DAY
32
TENTS,
TEMPLES, TREES
Exodus 27 & 28 and Matthew 21:1-22
Exodus 27-28: Have
you ever furnished an apartment or built a home? There are many details. Today
the details continue. Along each step of the way, as each detail is added a
picture emerges; a picture of something very special. It is so special that a
lamp will always burn. Beyond building and furnishing the Tent of the Meeting,
there is what the priests will wear.
Matthew 21:1-22 marks
Jesus arrival at Jerusalem. I noted a few posts ago that this day is Lamb
Selection Day. This day traditionally all Israelite households will select
their Passover Lamb, and on this day Jesus was selected. The cries of Son of
David go up again. There is more in our reading. Yes Jesus has come to
Jerusalem to offer himself as the atoning
sacrifice for the world. Before He does however much will take place; he begins
by cleansing the Temple.
He
we are laboring through the construction of the Tent of the Meeting, the
predecessor of the Temple, in our Old Testament reading, and we come to Jesus
cleansing the Temple. “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have
made it…” After he cleanses the Temple, he then returns to the true Kingdom
work; he heals the blind and the lame.
Don’t
let the Fig Tree throw you off. It is Jesus reinforcing the Temple situation. Trees
are metaphors for the Kingdom and the Fig Tree is used to signify the good of
the natural order. Here is the Temple, not just a metaphor for the Kingdom of
God, but the location for the very presence of God. That is if the Temple remains
holy. Think back to all we have read in the Old Testament. Think about how God
is specifying the importance, the unique specialness of this Tent of Meeting.
To profane it brings serious consequences.
Jesus’
actions show that it has been profaned. He, God, has come to Jerusalem, the
center of all, to make it right. To make Atonement for sins of all the
world, and to make a New Temple. We need to hear the rest of the story, to make
sure we don’t only hear half of the story. It is coming, the rest of the story
that is, but not yet. For today what I am taking away from the readings is just
how important the place that God will dwell is to Him.
Is there any sense that in cleaning the Temple, he is preparing for its demise such as a body is washed before burial. The death of the Temple is at hand, to be replaced by the Temple of Jesus we will soon carry in our body due to his atoning work?
ReplyDeleteThe minutia ofthe details for the things in the Tent of Meeting and the priestly garments make my eyes cross even though I know God wants to impart the message of how sacred this place will be.
Hi Lorraine, I have been thinking about your comment. It is possible. Certainly Jesus death and resurrection nullify the need for any further atoning sacrifices (see Hebrews). I had not thought of is as "the death of the Temple" - cool!
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