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Oct
22

32nd Sunday OT A: The Temple That Is Christ’s Body

angfrayle on October 22nd, 2008

The visit of Jesus at the Temple is also a judgment on the commercialization that is occuring in the Temple. When asked, Jesus gave the Temple authorities the sign of the Resurrection as a validating seal of his own authority as Son.


Relevant Links

The Temple Which Is His Body
Sunday Thoughts: Sunday 32 OT A
Destroy and I Will Raise It Up

Guide For Reading

Study the Synoptic version of the John 2:13-22 and note the similarities and differences.

  1. Read the narrative in John with the following facts in mind
    1. The Temple of Jesus’ times was being constructed under the auspices of King Herod the Great and his descendants. It was still unfinished by the time of Jesus’ visit
    2. In order for one to sacrifice, one had to change one’s money at the temple’s money changer table and use the temple coin to buy something for a sacrifice.
    3. The dove was the sacrifice for the poor who cannot afford the bigger animals
  2. The authorities ask Jesus to give a sign that validates his authority
    1. Did Jesus answer the question asked? How?
    2. How are the words of Jesus in John 2:13-22 similar or different to the ones found in the Synoptics?
  3. There are two places in the narrative where the memory of the disciples helped them decipher the meaning of the event and Jesus’ words
    1. Study the context of Psalm 69:10. What does it mean and how does it apply to Jesus?
    2. John says that the disciples understand what Jesus meant by "Temple" after his resurrection. After Jesus’ resurrection, how did the New Testament writers refer to the Body of Christ? The new Temple? (Hint: See this illustration.)

    Comparing the Readings

    This year (2008) the 32nd Sunday OT A coincides with the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran, the Pope’s Basilica and residence in antiquity. Feasts revolving the dedication of a Church building is always related to the people for which it was built. A church building, in other words, is a sign of the presence of the People of God.

    .

    The theme of water in the first reading and the responsorial psalm gives the connection to Baptism, for it is through the baptismal font that one becomes numbered among the living stones that make up the new temple built on Christ. The second reading from 1 Corinthians 3:9-11.16-17 underlines the association of Christ’s Body, the Baptized and the Temple of God.

    Suggestions for the Reading

    The theme of the liturgy is about being "Church", and there are many ways by which this theme can be developed. One can do so sacramentally, beginning with the waters that flow from the Temple (reading from Ezekiel) or one can pick up from Paul and discuss the theme "mystically", that is, with emphasis on the union of the baptized with Christ, head of the Church.

    John 2:13-22
    View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg Greek
    13And the pasch of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
    14And he found in the temple them that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting.
    15And when he had made, as it were, a scourge of little cords, he drove them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the oxen, and the money of the changers he poured out, and the tables he overthrew.
    16And to them that sold doves he said: Take these things hence, and make not the house of my Father a house of traffic.
    17And his disciples remembered, that it was written: The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up.
    18The Jews, therefore, answered, and said to him: What sign dost thou shew unto us, seeing thou dost these things?
    19Jesus answered, and said to them: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
    20The Jews then said: Six and forty years was this temple in building; and wilt thou raise it up in three days?
    21But he spoke of the temple of his body.
    22When therefore he was risen again from the dead, his disciples remembered, that he had said this, and they believed the scripture, and the word that Jesus had said.
    John 2:13-22
    View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg Greek
    13And the pasch of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
    14And he found in the temple them that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting.
    15And when he had made, as it were, a scourge of little cords, he drove them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the oxen, and the money of the changers he poured out, and the tables he overthrew.
    16And to them that sold doves he said: Take these things hence, and make not the house of my Father a house of traffic.
    17And his disciples remembered, that it was written: The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up.
    18The Jews, therefore, answered, and said to him: What sign dost thou shew unto us, seeing thou dost these things?
    19Jesus answered, and said to them: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
    20The Jews then said: Six and forty years was this temple in building; and wilt thou raise it up in three days?
    21But he spoke of the temple of his body.
    22When therefore he was risen again from the dead, his disciples remembered, that he had said this, and they believed the scripture, and the word that Jesus had said.
    Psalm 69:10
    View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg LXX Hebrew
    10For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up: and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
    1 Corinthians 3:9-11
    View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg Greek
    9For we are God's coadjutors: you are God's husbandry; you are God's building.
    10According to the grace of God that is given to me, as a wise architect, I have laid the foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
    11For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus.
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