JESUS WHIPS!

Reflections on the Third Sunday of Lent: Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Corinthians 1:22-25; & John 2:13-25

The Gospel presents us with a rather 'out of character' Jesus today. He is in the Temple, with a self-made whip in his hands, overturning tables, spilling coins, and driving people and animals out of the temple. Why would the prince of peace take up a whip, create a ruckus in a place of worship and cause public nuisance? Biblical exegetes and theologians interpret this ‘prophetic’ act of Jesus using the just/righteous anger theory. The Son of God could not stand people making His Father’s house a marketplace! Is Jesus' whip only a sign of his anger? Is Jesus' whip only a sign of his anger? Could it also be a sign of his love?

Today’s first reading includes one of the most misunderstood verses of the Bible (Exodus 20:5). Even preachers quote this verse to claim, “God punishes the children from their father’s wickedness down to the third and fourth generation”. They skip the next part, “but he will bestow mercy down to the thousandth generation” (20:6). The point of the verse is not to show that God is so vengeful that he would punish the sin of a person down to his fourth generation. It is the opposite: 1000 is way bigger than 4. God’s mercy outlasts his anger beyond measure. Even God's anger is an expression of his love. Hebrews 12:6 reminds us, “For the Lord disciplines those whom he loves and chastises every child whom he accepts”. Jesus' whipping is a prophetic act of love that drives home three important lessons. 

1. Jesus whips the logic of exchange: 

Interestingly, the money changers were in the Temple to provide a valuable service. Jews above 20 years of age were obliged to pay a half-shekel annual tax to the Temple (Exodus 30:13), which could only be paid with the standard Jewish coinage, the Tyrian shekel. This is because most foreign currencies bore images of gods and kings and were deemed unfit for temple transactions. The money changers in the Temple were there to exchange widely prevalent foreign currencies into acceptable coins for the payment of the temple tax. A fee or a charge often accompanies the exchange. Thus, the money changers were providing an essential service for the pilgrims.

However, the real problem was the collection of unlawful interests and exorbitant rates leading to the exploitation of the pilgrims. A place of worship and human-divine encounter was made a place of exploitation and business, literally ‘a den of thieves’ (Jeremiah 7:11) . The logic of the market and exchange had overpowered the logic of worship and love. Is our prayer a true meeting place with God or mere bargain and business contracts? How often do we tell God, if you grant me this grace, I shall do this or that? Is our worship motivated by love or by the logic of exchange and exploitation? Jesus whips our desire for magical shortcuts to keep our prayer motivated by love.

2. Jesus whips the culture of discrimination: 

The merchants who sold doves, oxen, and sheep also provided a service that was integral to Jewish worship and a lucrative business opportunity for the temple. Only animals declared blemish-free by the Temple priests following strict criteria including age, gender, and size, could be offered as sacrifices. It was therefore easier for the pilgrims to buy an animal near the temple than to risk bringing a ‘blemished’ one along from their farms. However, the problem was the ‘chosen’ place of business. The Temple of Jerusalem contained 4 courts: the court of the priests, the court of Israel, the court of the women, and the court of the Gentiles, which was the outermost court of the Temple. It was quite large (10 acres) when compared to the total area occupied by Herod’s Temple and its courts (35 acres).

Devout Gentiles were confined to the outermost court and were forbidden from entering the temple or coming any closer to the other courts under the danger of threat. A major part of the court of the Gentiles was occupied by the merchants, especially during the pilgrimage seasons. Archaeological studies along the Western Wall of the Temple Mount have indeed revealed a street and a row of small shops that most likely were occupied by money changers, sellers of small animals, and souvenir merchants. What is at play here is the culture of discrimination that does not hesitate to ‘grab’ what rightfully belongs to the ‘gentile’ communities. The ‘courts’ of the excluded (tribals, farmers, Dalits, slum dwellers, etc.,) continue to be grabbed in the name of development and modernisation. Jesus whips this culture of discrimination to help the ‘excluded’ repossess their rightful place.

3. Jesus whips the dictatorship of violence: 

The prophetic action of whipping foreshadows and evokes Jesus’ own passion, death, and resurrection. “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up”, insists Jesus and John is careful to add, “He was speaking about the temple of his body”. This will be quoted during Jesus’ trial before the council (Mark 14:58), which will ultimately lead to his death sentence. The whip of the temple will make a ‘re-entry’ during the scourging at the pillar. The prophecy of Psalm 69 will come to pass, “Zeal for your house will consume me”. However, Jesus’ whip was God’s way of ending the dictatorship of violence and paving the way for salvation.

As Paul argues in the second reading, the cross will become the paradoxical sign of God’s wisdom and strength. It is through the necessary ‘whipping’ (cleansing and cross) that a new Temple will be born, not made of stones but with the disciples built as the living stones (1 Peter 2:5) on the cornerstone (the crucified and risen Christ). Worship, in this new Temple,  will not require the Tyrian shekels or animal sacrifices for we worship “in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). The living stones will also be scorned, rejected, scorned, tortured or even killed, much like the foundation stone. However, their persecutions will end the hegemony of violence and pave the way to justice and salvation.

Let the whip of Jesus cleanse us from the logic of the market, the culture of discrimination, and the hegemony of violence.