After Word – Fore Word –
John’s Gospel has been misinterpreted as antisemitic for centuries. He refers to “the Jews” quite often with a measure of disdain, but “the Jews” of John’s time are different from “the Jews” of ours.
During the Cold War, Russia controlled the Soviet Union. The Kremlin in Moscow had Russian operatives in every Soviet territory to ensure Russian dominance throughout the country. The Ukrainians nicknamed people who were aligned philosophically or militarily with Moscow as Moskal. It was a derogatory term that every Ukrainian recognized and understood.
Israel in John’s time had a similar view of Hebrew leaders in Judea. The Greek word that John uses does not indicate religion so much as region. The religious leaders in Jerusalem were considered separate from the regular people throughout Israel. Every Israelite at that time was Jewish (the description for all Israelites following the return of the Southern Kingdom from exile in Babylon, returning to Judea). Everyone from Judea was a Judean, or Jew for short, but when John uses the term, he is applying it to the Temple leaders and their minions. We use the term today referring to anyone of the Jewish faith; we miss the distinction that was readily apparent in 1st-century Israel.
John himself was Jewish. His rabbi and savior, Jesus, was Jewish (still is). His audience was Jewish, and they all understood who he was referring to in his Gospel. This difference is evident in our passage this week:
The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. — John 2:13 (ESV)
Passover is a Jewish feast. We think of just one Passover when we hear the reference. There is no Hindu Passover, or Buddhist Passover, or even Secular Passover. But there were different Passovers in John’s time. The Samaritans celebrated Passover, but were not considered Jewish by other Israelites, so since the Samaritan Jews seem to have been John’s primary audience, he includes this distinction regarding Passover.
As Jesus clears the Temple of the livestock, handlers, and moneychangers, his disciples recalled the Scriptural reference about zeal for his Father’s house (Ps 69:9). Luke points out that this desecration of the Temple was in the court of the Gentiles. The area used for worship by Gentiles who believed in Yahweh had been turned into a combination barnyard and market. The Temple leaders, recognizing the loss of revenue they now faced, confronted him. John refers to them as the Jews to show their allegiance to the Judean leadership, not to impugn their religion.
So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. — John 2:18-22
We see another aspect of John’s Gospel that seems to address its age. When Jesus tells the Jews confronting him that if they destroy this temple, he will raise it up in three days, they mistake his metaphorical comment for a physical description of rebuilding the stone structure Herod had built over decades.
The physical, stone structure was indeed destroyed, however, in A.D. 70. It would be quite strange for John to write about a metaphorical Temple destruction and ignore the building’s physical demolition by the Romans. With that in mind, one could logically assert that John’s Gospel was written before the Temple’s destruction sometime in the early or mid-60s, at a time when many Israelites who were alive during Jesus’ death and resurrection would have been able to repudiate John’s claims if they weren’t true.
As Jesus cleared the improper entities from the Temple in Jerusalem, we should do the same with ourselves. St. Paul reminds us of our status and that we should have the same zeal shown by Jesus in the Jerusalem Temple toward ourselves:
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. — 1 Cor 6:19–20
To God be the glory, always.
Your Brother in Christ,
Fr. Austin