Third Sunday of Lent (Year B)

 Third Sunday of Lent March 03, 2024

Exodus 20:1-17; 1 Corinthians 1:22-25; John 2:13-25

(image courtesy: Google)

A new pastor arrived at a Texas church. One day, he took the bus to the town. When he sat down, he discovered that the bus driver had mistakenly given him a quarter (25 cents) too much in change. As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, “You’d better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it.” Then he thought, “Oh, forget it, it’s only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a ‘gift from God’ and keep quiet.” When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, and then handed the quarter to the driver and said, “Here, you gave me too much change.” The driver with a smile, replied, “Aren’t you the new pastor in town?” “Yes,” he replied. “Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. I’ll see you at Church next Sunday, pastor.” When the preacher stepped off the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, “Oh God I almost sold your Son for a quarter.”

In the temple precincts of our lives are “money changers” and connivers – fear, ambition, addictions, selfishness, prejudice – that distort the meaning of our lives and debase our relationships with God and with one another. Lent is a time to invite the “angry” Jesus of today’s Gospel into our lives to drive out those things that make our lives less than what God created them to be. To raise one’s voice against injustice, to stand up before the powerful on behalf of the weak, to demand accountability of those who exploit and abuse others for their own gain is to imitate the “holy” anger of Christ.

In the first reading, we have Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from God at Mount Sinai, which became the foundation of Israel’s new relationship with God. These commands were the basis of the religious life of the chosen people of the Old Testament. Already God had protected the people in the desert by nourishing them with food and protecting them from enemies.  Now he gives them these commandments to protect and build up their spiritual bond with God.  Therefore he makes a demand on them that God must come first in their lives before anything else.  It is not the unknown God but the one who has revealed his name to them and whom they have promised to hold in total reverence. This is the God who brought them out of Egypt and his love for them was described as Jealous Love. They were not to replace his love with anything else. The created world is God’s gift for them and they were to use it for their wellbeing. Here the people of Israel are invited to worship the true God. 

The cleansing of the temple is so relevant to our times. Not only our churches or institutions need this cleansing, but our government offices, politics, parliaments, assemblies, etc. Let us begin with each of us. On the face of it, what Jesus in cleansing the temple was a rejection of corrupt practices in the temple that distracted from true worship of God. But there is more at stake in his dramatic gesture and this becomes apparent as Jesus responds to the authorities who oppose him. The real issue here is the true worship of God and that will come about through the death and resurrection of Jesus, for as the Word-made-flesh he is the true temple or dwelling place of God, and in him we will come to abide in God’s love, which is what true worship is all about.

At times as followers of Angry Christ, we end up merely criticizing the outside political system behind closed doors and keep quiet. We fail to be a prophetic voice in our time. All of us have witnessed the last Christmas celebration of our prime minister with the bishops of India. The carols were sung by the Manipur people, who had been undergoing persecution for a year. No one raised their voice against the persecution of Christians in India. All is well in India? 

Like the merchants in the temple, we too can become consumed by worldly concerns—greed, materialism, and selfish desires—that obscure our vision of God's presence in our lives. Lent invites us to confront these distractions head-on and to make room for God's grace to transform us from within. 

A true Lenten observance demands a change of heart and a commitment to amend our ways. We are called to engage in acts of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, not as empty rituals, but as tangible expressions of our desire to draw closer to God and to our neighbour in love. Thus, to reignite in us the true image and likeness of God. 

Let us do so with hearts open to the transforming power of God's grace. Let us heed the call to cleanse the temple of our souls, embrace the gift of repentance, and enter into deeper communion with God and one another. May this season be a time of renewal and spiritual growth, leading us ever closer to the joy of Easter resurrection.

Happy Sunday