Literary Criticism and Theology of P - Christus Rex

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E. CORTESE
latter has been used by the gospel while registering the NT antagonism
against the temple, whereas the former is used when it describes Jesus’ act of
purification of the temple (Mk 11,15ff.). We can conclude that the destruction
of all temple area by the Romans has been a provisional punishment, but that
the temple, and not necessarily the OT structure and cult, has to remain in
some way as the center of the divine worship in God’s plan. This does not
mean that the structures and the related OT cult have to be completely rebuilt,
according to the NT. But the expected new cult in that area includes the
Jewish cult also, together with that of the other affiliated religions. And this
is precisely what now they carry out, even without being aware of it! Our
interpretation defends the area as a central place also for the Jews of today,
and gives an important theological value to their life here, together with
Christians and Muslims. Then the message of the divine presence here in the
temple area, at least as a pledge and as a promise for the future, should not be
eliminated in the Christian Exegesis.
5b. Strange “spiritualization” by the Jews. Nonetheless Jews have another
way of considering the presence of God and they are probably not inclined to
my perspective. Having lost the temple for 2000 years, the Rabbis looked for
another presence of God. We may formulate the result of their effort by the
word shekinâ. We can say that, after some cautious thoughts in the first
centuries, by giving more serious consideration to the concreteness and
singularity of the presence of God in the tent and the temple, Judaism went
easily on the way of their philosophers (especially Maimonides) pursuing a
kind of a spiritualization, which is similar to the Christian (especially
Protestant) one considered above. So, instead of thinking at the temple, they
consider their Sinaitic or covenantal relation with God as the source of this
peculiar divine presence among the Jewish people.
It is however interesting to recall some of the ancient discussions about
the divine presence. In the Dialogue with Trifon (56,60), the Christian partner
asks: “if God, as transcendent, cannot be concretely present, then what did the
Patriarchs see in their encounter with Him, if He was not in any way
incarnated?”. Urbach, by quoting this page points out that there were Jews,
who admitted such peculiar sort of divine presence 41 .
Anyhow, many medieval Jews were not content with their philosophical
solutions. In the Kabbala, and later on in the Hasidic Doctrine, they think of a
real divine presence in the world, which exceeds a mere spiritual presence.
Even today Jews speaking of the real presence of God in the world, mention
41. E.E. Urbach, The Sages. Their Concepts and Beliefs, Jerusalem 1975, 49f.