Israel believed that the temple was built over the navel of the universe, the axis mundi, that spot where the world above and the world below met the world of history, thus enabling the three worlds to communicate. When Jesus called himself the new temple, he was claiming to be the centre of the universe, the spot where three-way cosmic communication occurs, the presence of God in the midst of the community. When we accept him in faith, we are accepting these claims. We may profess this belief, but do our lives reflect it?

Although some consider the law a rigid set of precepts, it is really more a collection of directives that have grown out of the experience of life. To say that Jesus is the wisdom of God means that God’s wisdom is made known in him and that he is the way that points to God. While laws often embody distinctive cultural values or customs, as wisdom of God, Jesus crosses cultural boundaries and breaks down cultural distinctions. As the wisdom of God, Jesus fulfils the expectations of any and all codes of law.

Both the law and the temple witness to the power of God in the lives of believers. However, both institutions pale in the light of Jesus who is identified as the power of God. This divine power is not revealed in lofty precepts or in magnificent stones, but rather in the broken and pierced body of Jesus Christ. How willing are we to accept him?

© Dianne Bergant CSA