With No Temple
13 May 2007 - 26 אייר 5767 by Huw
The second lesson assigned for today’s Mass was Revelation 21:22 - 22:5:
I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.
I found myself wondering what might be a non-futurist reading of this passage: if we take the “New Jerusalem” to be the community of God’s people (Church) and thus present with us now (Shine, shine shine, O New Jerusalem) how do you read the lack of “temple”? How do you read the lack of Sun or Moon? St Bede says of the lack of light,
That is, because the church is not guided by the light, nor the elements of the world but is conducted by Christ, the eternal Sun, through the darkness of the world.
So he places it in this world…
But again, what does it mean that there is no temple, no place of sacrifice - for the lamb has done that work, once and for all. Or that some church buildings (Orthodox and Mormon) are specifically called “temples”?
And sitting there I tended to wonder if suddenly the reason many folks did not want the book included in the canon - or indeed, why some churches, even now, do not read it liturgically - was because in a non-futurist mode it could be read as a critique of Church, qua institution, especially post-Constantine.
Of course, that’s silly.
Of course, that’s silly.
Yup. The fact that it was accepted into the canon by the (so-called) Constantinian church well after the lectionary had settled out seems like a good enough explanation to me. Occam’s Razor, don’t you know?
in the canon— or read liturgically.
2 quick remarks
1) I’m still all about the here/not yet quality of the Kingdom
2) Doesn’t all Scripture critque the Church? Does not the Spirit continue to inculcate the virtues of the Christian life throught the words of Scripture? Can’t we still hear the prophetic words of the Gospel calling us to a deeper pursuit of holiness and union with God?
Padre -
I hear you about the Now Not Yet. This was a big thing at SGN, in fact.
Is it possible the “not yet” might include some of the mistakes Christians have done? “Thy Kingdom Come…” OOOPS! We didn’t mean to do *THAT*! Take 47, let’s try it again, with feeling.