Eucharistic Meditation, March 20

Mark 11:15-16: ?And He entered the temple and began to cast out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves, and He would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple.?E

We saw in the sermon this morning that Jesus?Eaction in the temple was a symbolic enactment of the coming destruction of the temple. The Jewish leaders had turned what should have been a house of prayer for the Gentiles into a den of brigands. Jesus began overturning the tables and chairs to dramatize what lay on the horizon for the temple authorities. He interrupted the sacrificial operations of the temple in part and temporarily; soon, the temple?s sacrifices would be ended completely and forever.

Since this is a symbolic act, each detail is important. Jesus, for example, overturns the seats of those who sell doves. A ?seat?Esymbolizes a position of authority; elsewhere in Mark, the disciples discuss who will sit at the right hand of God in the kingdom and Jesus describes Himself as David?s Lord who sits at the right hand of Yahweh. Toppling someone from his seat means removing him from his office. And Jesus specifically overturns the seats of those who sell doves. Doves could be offered in the Levitical system specifically by the poor (Lev 4), so those who sit selling doves are those who are dealing with the poor of Israel. But the temple authorities have oppressed the poor (12:40), and so Jesus threatens to remove them from their seats.

The fact that Jesus overturns tables is also significant, but in another direction. This detail shows that Jesus is not merely having a fit, not merely destructive. For there is another table in the gospel that matches and replaces the tables of the moneychangers of the temple. A few days after condemning the false temple and its sacrifices and covenant meals, He institutes a new covenant meal in the upper room. A few days after Jesus turns over the tables in the temple, He reclines at table with His disciples. The temple tables had become tables of demons, and Jesus sets up His own table and invites Israel to join Him there.

Of course, the mere presence of the Lord?s table does not guarantee that the Lord will favor us. If we turn this house of prayer into a den of thieves, we can expect Jesus to come and toss around our tables, and topple us out of our seats. But as we come here in humble and sincere faith, relying completely on the Lord?s mercy, He will feed us. And this house will be a house of prayer for all nations; this table will be the feast of the kingdom, where many from the four points of the compass will recline with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus.