Simon the Zealot gives a long view of Jesus interactions in the Temple

Being in the building trade himself, you’d think that Jesus would have been at least slightly impressed by Herod’s new Temple. 

We were awestruck by it.  I remember Levi straining his neck to look up at the huge porticos, while James and John stretched their arms out wide to measure the huge size of the stone blocks.  “How much must each one of these weigh?” they gasped.  Andrew was more taken by the skill of the stonemasons. He ran his finger along the joint to see if he could feel a gap between the stones, but there was none.   What a building! What an achievement! Its magnificence sent huge shivers of pride running down my spine. 

But Jesus was totally unimpressed.

At first, I thought he was pre-occupied.  Then I began to think he was disinterested.  But now, I would say, he was just struck by the futility of it all.  All this effort, expense, and pride: for what? What did it amount to, he was questioning?  An insubstantial bubble that was about to burst, was his answer.  It would not last; of that he was certain. 

I remember him telling us a story once about a man who built his house on a foundation of sand. When the rains came down and the floods came up, the house on the sand fell flat. Now, it seems, he thinks the temple is built on such an unstable base.  And the crash is coming soon, he warned.  He foresaw this grand edifice and all it stood for being torn down all around us.  What a waste.  What a waste!

Naturally, we wanted to know when this would happen. When we asked he gave us a most chilling reply.  Others can tell you about that, if they want, but to be honest there’s a different question occupying my mind: just why was Jesus so unimpressed with the temple?

Come to think of it, there’s not one thing we found in the temple this week that impressed Jesus much.  From day one, with its huge anticlimax, we began to see Jesus’s contempt for the whole religious system. 

That day was a huge day – Palm Sunday as some are beginning to call it – full of triumph and energy. In from Bethany we processed; Jesus riding on a donkey, with the crowds waving their palms and the children shouting out his praise.   We were elated and so expectant.  This felt like the moment, the culmination of all our hopes and dreams. 

And in Jesus rides, right up to the temple and … nothing!  

Absolutely nothing!  He didn’t say anything, do anything, or lay claim to anything.  He simply walked round the temple and looked.  And then he left!  Back to Bethany and to bed! 

OK, so it was getting late by then; but, really?!    Was that it?  Really?!

Well, not exactly.  Those of us who were close to Jesus saw him taking it all in and we could see that the taste of the temple was sour in his mouth.  He didn’t say anything, but we could tell he wasn’t happy. A quiet rage was rising in him.  But it wasn’t until the next day that we came to see it in full force.  That was the day when Jesus went berserk in the temple. He was like a crazy man, with a whip in his hand, driving everyone and everything out before him.  

Before I tell you about that, however, I must mention something that happened on the way into town that should have alerted us to his mood.   There it was, a fig tree, looking grand and glorious in full leaf.  Yet, when Jesus went hungrily up to it, he was disappointed.  So he let rip and that poor barren tree took the full force of his frustration. When we returned later we stood open mouthed at the effect of his cursing.  All the leaves had dropped. The branches had withered. The stem was shrunken and wizened.  The tree carcass hung shamefaced, shockingly revealed for the fruitless waste of space that it was. 

Need I remind you that the fig tree has long been a symbol of our nation?  Was this an acted parable to show how unimpressed Jesus was with our fruitlessness? 

I’d say it was, going by what happened in the temple… the temple that was meant to be a house of prayer but which, Jesus declared, had become a den of thieves.  He certainly was not impressed by that!  And he wasn’t having it either! Traders and bankers alike felt the lash of his tongue and whip.  A whirlwind of fury, he tipped over the tables of exploitation, driving people and animals out.  ‘These do not belong in my father’s house’, he cried. 

It was a shocking, but awesome moment.  One, however, that clearly sealed his fate with the authorities.  They determined to see the same thing happen to him as had happened to the fig tree.  He was as good as dead already.

When we went back to the temple the next day, we didn’t have to go looking for trouble, it came looking for us.

They descended on us immediately, from all quarters, cornering Jesus and circling round him with their question: what right did he think he had to do what he had done?    

They were all there: the chief priests and teachers, the elders, and every faction of the huge and intimidating council.  But once again Jesus was not impressed. 

‘I’ll answer your question, if you answer mine’, he jibed, before going on to enquire whether they thought John got his authority from God or from the people. 

This was not a harmless retort!  It was a barbed and pointed question; one that really stirred things up.   John, you see was so hugely popular, and a lot would depend on their answer.  It wouldn’t go down well if they denied John’s authority was from God.  But if they said it was, then the people would demand to know why they did not believe either John or Jesus (the one who John had said was even greater than him!).   So, they were stuck for an answer. And scoffing at their pathetic incompetence, Jesus refused to answer their question too.

Instead, he told one of his parables; pointed as ever!  He spoke of the tenants of a vineyard who refused to pay their rent. Time after time they beat up the servants who came to collect it, sending them away empty handed.  In the end the owner sent his own son, convinced that they would not deny him.  But what did they do? They killed him, believing that, with the son dead, the vineyard they had long lusted after would be theirs at last.  Small wonder the wrath of ‘the owner’ descended on them with a vengeance!   

Seeing full well that they were the ones Jesus was getting at infuriated the leaders all the more.  But, this lot did nothing. They were too afraid of what people would think. They quietly slipped away.

But as one wave receded, in came another. Now the Pharisees swooped in, bringing some of the king’s men as ‘big guns’ to support them. 

Their approach was different, involving flattery and trickery, but Jesus gave them short shrift too: “Should we pay taxes to Rome, you ask? Show me a coin! Whose head does it have on it? Caesars! Well then, give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, but give to God what belongs to God.”

That left them speechless!  I bet they are still trying to figure out what it really means. It has certainly given me much to think about!  But here is something else to notice here too.  What an irony!  What were these fine, upstanding keepers of the religious law doing with forbidden carved images in their pockets, let alone in the temple?  The hypocrites! 

With them dispatched, the next salvo came from the Sadducees. Jesus was really unimpressed with them.

These are the people, remember, who do not believe anyone will rise from the dead.  Up they came to Jesus with a conundrum they believed really sealed their argument. They told a story of one bride for seven brothers. She was married and widowed time after time, the good brothers each taking their turn to wed the bereaved woman, before popping their clogs themselves. “So”, the Sadducees asked smugly, “which of the seven will she be married to on the day of resurrection?”

“How ignorant can you be?” Jesus fired back contemptuously. “Don’t you know that Scripture teaches it will not be like that in heaven?  And, as for the resurrection of the dead, you must have read that bit where God spoke to Moses from the burning bush?   What did he say?   ‘I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’.   ‘I am’, not ‘I was’.  God is the God of the living, not of the dead.  Chew on that one and realise how completely wrong you are!”

By now I was beginning to enjoy myself, watching all these pseudo-intellectuals with their pretentious arguments falling like skittles!  But it was not just their questions that failed to impress Jesus. It was everything about them; everything they stood for and represented.  All if it was a sham, Jesus pointed out, and most of it at the expense of others.  

Yes, they could dress up and walk around in pomp and ceremony, demanding respect. They could claim front row seats and make a show of depositing their money in the offertory box.  So what?  What does that amount to?   A widow quietly dropping in just two copper coins, he observed, gives more than them. Why?  Because for her to give the small amount expected of her, meant she had to give everything she had got.  Everything!  While they gave just a little of what they had to spare, she gave her everything!  And Jesus was quite clear how great would be the punishment for those who make such a show of their religion, while exploiting widows and robbing them of their very home!

So, you see what I mean? Jesus was unimpressed!  Not just with the magnificent buildings, but with everyone associated with them, and everything that went on in them.  He could not find a good word for any of it; built, as he saw it, on pomposity, lies and extortion.  It was all pointless, fruitless … a wholly unimpressive, empty shell.   He had no doubts it would all be torn down and destroyed when God’s judgement fell. 

As he went on to describe that coming judgement, it became quite chilling.   I shall not repeat it all now.  But what he said basically amounted to this: Get out!  Run!  Don’t trust in this system, not even for a minute.  Don’t hope that it will save you. Don’t trust the temple, the religion, your national pride and the many who claim to be your messiah.  It is all corrupt to the core and it will fail.  Destruction will be complete.  If you stay, you will fall with it.  The son of man is coming, with judgement in his hand. So, get out! Run! Now!

So, you see now, why they all turned against him?  Too many home truths!  He saw right through them and made no attempt to hide how utterly unimpressed he was…

…Except for one exception.

There was this one teacher in the temple who sensed the rightness of Jesus’ thinking. This man asked genuine questions, and applauded Jesus’ teaching freely. “You are right, Jesus”, he declared. “It really is nothing to do with religion and its rites, rules and regulations.  It is about recognising the one true God and loving the Lord your God with all that you are and everything you have and loving your neighbour as yourself. No commandment, as you say, is greater than this.  Nothing comes remotely close in importance.”

Everything about the Temple left Jesus cold.  But this man earned his respect.  Jesus praised him loudly for all to hear.  To this lone voice among the lot of them, Jesus declared: “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”