Saturday 30 March 2013

Background

God's temple was the sanctuary in Jerusalem. This was the focusfor longing and pilgrimage for the Jewish people down the ages. Itwas in the temple that God was met in power and glory by thepilgrims. It was at the heart of Jewish life and faith even afterit had been destroyed and while the Jews were exiled fromJerusalem.

The temple in the Jewish Scriptures came into the New Testamentas a human being. Jesus himself was the temple, the place where Godwas fully and personally present, living among the people andrevealing God's power and glory.

John's Gospel has already told the story of the wedding at Cana(John 2:1-11) so the word was out that Jesus wasable to perform "signs" (the term used by John's Gospel when to themiracles). The people came asking for a sign to help them makesense of what Jesus had just done in driving the traders out of thetemple. Jesus told them what the "sign" was but they did not seeit.

In these few verses Jesus was speaking about his death andresurrection. But his audience did not hear what he was talkingabout. They could not see beyond the bricks and mortar of thebuilding where they were having a conversation with Jesus. Thedisciples could not grasp the meaning of the image either. It wasonly after the experience of Jesus' death and resurrection that somuch of what Jesus said became clear to them and they were able tobelieve that he was who he said he was.

On this day, Holy Saturday, the Church remembers the desolationof the disciples who could not see beyond the apparent failure ofJesus' ministry. It looked like death was the end of everythingthey had hoped for.

This passage reminds us that nothing is hidden in Jesus'ministry. The "sign" is foretold, there for all to see; if we haveeyes to see and ears to hear.

To Ponder

• According to Paul we are called to be "a holy temple in theLord" (Ephesians 2:21): what is it like for you to beGod's temple?

• What signs can you see in the life of the word that God'skingdom is coming? Identify one and reflect on it. What response isJesus asking for from you?