The Temple: Location Means Everything
Location is important. Imagine the scene: Brianna opens the door and says, “What do you think?” to Paul sitting across the room. The meaning is unclear. Why? Because the location of those people changes what these words mean.
If Brianna is opening the door to the conference room at work, she is likely asking input on a project. If on the other hand, she is opening the door to the bedroom from her walk-in closet before they leave on a date, she is asking a hundred things and confessing about twenty while making at least one warning shot over the bow.
The Bible is exactly the same way. Where Jesus is when he is teaching as well as when he is there has dramatic implications on the meaning of his words. No place has as much potency of meaning as the Temple, and a whole lot of Jesus’ teachings happen within its incredibly symbolic walls.
When he says “I am the light of the world” he is standing in the temple which had as its nickname “The Light of the World.” All of a sudden those words take on a depth and significance that we miss when we don’t pay attention to their location and understand how that location alters and extends the meaning of the words that are being spoken.
Because of the importance of location and the unique ways in which the life and teachings of Jesus are meshed with the place in which he worshipped (the Temple), I believe it is important for us to dive into its study. We will be looking at that for the next four weeks at our evening worship and will be making them all available on the podcast about a week later.
