Consumed By Zeal: John’s Use Of Psalm 69:9 And The Action In The Temple -- By: Steven M. Bryan
Journal: Bulletin for Biblical Research
Volume: BBR 21:4 (NA 2011)
Article: Consumed By Zeal: John’s Use Of Psalm 69:9 And The Action In The Temple
Author: Steven M. Bryan
BBR 21:4 (2011) p. 479
Consumed By Zeal:
John’s Use Of Psalm 69:9 And The Action In The Temple
Ethiopian Graduate School Of Theology
John’s use of Ps 69:9 in his account of Jesus’ action in the temple is regularly understood as a scriptural depiction of Jesus’ intense emotional state, which provoked his assault on the temple traders. However, both John’s use of Ps 69 elsewhere in the Gospel and his narration of the plot against Jesus suggest that he intends his readers to conclude that the zeal that consumes Jesus is that of his enemies. In John’s Gospel, the Jews are portrayed as the zealous protectors of the temple, while Jesus is consistently portrayed as the new temple—the locus of the eschatological presence of God. Jesus’ action in the temple symbolically enacts the failure of Herod’s temple to function as the new temple. The citation of Ps 69:9 anticipates the role of Jewish zeal for Herod’s temple in bringing the full reality of the new temple into existence: in their zealous protection of Herod’s temple, they destroy the temple of Jesus body, which through death and resurrection becomes the eschatological dwelling place of God.
Key Words: temple, temple action, zeal, eschatology, crucifixion, resurrection, NT use of the OT, Johannine theology, Gospel of John, Fourth Gospel, Ps 69:9, Zech 14:21
Introduction
Recent years have seen a spate of monograph-length studies on the temple motif in John’s Gospel and on John’s use of the OT.1 This essay seeks to con-
BBR 21:4 (2011) p. 480
tribute to the study of both of these themes. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that the sequence of the temple action in John 2, the reference to the disciples’ remembrance of Ps 69:9, and the enigmatic saying about the destruction of the temple of Jesus’ body—symbol, citation, riddle—together anticipate the ultimate sign in John’s Gospel: the manifestation of Jesus as the eschatological dwelling place of God through death and resurrection. In doing so, I propose a fresh way of understanding the function of John’s reference to Ps 69:9 within a narrative that asserts Jesus to be the eschatological temple through death and resurrection.
John’s use of Ps 69 to explain the templ...
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