The Temple
The temple had stood on Mount Zion in Jerusalem for close to a thousand years. So, it was shocking, to say the least, to hear that it would be leveled to the ground. But that is what Christ said shortly before His arrest and crucifixion.
In 20 BC, the master builder, Herod the Great, doubled the size of the temple complex. He did so by building substructures all around the temple mount. This enabled him to create a flat, thirty-five-acre rectangle on top of Mt. Zion. Many of the foundational stones in the substructure were huge, rectangular slabs sixty feet long.
Up top on the thirty-five-acre courtyard were massive, covered porticos, or long porches that ran along the rectangular perimeter. The porticos featured 162 marble columns, about 40 feet high, and capped with gold, Corinthian capitals.
The actual temple building itself was situated in the middle of the thirty-five-acre courtyard. Jewish pilgrims climbed steps to get into its outer court. Beyond this court were more steps that led into the Holy Place. That would be the equivalent of our sanctuary. Only the priests entered there. Beyond the Holy Place were more steps that led up to the Holy of Holies, a room 30 by 30 feet, plated in pure gold. The Holy of Holies was a tabernacle, meaning tent or dwelling for God’s true presence.
On only one day a year, on the Day of Atonement, would the high priest enter the Holy of Holies to offer incense and sprinkle blood to atone for sin. To do so, he would go beyond the temple veil which was 30 feet wide and 60 feet high. This heavy tapestry separated the Holy of Holies from the sanctuary. And this veil, recall, was split in two on Good Friday, when Christ’s sacrifice was consummated on Calvary.
The Fall
A few decades later, the Jews revolted once again. They ran the Romans out of Jerusalem, and then started a civil war against each other. At Passover in the spring of 70 AD, when a million or so Jews from all over the world had converged on Jerusalem, the Romans surrounded the city. Soon all the Jews’ food was gone. The dead and sick were strewn about everywhere. Those who snuck out of the city gates to scavenge for herbs or roots were caught by the Romans and crucified. From the city walls, one could see hundreds and hundreds of people every day hanging on crosses.
When the Jews refused to surrender, the Romans had to go in and get them. The Zealots, Jewish ultra-nationalists, ended up turning the temple into a fortress, and on August 10, 70 AD, the temple caught fire, and a bloody slaughter ensued. An eyewitness said a river of blood literally flowed down the temple steps. The temple burned and was leveled to the ground. There has been no temple or Jewish sacrifice since, as these things were brought to their fulfillment with Christ.
But before 70 AD, why were only priests, and no one else, allowed to enter the sanctuary in the temple? Well, that is what God commanded. The books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers state that only the priests, after being anointed and cleansed, were to enter the holier sections of the temple—and only the high priest could enter the holiest section.
History and Modern Controversy
The cordoning off of the sanctuary from the outer court was the basis of what became altar rails in churches. Altar rails have been in the news lately. Starting about a year ago, a Chicago cardinal began telling his diocese they should stand and not kneel when receiving Holy Communion. Earlier this fall, that same cardinal sought to give an award to a Catholic senator who has promoted abortion and sodomy for over forty years.
Recently, brand new bishops in Detroit, Charlotte, and Austin, apparently following this lead, have all but abolished the Traditional Latin Mass (which requires kneeling for communion) and have mandated that altar rails and kneelers be removed, as the rails “confuse” people, and the “norm” is to receive standing.
In a leaked memo, the new bishop in Charlotte stated:
Using the altar rails to keep people out of the sanctuary, removing lay people’s assistance with Holy Communion, and welcoming only boys to serve at the Eucharistic mysteries create an air of clerical superiority, communicates a spirit of unwelcoming as if the congregation should just be spectators, and can suggest that the parish rejects the liturgical reforms brought about at the behest of the Second Vatican Council…
Well, first off, the Second Vatican Council, which ended in 1965, did not even hint at removing altar rails, or having people stand to receive Holy Communion in their un-anointed hands, or the introduction of female servers in the sanctuary. The almost 2,500 bishops who voted on Vatican II’s liturgy document would have laughed at such shocking suggestions.
What about the claim of clerical superiority in churches where only priests enter the sanctuary? Do you think it is wrong to only have priests, and others eligible for the priesthood (that would be males), enter the sanctuary? Is that medieval, backwards, and anti-woman? After all, how hard is it to put on priestly garments, read prayers, and distribute Holy Communion? Anyone can do that, right? Is it that complicated?
Priesthood and Marriage
Well, let me ask you married people a question: What if I came over to your house after hours and made my way into the sanctuary of your home, which is your bedroom? You would no doubt strongly object at my presence. And how might I answer? I could say, “Your marital superiority is communicating a spirit of unwelcoming to me.” I mean, really, can’t anyone do what gets done in bedrooms? Is it that complicated? After all, they now teach the mechanics of it to small children in schools. Anyone can do it…but common sense and the Christian moral order would reserve it to a man and a woman living under the sacred bond of marriage.
Now, here is an utterly shocking statement to most modern ears: I am married. Yes, I am married to the Bride of Christ. And the most intimate thing I do is to touch and confect the Holy Eucharist at the altar at Mass. It would appear anyone can do this, but according to God, this anyone has to be a male, anointed and cleansed for the job. Do you see why downplaying this significance causes a downfall in seminaries and priestly ordinations? Do you see why we have an acute priest shortage?
Why would a young man, secure in his own sexuality, choose to sacrifice marital intimacy, children, and family life, to do a job that anyone else—be they man, woman, or child—can enter the sanctuary to perform?
Christ the Bridegroom and True High Priest
Now, let’s understand: The temple in Jerusalem got destroyed. It got leveled to the ground. And my friends, someday we will be leveled to the ground. That should shock none of us. What should shock us is that through Christ’s sacrifice, we will rise again. For Christ is anointed and cleansed for the job. He is the Bridegroom, the true High Priest who goes beyond the temple veil to pour out blood (His own) for peoples’ sins. When that sacrifice is consummated on our altar, the tabernacle veil up high in our sanctuary is opened, split in two. And a mystical river of Blood flows down the temple steps to douse the flames of sin and death.
This, my friends, is the Holy Sacrifice of Mass. This is an utterly shocking mystery. And this is why we get on our knees when it happens.
Photo by Steven Van Elk on Unsplash
