We head into the fourth Gospel today following Jesus into Jerusalem for the first Passover of his public ministry.  There he encounters a city bustling with thousands of Jews and a Temple filled with money changers and animals. What happens next is astonishing. Looking to the Old Testament, the greater context of John's Gospel, and the history of the Temple complex we try to make sense of the cleansing of the Temple, an act that arguably points toward a new kind of worship and a new kind of worshiper.

Diving deep into our Gospel we'll spend our episode looking closer at:

- Why there were animals and money changers in the Temple [10:16]

- The Old Testament text that foretells a day when there will no longer be trading in the Temple [22:36]

- How the previous scene in Cana provides an interpretive key to the cleansing of the Temple [31:19]

- The forty-six year Temple building project undertaken by Herod that Jesus plans to usurp and how it points to Christ as true Messiah [37:28]

- The very forward tone Jesus takes when responding to the Jews who ask for a sign [41:07]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Keener, Craig S. The Gospel of John: A Commentary. Vol. 1 & 2. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012.

Martin, Francis, and William M. Wright IV. The Gospel of John. Edited by Peter S. Williamson and Mary Healy. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015.

Mass Readings Explained with Dr. Brant Pitre

Saint John’s Gospel. The Navarre Bible. Dublin; New York: Four Courts Press; Scepter Publishers, 2005.

REFERENCES

Three Passovers in John's Gospel: John 2:13; 6:4; 13:1

Deuteronomy 16:16-17 - "Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place which he will choose: at the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed; 17 every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which he has given you."

Zechariah 14:20-21 - "And the pots in the house of the LORD shall be as the bowls before the altar; 21 and every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be sacred to the LORD of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the flesh of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day."

John 4:21 - "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father"

Psalm 69:9 - "For zeal for thy house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult thee have fallen on me."

St. John Chrysostom, Homily XXIV on the Gospel of John - "And many such now there are, who have indeed the name of faith, but are unstable, and easily led away"