Day 44. Think Like a Temple
See, then! The Lord has chosen you to build a house
as his sanctuary. Take courage and set to work.
1 Chronicles 28:10
The temple was more than a building. More, even, than a great monument. It was a visible sign of God’s relationship to his people, Judah and Israel. It was the soul of Zion made visible in stone. From our opening reflection, we saw that the temple’s destruction in the days of Jeremiah the prophet was, for the people, a sign of the failed state of the covenant. Their broken bond with the God of their fathers - more than any external enemy - brought down the walls. Observing these events from their exile in Babylon, the Jews understood that the critical moment came not when the temple was destroyed. It happened earlier when the glory of the Lord, the presence of the Lord, left the holy of holies and departed from the temple.
Then the glory of the Lord left the threshold of the temple and rested upon the cherubim. … And the glory of the Lord rose from the city and took a stand on the mountain which is to the east of the city.
Ezekiel 10:18,19; 11:22, 23
For the Israelites, God had always been their champion. He had gone before them in battle to claim the land promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He had defended the city time and again from foreign invaders – Philistines, Edomites and Assyrians. Once the Lord was gone, how long could Jerusalem, the city of the great king David, stand without its divine protector? Not long. The Babylonians swept in and seized the city. They leveled it and left it in ruins.
Was the temple lost forever? No. Even before he brought about this cataclysmic defeat, God told the people through Jeremiah that his intent was to return, to rebuild, to restore and purify.
Purify? Purify what? To purify worship. And to purify human relationships in justice. The temple would indeed be rebuilt, and the city of Jerusalem would be restored – but only as a shadow of its former glory. Nehemiah, Ezra, Zerubbabel. They returned. They rebuilt. But what they erected was humble by comparison. Thus God would make this promise to his people, disheartened by the mean structure they were reconstructing:
Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? And how do you see it now? But now … take courage all you people of the land, says the Lord, and work! For I am with you, says the Lord of hosts. This is the pact I made with you when you came out of Egypt, and my spirit continues in your midst; do not fear!
…Greater will be the future glory of this house than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give you peace….
Haggai 2:3-5, 9
The story doesn’t end here. The temple was indeed rebuilt. Under the reign of the Hasmoneans it was fortified. In the days of King Herod, it was expanded, this time to its greatest glory – a glory that did not endure. In 70 AD the temple fell for the last time – crushed under the heel of a more powerful foreign oppressor than any who came before. The Romans besieged Jerusalem as the Babylonians had and laid waste the city, destroying the temple and carrying away its wealth – this time, for good.
As in the days of Jeremiah, the event was foreseen by a prophet. As before, the prophet’s warnings went unheeded. But while the first prophet escaped in the end and survived, the prophet of this second destruction was crucified.
This prophet, as you know, was more than a prophet. In reference to himself Jesus the Christ, the Son of God prophesied: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” (Jn. 2:19). The temple he spoke of was not the stone structure. It was his own body that would be resurrected three days after he was put to death.
“Greater will be the future glory of this house than the former.” God’s promise to the returning exiles comes to greater clarity in light of this. The future glory of the temple was not in the form of a building, but of a person, a body. Jesus is the new temple of God, raised from the ruins, the wreckage of human sinfulness, risen from the dead. “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me” (Heb. 10:5).
In baptism we, too, are raised from the dead. Baptism is our personal participation in the historical event of the resurrection. Coming up from the waters, we become sharers in Jesus’ triumph over death as well as members of his body. Our tangible sign of this reality is the indwelling Holy Spirit. Like the temple of old, we are indwelt and animated by the presence of God. Like the temple of old, his presence is our promise and hope of ultimate victory. God, once again, is the champion of his people. We have great confidence that no enemy – no sin, no weakness, no hardship – can prevail against a city – a temple – where God lives. As long as we indeed remain in proper relationship to God and to others.
The fact that we have become temples of God isn’t just a nice, abstract idea. It should influence the way we think, the way we approach our daily lives. More than once St. Paul urges his fledgling churches to understand the importance of thinking like a temple. To the Corinthian church especially, Paul considered this point essential: “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If any one destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and that temple you are” (1 Cor. 3:16, 17). And again, in the same letter, Paul writes: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:19, 20).
Our bodies, therefore, are to be treated with the same great reverence that Jews of old reserved for the temple in Jerusalem. As the temple was the soul of Israel rendered in stone, our bodies are the physical manifestation of our being – our person rendered in flesh. And our bodies can no longer be places for impurity, immorality or disobedience. Rather, our bodies must glorify God and all that we do with them should lead to his praise. Think like a temple. Think purity. Think worship. It’s more than something you do on Sunday. It’s a way of seeing your own body – your own person – in relationship to God and neighbor.
Novena Prayer
Jesus says: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
Pier Giorgio responds: What wealth it is to be in good health, as we are! But we have the duty of putting our health at the service of those who do not have it. To act otherwise would be to betray that gift of God.
Let us pray: Blessed Pier Giorgio, help me to seek God’s righteousness, His plan for my life and for the salvation of the world. Show me the way to self-surrender, so that I may desire nothing more than to be of service to the Lord and His Kingdom. Lead me to the table of love, where I will be satisfied.
Blessed Pier Giorgio, I ask for your intercession in obtaining from God, Who is righteous and just, all the graces necessary for my spiritual and temporal welfare. I confidently turn to you for help in my present need: (in your own words, ask for the Lord to give you greater charity in all of your relationships and to purify them from all self-interest).
A Book of Prayers in Honor of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, by Rev. Timothy E. Deeter
Make it My Own
Daily Discernment Workbook
BREAK OPEN YOUR BIBLE
1. All About the Temple
In the weeks to come, the temple layout will become an essential blueprint for re-constructing our relationships. Today we take a first try at labeling different parts of the temple. Look up the following passages describing different parts of the temple. Try labeling the temple floor plan below.
The Holy of Holies. 2 Chronicles 3:8-14
The Ark of the Covenant. 2 Chronicles 5:6-9
The twin columns beside the entrance. 2 Chronicles 3:15-17
The Great Courtyard. 2 Chronicles 4:9
The Courtyard of the Priests. 2 Chronicles 4:9
The central nave of the temple. 2 Chronicles 3:5
The porch or vestibule. 2 Chronicles 3:4
The Altar of Holocausts. 2 Chronicles 4:1
2. Why Sacrifice?
Reading these passages about temple worship today, the whole thing strikes us as strange. Why would God command the Israelites to kill so many animals? Isn’t it cruel? A total waste of life? How could God require such a thing? If these questions arise, it’s smart to understand what sacrifice is for.
Sacrifice has a variety of reasons.
Look up the following passages. Then read the descriptions below and place the letter of the passage with its corresponding explanation.
Leviticus 4:1-3
Exodus 24:4-8
Lev. 17:11-12
Jeremiah 34:18-20
Numbers 18:29-32
Genesis 4:3-7
▁▁▁▁▁▁ God’s primacy of claim. All good things come from God. Therefore, the first and the best of every family, crop or herd belongs to God. Making an offering of the best portion (the “first fruits” and the “pick of the herd”) is a way of recognizing God’s just claim, and an expression of gratitude for his generous provision.
▁▁▁▁▁▁ Blood is Life. God calls for blood to be spilled only in his presence to show its sacred worth. It is holy and therefore not to be shed casually or carelessly.
▁▁▁▁▁▁ Covenants are sealed by blood. Covenants are sacred pacts, binding agreements of mutual help and faithfulness. They have the force of kinship and make two people or parties into one. Blood signifies this family bond.
▁▁▁▁▁▁ Vicarious Atonement. Guilt demands just punishment, and serious sin is punishable by death. Because humans sin, God requires compensation for our disobedience – not because he’s mean but because sin is much worse than we realize. Vicarious atonement means that a substitute victim can be offered on behalf of somebody who is guilty. Blood expiates (pays back the debt) for sin.
▁▁▁▁▁▁ Prioritizing Choices. Remember these? In the Table section of this novena, we looked at things we choose over God and the ways we can make God (and his will) a higher priority by choosing for God over things we value. For ancient Israel, livestock was wealth and a ready food source. By offering the best of the herd to God, Israelites made the worship of God a higher priority than personal prosperity and comfort.
▁▁▁▁▁▁ A Warning Against Infidelity. Sometimes when Covenants were made in Biblical times, the sacrifice of animals indicated the danger of failing to uphold the terms of the agreement. An animal split in two meant, “The same can happen to you!”
SAINTS SAID IT
3. God is Not Contained.
All this talk about God living in the temple or inside of us gives the impression that He can be contained. This would be a grave misunderstanding, as Augustine makes clear.
St. Augustine on God’s Indwelling
God dwells in his saints in such a way that, if he departs, they fall. If anyone is a bearer of God, God’s temple, let him not imagine that God relies on him and that he would frighten God by withdrawing his support…The places we dwell contain us, but those in whom God dwells are contained by him [1].
Based on this quote, how would you describe the way God dwells inside us as baptized Christians?
How can I be more aware of God’s indwelling in my daily life?
Conclude with
“Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be.
World without end, Amen.”
[1] Expositions of the Psalms, Works of St. Augustine, tr. by Maria Boulding, OSB, New City Press, p. 33
[2] All Scripture quotes from the New American Bible, unless otherwise specified