The Finished Word

Jesus revealed that the presence and worship of God are no longer limited to geographic locations or man-made structures – John 4:20-24. Jesus revealed the proper form and location of the worship of the Father to a Samaritan woman. With the arrival of Israel’s Messiah, concepts and traditions about holy space and holy time are irrelevant. The presence of the Son of God renders the historical debate over the location of the Temple pointless. From now on, worship must be performed in  Spirit and Truth – (John 4:20-24).

The New Testament applies temple language from the Hebrew Bible to the Body of Christ, the habitation of the Living God . Except for contacts between Jesus and the early church with the priestly authorities, the New Testament shows little interest in the Jerusalem Temple. Instead, we find that terminology and imagery from the Temple are applied to the New Covenant community of Jesus. What the Temple and earlier Tabernacle foreshowed has come to fruition in Christ and his Church.

The New Testament usage of the term “ assembly ” is based on the language and imagery of Israel when the nation was assembled before Yahweh for worship in front of the Tabernacle. The Greek noun rendered “ church ” in many English translations is  ekklésia . It means “assembly, congregation, convocation.” In secular Greek, it could refer to an “assembly” of citizens gathered to conduct matters of state. However, that is not the sense found in the Greek New Testament.

Jesus is the only way of accessing the Father. He is the Greater Tabernacle and the True House of God  – John 1:47-50. The  Gospel of John  presents Jesus as the  True House of God . He is the way of access to the presence of God that is now open to all men. The man from Nazareth has become the True  Bethel , the “ House of God .” From now on, Heaven is open to all men, and angels are “ ascending and descending ” on the “ Son of Man .” What Jacob saw in a vision long ago has become reality in Jesus Christ.