” (20:12-17).
She saw it: Hope had risen. In three days, the temple of Jesus had been destroyed and rebuilt. It is to that empty tomb and Jesus’ Living Temple God invites each of us to make his resurrection our resurrection.
Yet, there is so much more to the story. In our next post we must return to another tomb and listen to Jesus say to us, “wake up and live”. It’s a better way.
Stay tuned.
Dr. Gary J. Sorrells
A GodReflection on His Resurrection Our Resurrection.
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