March 07, 2021
3rd Sunday of Lent
It surprises us. Jesus makes a whip, turns over tables and expels people and animals from the holy temple. The area is both a courtyard with access to sacred space for worship and a thoroughfare for visitors to move in and out of the city of Jerusalem. Pilgrims need to exchange offensive coins with images of the Roman emperor or deities to purchase animals for sacrifice. After the burnt offerings, the meat from the animals is given to the poor. The practice is acceptable, but the magnitude of the crowd and noise of transactions are a major distraction. Jesus cries out: “Take these out of here and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.†Jesus may well be speaking a prophetic word and doing a prophetic action. “His disciples recalled the words of scripture, Zeal for your house will consume me.†When Jesus expels the animals (oxen, sheep, and doves) there is nothing left for the paschal offering – but Jesus. In the Gospel according to John, when Jesus is dying on the cross, lambs in the temple are being sacrificed for the Passover dinner.
Jesus fulfils the law and prophets. In our first reading, the Book of Exodus, God “delivers†the commandments to Moses and the Hebrew people. They have been led from Egypt, a place of slavery and death, into the desert where they are being formed into a nation. God has entered a covenant relationship with the Hebrews that will involve both blessings and responsibilities. God gives them commands that will guide their worship and community lives. They are commanded to worship one God, to reverence his holy name and keep holy the Sabbath. They are commanded to honor their fathers and mothers. They are prohibited from killing, committing adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, and from coveting their neighbor’s goods or wife. It is critical to apply this sacred code to our situation today. How are we directed to act when it comes to the sanctity of human life in the womb, the dignity of women, poverty, domestic and sexual abuse, immigration, poverty, and health care. Upon deeper reflection the 10 Commandments are not a remnant of an archaic law code, but essential for our living together with reverence for God and respect for others.
Lent is a season to ask ourselves about “true worship in spirit and in truth†and the meaning of the 10 Commandments and their relevance for our humanity and a civil society. In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus beautifully summarizes the ethical imperative: “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets.â€
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2nd Sunday of Lent
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4th Sunday of Lent B
