The Case of the Triple Whammy

By the Rev. Darren Miner

Today we heard three readings from the Bible that share a common context, and that context is public dispute.

The story from Exodus deals with a dispute between Moses and the people he’s leading through the wilderness. They complain that they’re dying of thirst, and they demand that Moses give them water. Now at first glance, the complaint seems entirely reasonable. If they don’t get water, they’ll die. But in the greater context of the Exodus, the complaining seems far less reasonable. For God had quite recently turned foul, contaminated water into fresh drinking water for them and had given them manna from heaven and an abundance of quail to sustain them. Given this additional information, we see that the people lack sufficient faith in divine providence. Even so, at the request of Moses, God again provides for his people. So all’s well as ends well—except that for all perpetuity their lack of faith will be remembered in the naming of that place. It will be called “Massah and Meribah,” or in English, “Testing and Dispute.” The upshot of the Old Testament reading would seem to be: trust in God, even if you aren’t getting what you think you need.

Now, let’s turn to the reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians. The context here is again a dispute. Two faithful women of the church, Euodia and Syntyche, are publicly feuding, and it’s dividing the congregation. St. Paul writes a letter to his spiritual children, urging them to make peace and to be of one mind. Like many a preacher today, he turns to the words of a well-known hymn to make his point. According to this hymn, Christ emptied himself of his godhead and took the humble form of a human. Christ’s obedience to his heavenly Father was such that he willingly suffered death on the Cross, in order that his Father’s will might be done and humankind might be saved. St. Paul asks that his children share the mind of Christ, imitating his humility and his obedience to God. I’m sure that St. Paul would ask the same of us here today. Admittedly, this is a tall order! But the imitation of Christ is our calling.

Finally, we get to the Gospel reading from Matthew. Again, we encounter a dispute, this time between Jesus and the leaders of the Jewish Temple. If the Gospel reading were a Perry Mason mystery, it might be called “The Case of the Triple Whammy.”

Jesus has just entered Jerusalem in triumph, been acclaimed the Messiah by people on the street, and then “cleansed” the Temple. And by “cleansing” the Temple, I mean he staged a one-man riot, turning over tables and forcibly casting out the moneychangers. The Temple leaders ask him by what authority he’s causing this disturbance. The question would seem a straightforward one, but in fact, it’s a trap. If Jesus answers that his authority comes from God as God’s Son, he will be arrested for blasphemy then and there. If he answers that his authority comes from mere humans, he’ll be admitting that, in fact, he has no proper authority to intervene in the running of God’s Temple.