Master·evangeli.net
Today's Gospel + short theological explanation
When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax approached Peter and said, "Does not your teacher pay the temple tax?" "Yes," he said. When he came into the house, before he had time to speak, Jesus asked him, "What is your opinion, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?" When he said, "From foreigners," Jesus said to him, "Then the subjects are exempt..."
Jesus is the new Temple
EDITORIAL TEAM evangeli.net (based on texts by Benedict XVI) (Città del Vaticano, Vatican)Today, we read two paragraphs in providential connection: 1. Jesus announces his Passion (and resurrection); 2. Jesus pays the tribute due to the temple. Jesus Christ was delicately respectful with the Temple of Jerusalem ("my Father's House"). But, by His crucifixion, the ancient worship of the temple was abolished, and at the same time, it was led to its fulfillment.
The rejection and crucifixion of Jesus means, at the same time, "demolition" of the temple. A new worship reaches a temple not built by men: His Body —sacrificed and risen— which gathers together all the peoples and unites them in the sacrament of the Eucharist. The atonement for sins which animal sacrifices attempted, has been achieved through Christ’s obedience and thus, Jesus himself has taken the place of the temple: He is the new Temple.
—With your resurrection, Jesus, begins a new way to worship God, not in a mount or elsewhere, but in "spirit and in truth", by living the obedience to the Father.
