By Father Paul Nord, O.S.B.
Sunday Scripture
First Reading: Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12; Response: Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9; Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17; Gospel: John 2:13-22
Today, the Church celebrates the dedication of the Lateran Basilica — the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome. It was founded in A.D. 324, which makes it the oldest “public” church in Rome. Its founding followed the legalization of Christianity by Constantine in A.D. 313. Before this, Christians met to celebrate the Eucharist in “house churches” — for example, the house of Pudens, today the site of the Basilica of Santa Pudenziana.
Since the Lateran Basilica is a place of God’s dwelling, today’s First Reading and Gospel focus on the Temple in Jerusalem, where God chose to dwell. Then in today’s Second Reading (1 Corinthians 3), Paul tells fellow Christians: “You are God’s building.” Paul continues: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” In these two verses, “you” is plural. This means that the Christian faithful are together “the temple of God” and the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul says: “Like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it.” Paul is describing his work of bringing people to belief in Christ. After Paul, others have continued this work among the Corinthians — “another is building upon it.” But builders come and go. Paul insists that Jesus Christ alone is the foundation of the Christian community in Corinth. Christ’s disciples are to be holy — a fitting place for God’s dwelling.
The first reading is from Ezekiel, whose prophetic work has two main themes. First, God is allowing Jerusalem’s enemies to conquer it because of the sins of the people. Ezekiel describes God’s judgment, and he calls on the people to repent. Second, God promises a future restoration of Jerusalem and its people. Ezekiel describes a future new Israel — a holy people. God will dwell among them in a new Temple in Jerusalem.
Today’s reading (Ezekiel 47) describes that promised future. Accompanied by an angel, the prophet is given a vision of the new Temple: “The angel brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing out from beneath the threshold of the temple toward the east.” The Temple is the place of God’s presence. This water flowing out of the Temple represents God’s life-giving power flowing out to transform and renew the land of Israel.
Verses 3-7 (omitted here) describe the angel instructing the prophet to wade through the water. As the prophet wades farther and farther from the Temple, the water becomes deeper and deeper. The angel guides the prophet eastward away from the Temple.
East of Jerusalem is the Judaean Desert. Precious little rain falls there. Jericho is about 20 miles east of Jerusalem, with the Jordan River five miles farther east. Pilgrim buses today drive from Jerusalem through Jericho toward the Jordan River. Pilgrims look out at the dry, rocky soil of the Judaean Desert.
About eight miles south of Jericho is the “Dead Sea.” The water of the Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea, but no water flows out — it evaporates instead. This causes the Dead Sea to be one of the world’s saltiest bodies of water — almost ten times as salty as the ocean.
The angel tells Ezekiel: “This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah.” The name “Arabah” describes the Jordan River Valley, plus the Dead Sea and the desert south of it. The angel explains that the water “empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.” This vision has abundant fresh water flowing from the Jerusalem Temple, flowing through the Judaean Desert, and then reaching the super-salty Dead Sea.
This fresh water will give life to the salty Dead Sea. Flowing from the Temple, this water represents God’s life-giving power. God will give life to the land and people of Israel. The remaining text describes an abundance of life: “Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish.” There will be abundant fruit trees of every kind, bearing fruit every month of the year. “They shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary” — that is, from the Temple. God dwells in the Temple. Like water flowing out of the Temple, God will give life to his people — a restoration after Jerusalem’s destruction.
Today’s Gospel (John 2) is known as “the purification of the Temple.” Jesus’ actions recall the prophecy of Zechariah 14:21b: “No longer will there be merchants in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day.” These are the final words of Zechariah’s prophetic text — well-known at the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry. For Zechariah, “on that day” is an oft-repeated reference to the day of the Lord God’s salvation of his people. When Jesus drives the merchants out of the Temple, his action announces that “the day of the Lord” has arrived — although many failed to recognize this. Jesus decisively inaugurates God’s kingdom.
Jesus is asked: “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus’ response confuses and alarms the people who do not understand Jesus’ prophetic words: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). The gospel narrator hastens to explain that Jesus is talking about “the temple of his body,” and that Jesus’ disciples realized this meaning later — after his resurrection.
The Temple in Jerusalem was recognized as the place of God’s presence among his chosen people. When Jesus describes his own body as a temple, this emphasizes that Jesus is the powerful presence of God among humanity. We call this “the Incarnation” — that the son of God has become fully human, including his human body. God has chosen to dwell among us. Jesus’ body is the temple of God’s presence. John’s Gospel describes this earlier: “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son” (John 1:14).