Third Sunday of Lent
Jn 2: 13-25
Dear Friends, Jesus’ action of the cleansing of the Temple was a profound event. It had a deeper meaning than just getting rid of the greedy merchants of animals and coins. He was making a radical statement. The Temple, as a place of worship, was now null and void. Jesus was to be the new place of true worship in the Spirit. This was the first of many changes that Jesus would accomplish in his saving presence. This announcement of a new reality follows a pattern in the Gospel of John. John’s different approach highlights Jesus replacing many of the deeply rooted practices and institutions of the Old Testament with his new presence and power. Today’s Temple story tells us that the sacrifice of the animals will be replaced by the final and ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.
In response to the leaders demands to justify his actions, Jesus says: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” (Jn 2:19) The Jewish authorities took it literally and rejected it outright. Only after the resurrection did the disciples begin to understand the full depth of Jesus’ claim. However, we are the beneficiaries of the whole story. We need to see the deeper meaning that Jesus intends: the overwhelming reality of his saving death and resurrection. It is by uniting ourselves in faith to the risen Christ that we are truly at home in Our Father’s House, the true temple that has nothing to do with brick and mortar. Here we find the way to true worship leading to eternal life.
John’s Gospel almost always has multiple levels that challenge the reader to always dig deeper into the message. One of the more profound issues hidden deeper in today’s story of Jesus in the Temple is the dynamism between the sacred and profane. John is challenging the all-too-common practice that isolates the experience of God solely in the context of the sacred. Jesus is confronting that distortion in today’s Gospel text and in the entire Gospel of John.
The message of the Incarnation, “the Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14), points to the presence of God in the everyday events of life. In Jesus, God is revealing his desire to dwell in the midst of all people. Right before today’s text we have a perfect example of God in the ordinary flow of life in the wedding at Cana.
One way of better understanding the relation of the sacred and profane is to grasp the true purpose of the liturgy and prayer. Liturgy and prayer are intended to enlighten the rest of life that appears to be removed from the sacred. These spiritual activities, as encounters with the sacred, are intended to unveil God’s presence in the normal flow of daily life. The sacramental principle of our faith uses rituals of the ordinary to enter more deeply into mystery of life. We step away from the daily routine only to enter more deeply into it with the help of the grace and insights of liturgy and prayer. God’s presence is the same for the Mass on Sunday morning as the family dinner on Sunday afternoon. The only difference is our understanding of that presence. Life is where we have the most important and most consistent experience of God. Life is the greatest grace.
Today’s story of the cleansing of the Temple is another step in our preparation for the goal of Lent: to celebrate the great act of love in the Triduum, the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. The call of Ash Wednesday to “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15) needs to become more urgent each and every day of our common Lenten journey. The cleansing of the temple has not yet been completed. Jesus is always calling us to make our worship practices more sincere, more authentic and more prayerful.
In response to the leaders demands to justify his actions, Jesus says: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” (Jn 2:19) The Jewish authorities took it literally and rejected it outright. Only after the resurrection did the disciples begin to understand the full depth of Jesus’ claim. However, we are the beneficiaries of the whole story. We need to see the deeper meaning that Jesus intends: the overwhelming reality of his saving death and resurrection. It is by uniting ourselves in faith to the risen Christ that we are truly at home in Our Father’s House, the true temple that has nothing to do with brick and mortar. Here we find the way to true worship leading to eternal life.
John’s Gospel almost always has multiple levels that challenge the reader to always dig deeper into the message. One of the more profound issues hidden deeper in today’s story of Jesus in the Temple is the dynamism between the sacred and profane. John is challenging the all-too-common practice that isolates the experience of God solely in the context of the sacred. Jesus is confronting that distortion in today’s Gospel text and in the entire Gospel of John.
The message of the Incarnation, “the Word became flesh” (Jn 1:14), points to the presence of God in the everyday events of life. In Jesus, God is revealing his desire to dwell in the midst of all people. Right before today’s text we have a perfect example of God in the ordinary flow of life in the wedding at Cana.
One way of better understanding the relation of the sacred and profane is to grasp the true purpose of the liturgy and prayer. Liturgy and prayer are intended to enlighten the rest of life that appears to be removed from the sacred. These spiritual activities, as encounters with the sacred, are intended to unveil God’s presence in the normal flow of daily life. The sacramental principle of our faith uses rituals of the ordinary to enter more deeply into mystery of life. We step away from the daily routine only to enter more deeply into it with the help of the grace and insights of liturgy and prayer. God’s presence is the same for the Mass on Sunday morning as the family dinner on Sunday afternoon. The only difference is our understanding of that presence. Life is where we have the most important and most consistent experience of God. Life is the greatest grace.
Today’s story of the cleansing of the Temple is another step in our preparation for the goal of Lent: to celebrate the great act of love in the Triduum, the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. The call of Ash Wednesday to “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15) needs to become more urgent each and every day of our common Lenten journey. The cleansing of the temple has not yet been completed. Jesus is always calling us to make our worship practices more sincere, more authentic and more prayerful.
