cross_erebus “Kill me, and I will become the global meeting place with God.” That’s the way I would paraphrase John 2:19-21. They thought Jesus was referring to the temple in Jerusalem: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” But he was referring to his body. Why did Jesus draw the connection between the Jewish temple and his own body? Because he came to take the place of the temple as the meeting place with God. With the coming of the Son of God in human flesh, ritual and worship would undergo profound change. Christ himself would become the final Passover lamb, the final priest, the final temple. They would all pass away, and he would remain.   What remained would be infinitely better. Referring to himself, Jesus said, “I tell you,  something greater than the temple is here” (Matthew 12:6).  God met the people in the temple through many imperfect human mediators. But now it is said of Christ, “There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).   When Christ died and rose again, the old temple was replaced by the globally accessible Christ. You may come to him without moving a muscle. He is as close as faith.”

Reflecting on this  I recall two years ago when I was studying Josephus, an ancient Jewish scholar and historian who acted as a liaison between the Roman Commander Titus and the Jewish Zealots in their battle for Jerusalem in 68-70 AD.  While in the midst of this terrible battle, Josephus recorded the horrendous events that transpired.  Ultimately, in the final siege, Titus invaded the city, upwards of 1 million people were killed and the holy Temple was burned.  Leaving theological implications aside, one of the greatest buildings of the ancient world was left in rubble.  Before its destruction, the greatness of this temple overshadowed all of Jerusalem.  It was it’s dominant feature.  It had essential theological significance to the Jewish people in the empire.  It was known throughout the Roman world as one of the greatest structures of their empire.  In all of this Jesus made the claim in Matthew 12:6, that something greater than the Temple is here.  He said this because he was the fulfillment of all that the Temple stood for.  The Messiah of and from Israel was about to overshadow not only the Temple in Jerusalem or every religion in the Roman empire but EVERYTHING; EVERYWHERE.  Whether you worship him or not, history is unanimous in the fact that the life and death of Jesus changed the world forever. 

Questions:   Have you considered that the fact that Jesus fulfilled the meaning of the Temple and its ritual?  Have you considered that the worship of God is no longer tied to a single location?   Have you considered that God is calling all to worship Him and that faith and repentance are the responses to His grace and mercy?

Quote from “The 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die”.

Questions and reflections by me.

Picture – The cross at Mount Erebus, Antarctica, commemorating the 1979 Air New Zealand Crash near Mount Erebus.

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