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John 2:13 – The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade . . .” 18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken 46 years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”

I enjoy taking a walk in my garden. It gives me a chance to slow down and witness the wonders of life. My blackberries are currently in full bloom and bees are quickly darting from blossom to blossom performing their magic of pollinating while gathering their nectar. A symbiotic balance and harmony is working itself out in nature. Soon there will be berries where those blossoms lose their petals. I also notice new briars shooting from the crown of the plant toward the sky preparing a framework for next year’s crop. As I meander between the rows I am amazed how the cycle of garden life continually repeats itself.

Scripture tells us when God created Adam and Eve, He planted a garden as a home for them: “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed” (Genesis 2:8). God provided for Adam and Eve in this new home. He placed every green plant in the garden to bear fruit for food, and at the center of the garden, God placed the tree of life, which stood as a sacrament [a token of promise] to Adam and Eve of communion and life with God. God’s presence was with them as He walked in the garden (Genesis 3:8). There was a beautiful, unbroken relationship between God and mankind that fostered a sweet harmony of existence. There was no sin in this garden, so there was no disunity or strife or contention. There was no human hand raised in anger nor any threat of savage beast. Tending the garden in the presence of God was the heavenly experience of earthly life. This garden was Adam and Eve’s temple of a blissful communion with their Creator, for the temple, according to scripture, is the place where God dwells. And God dwelt with Adam and Eve in this paradise.

But sin did enter the garden of paradise, and this temple home God had prepared for Adam and Eve was desecrated. They disobeyed God. And because of their sin, the harmony of Eden that once sang a perfect hymn in the ears of God was now beset with chaos. The sweet garden communion was silenced, only to be replaced with discord and friction at every turn. The garden ceased to be paradise at the hands of its caretakers; for their disobedience, the caretakers were banished. The doors of that garden temple were shut, and Adam and Eve were exiled, not only from the garden, but from the tree of life and, most importantly, from communion with their Creator.

The human race now lives in that exile. Our relationship with God is broken. And, as a result our relationship with each other reflects that brokenness. We are alienated from each other: among the symptoms are marital strife, racial tension, family dysfunction, political disharmony . . . and the list goes on. All these are now a natural part of our lives since we entered into such an unnatural existence. When we lost communion with God, we lost communion with each other.

Ever since the fall from grace, God set out to restore that lost communion. We see this early on in the Old Testament, especially in the tabernacle that traveled with Moses and the children of Israel in the wilderness. The tabernacle was a tent structure in which God traveled (or tabernacled) with His people. This tabernacle was referred to as the “place of meeting” where God’s presence descended upon the portable structure in the form of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. There, God once again communed with man, but only in the most restricted sense. His presence dwelt only within the special chamber of the tabernacle called the holiest place, where the Ark of the Covenant resided.

Unlike Adam and Eve’s original paradise, coming into the presence of God was now a fearful experience. Communion was being re-established, but with sinful people instead of the first holy couple, and the intricacies of the tabernacle worship clarified and accommodated for this sinfulness. It was only at the mercy seat which rested above the Ark of the covenant that God would meet with His people (Exodus 25:22). A sacrifice for sin was now required and intercession had to be secured. Once a year a “day of atonement” was made for the people, in which the forgiveness of sin was given through the work of the high priest. This meeting place, although majestic at its time, was not the permanent means of God’s presence with His people. Its need for perpetual repetition foreshadowed something greater that was yet to come.

Later, the temple was built in Jerusalem to replace the portable tabernacle. It was a magnificent structure reflecting the grandeur of God. As with the tabernacle, God blessed the temple and filled it with His presence, so the people could have a taste of that blessed relationship lost in the garden. They could, to a minute degree, meet with their Creator. But also, like the tabernacle, this temple was not that perfect communion our first parents enjoyed. It fell short, offering only a taste of what our souls truly long for. When Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter four, He tells her, “the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father . . . the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:21 and 23). Regardless of the beauty and magnificence of the temple, it was found wanting. Jesus tells the woman that something greater than the old way of sacrifices was about to bring temple worship to a close. The book of Hebrews tells us that the tabernacle and the temple, although sufficient for their time, are inferior shadows of a greater meeting place, a true temple which makes the old meeting places of God obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). As Jesus speaks to the woman at the well, He tells her that this true temple has now come, and it is where all true worshipers commune with God.

Where do we find this true temple? When Jesus says to the Jewish leaders, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it,” He is not talking about the stones and mortar of a building. He is talking about his own life. He is the true temple. On the third day, after His body was laid in the ground, He raised that temple, and by that resurrection the problem of sin which commenced in the garden is finally overcome. Everything that was lost is regained, and the temple doors of paradise are reopened. In spite of our sin, God has restored perfect communion in Jesus, for He is the fulfillment of all the intricacies of the temple worship in Jerusalem. He is the true sacrifice which ended the perpetual sacrifices by making perfect atonement for our sins. He is the true High Priest who makes intercession for us and ends our exile. He is the true mercy seat above the Ark of the Covenant where we may now boldly approach our merciful God.

Jesus restores the lost communion of the Garden of Eden, not only between us and God, but between each other as well. Our broken lives and broken relationships find their healing in Him. Our broken world finds its healing in Him. This world will once again be a beautiful garden displaying the glory of God. Let us be a light of that restoration even now, for Jesus has already brought new life into the dying garden of this world. Let us be seed sowers of His love and gospel. Let us be fence menders of our broken society. Let us be caretakers who nurture the growth of His kingdom. If you long for the sweet communion of God’s garden life, if you long for heaven and nature to once again sing the praises of God in your ears, look no further than Jesus. In Him, God once again walks and talks with His people, never leaves them, never forsakes them, is always in loving communion with them. Come to the Temple. Find the peace of a life no longer lived in exile from God.