3rd Sunday of Lent

Our theme of covenant continues as we enter the 3rd week of Lent.  On the first Sunday of Lent, we heard the story of Noah reminding us of the first covenant.  Last week we heard the story of Abraham and Isaac reminding us of the second covenant.  This week we hear the Ten Commandments, which are at the heart of the third covenant set with Moses and the people of Israel.

The Word for the 3rd Sunday of Lent
Exodus 20:1-17
Psalms 19:8, 9, 10, 11
1 Corinthians 1:22-25
John 2:13-25

Our first reading comes from the book of Exodus and the passage that gives us the Ten Commandments.  Most of us know the story of how God had Moses go up the sacred mountain to receive the commandments written on stone tablets, at which point we assume Moses presented these commandments to the people.  But if you follow the text we see that God gives Moses these Ten Commandments (and the subsequent 3 chapters of commandments) to Moses and the people before he climbs the mountain to receive the stone tablets, which we know was a trip that took 40 days.  We also remember that when Moses comes down from the mountain, he sees what terrible sins the people have committed in his absence, made all the more serious when you consider that God and Moses had presented the people with the commandments before he ascended the mountain.  Regardless of the sequence of events, however, the point to be made this third Sunday of Lent is to remember that in giving us these commandments, God committed himself to us, and we to him.  From those words of The Ten Commandments, our Psalm reminds us that those very words bring “everlasting life.”

Our second reading comes from Paul’s 1st Letter to the Corinthians.  In this passage Paul reminds us that the sign of our covenant, Christ crucified, seems like folly to those who do not believe.  Paul claims that “Jews demand signs, and Greeks look for wisdom,” but Jesus’ death on the cross would seem to lack both.  Paul continues, however, to remind us that the risen Christ receives both his power and wisdom from God, and these gifts from God pale in comparison to any strength or wisdom we humans may have.  As Paul reminded us last week, “If Christ if for us, who can be against us.”

Our Gospel this week comes from John and his telling of the cleansing of the Temple – that pivotal story where Jesus drives all the merchants and money changers from the Temple.  Not only is this story filled with the kind of action we’re not accustomed to seeing in Jesus, but it marks an important turning point in our narrative.  From this moment on Jesus becomes a marked man – marked for death.  In the three synoptic gospels, this story comes right before the Last Supper, yet her in John’s Gospel it comes right after the wedding at Cana, at the very beginning of his ministry.  Why does John put this story so early?  Because it reinforces his narrative that Jesus had but one mission:  to die for our sins, defeat death, and rise on the third day.  It is through Jesus’ death and resurrection that we make our new covenant and are reunited with God our Father.  Not only is Jesus’ mission clear, but it sets the tone for the rest of his ministry through John’s Gospel.  This Sunday it also reminds us of that new covenant which leads to our salvation.

Final Thoughts:
Remembering also that a running theme through Lent is baptism, what do our readings this week have to say?  Our first reading, the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses, is a reminder of how our baptism is also a covenant with God, and that by accepting baptism we acknowledge our obedience to God and God’s Law.  Our second reading reminds us that it is through Jesus’ crucifixion, his death and resurrection, that enables us to be baptized.  That takes us to our gospel, John’s version of the cleansing of the temple.  Through this gospel we are reminded that our baptism is also a cleansing of the temple… the temple of our bodies, made clean, a new creation, through baptism.