Living Temples of God

Jn 2:13-22

Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome

In all religions, the temple is a sacred place where divinity is believed to be present to receive worship and bestow favors upon its followers. Of course, the Divine Being's true home is not of this world. However, the temple is identified with the Divine Being in a way that allows humans to enter into communion with the Divine Realm.

This fundamental symbolism is also found in the Old Testament, where the Temple in Jerusalem is a sign of “God’s presence among men.” However, this is only a temporary sign that will be replaced by a different sign in the New Testament: the body of Christ and his church.

The Temple in Jerusalem, with all its symbolism—from a physical temple to a spiritual one—did not ensure the presence of Yahweh (Jeremiah 7:14). Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel foresaw Yahweh abandoning this dwelling place he had chosen and announced its destruction as punishment for national sin (Jeremiah 7:12-15; Ezekiel 9-10). The authentic character of worshiping Yahweh matters more than the material sign to which he had linked his presence.

In this Sunday’s Gospel passage, we see Jesus expelling those who have turned the temple into a “place of business.” In the face of the resulting scandal, Jesus announces the new, indestructible temple: his own body. When he rose on the third day, his disciples remembered what he had said and believed in him. Let us also keep in mind the fundamental theme of John’s Gospel, which he announces in the prologue: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” A new temple.

After Pentecost, the early Christians underwent a period of transition in which they realized they constituted the new spiritual temple as an extension of the Body of Christ. St. Paul explicitly teaches this in 1 Corinthians 3:10-17, 2 Corinthians 6:16‑18 and Ephesians 2. The Church is a distinguished temple in which Jews and pagans have access, without distinction, to the Father in the same Spirit (Ephesians 2:14-19).

The members of this church are also temples of God and temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:15; Rom. 8:11), as well as members of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 6:15; 12:27). These two concepts are linked because the risen body of Jesus, in whom divinity dwells bodily, is the temple of God par excellence (1 Cor 2:9). The Christian members of this body are the spiritual temple, and they must cooperate in its growth through faith and charity (Ephesians 4:1-16).

Let us remember that Christ tells us: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (Jn 14:23). Moreover, let us be aware that we were anointed as living temples of the Holy Spirit in baptism.