Cleaning the Temple

What do we do when the Holy Ground becomes dirty and filthy? This is the Bible Study topic we discussed this week. The Gospel from John 2:13-22 tells us:

13 tThe Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus uwent up to Jerusalem. 14 vIn the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make wmy Father's house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, x“Zeal for your house will consume me.”

18 So the Jews said to him, y“What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, z“Destroy this temple, and in three days aI will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple,1 and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about bthe temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, chis disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed dthe Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. (ESV)

Let us examine closer the text and think about these questions:

-Where did Jesus go?

-What did he find there?

-What was the reaction of Jesus?

-Why was Jesus upset?

-What was the temple Jesus was referring to?

-What were the people doing to the temple Jesus was referring to?

As we try to answer these questions, let us not forget that we are in the Lenten season. This is the season where we discipline ourselves to refrain from doing evil. Jesus Christ referred to his body as the Temple, what is the body of Christ today? If we say that it is the Church then let us this be our Lenten reflection:

What are we doing with the body of Christ today, the Church? Are we also desecrating it? Is Jesus happy with our works or is he going to whip us too?

This Lenten Season, as we prepare ourselves and move towards Christian perfection, what should we do to the body of Christ/ to the Church? How can we keep the temple clean? What actions should we initiate to keep the temple holy?