Jesus’ Dispute in the Temple and the Origin of the Eucharist

2013

Journal of OCABS, 2011

This paper argues that Mk 11.17, the climactic pericope of Jesus’ disruption of commercial activity going on in the Temple, provides the surest footing for dating the earliest Gospel. The objection to currency conversion and the selling of animals—activities that would have facilitated the Temple’s ostensible function as a place of sacrifice and collection point for the annual half-shekel donation—seems odd. The Synoptic tradition has Jesus juxtaposing portions of Isaiah 56.7 and Jeremiah 7.11. By contrast, the Johannine Jesus quotes no scripture and prescinds from defining the Temple’s proper function. Applying literary and historical methodologies, the author argues that Jesus’ Temple saying reflects an awareness and condemnation of events connected with the outbreak of the Jewish revolt against Rome in the summer of 66, underscoring the impact of the Jewish War upon the form, content, and perspective of the narrative.

This study collects early evidence, almost entirely Jewish, that suggests the first-century Jewish temple establishment was widely regarded as corrupt and in need of reform, replacement, or outright destruction. Jesus' action in the temple precincts during Passion Week should be interpreted in the light of this evidence.

2018

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Many New Testament writings, including Paul's cultic metaphors, Mark's description of the Last Supper, and the heavenly Temple in Hebrews and Revelation, relate to the Temple and sacrifices. The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and the end of the Jewish sacrificial cult did not diminish the interest of early Christian writers in the cult. Several decades later, the Apostolic fathers and Church fathers continue to engage with the concept of sacrifice and related subjects. In his study on spiritual sacrifices in early Christianity (second-fourth centuries), Everett Ferguson discusses the subject from a functional perspective. He shows that sacrificial language is utilized for a wide range of applications: prayer, praise, the Eucharist, fasting, celibacy, martyrdom, etc. 1 It is customary to classify this sacrificial discourse into segments of Christian doctrine, following Paul, such as the sacrifice of Christ, the Church as the new Temple, and images of sacrificial activity. 2 Recently there has been renewed interest in the question of why and how second-and third-century Christians rejected animal sacrifices. Guy Stroumsa relates the cessation of sacrifices to a broader shift in the very concept of identity, from a more communal model of identity to a more individualistic model. 3 Maria-Zoe Petropoulou suggests that the Christian rejection resulted from a different 1

Journal of Early Christian Studies, 2003

Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 2021

Book review of "Building on the Ruins of the Temple: Apologetics and Polemics in Early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism" by Adam Gregerman.Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016.

Revista Catalana De Teologia, 2008

RCatT XXXIII/2 (2008) 395-442 © Facultat de Teologia de Catalunya 1. Abbreviations: m = Mishnah, t = Tosephta, j = Jerusalem Talmud, b = Babylonian Talmud. 2. Building on the pronouncement in Exod 19,6, M. Himmelfarb explores the priestly kingdom developed in Palestine during the Second Temple Period: M. Himmelfarb, A Kingdom of Priests,