Fr. Patrick SDB - Homily for III Sunday in Lent (Year B) - 3 March 2024
Mass Readings: Ex 20:1-17 Ps 18 1Cor 1: 22-25 Jn 2:13-25
Key Verse: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (Jn 2:19). The
Liturgy of the Word of God on this third Sunday in Lent presents to us two
themes for our meditation and life: 1. The Commandments of God and 2. The
Temple. The Ten Commandments are like marker posts when venturing into a dense
forest with unknown paths. Even if we miss one, we could become lost and find
ourselves in dangerous situations. The purpose of the commandments is precisely
this: they are signals to prevent us from falling into sin. During this season
of Lent, we should examine our lives to see if we strictly observe some
commandments and violate others. The Temple of God reminds us of the holy
presence of God. It is the place of purification and reconciliation. St. Paul
reminds us that we are to glorify God in our bodies because our bodies are
temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19).
The
First Reading: The first reading from
the Book of Exodus deals with the theme of the Ten Commandments of God. It
provides us with a certain direction for our Lenten observances, with an
emphasis on the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments of God. Often, we do not
understand the commandments and take them for granted. We mistake them for
God's arbitrary prohibitions. But in reality, God's commandments are a
manifestation of His love for humanity. When the lawyer demanded from Jesus,
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" Jesus summed
up the Ten Commandments in just two commandments: that of love for God and love
for neighbour: 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with
all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and first
commandment. And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbour as
yourself.' On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
(Mt 22:36-40).
The
Ten Commandments: The Ten Commandments are
to be observed entirely, for you cannot observe five and violate the other
five, or even just one of them. There is no option or privilege in following
one commandment and disregarding the others; in such a case, there is no virtue.
In this situation, it is good to remember Jesus' admonition regarding our
adherence to the commandments: "Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least
of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least
in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called
great in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 5:19).
The
Gospel: The prophetic act of cleansing the
temple is presented by St. John right at the beginning, while in the synoptics,
it is placed in the section of Jerusalem ministry, especially after the
triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mt 21:12-17; Mk 11:15-19; Lk 19:45-48). The
Gospel tells us that as the Passover feast of the Jews (Jn 5:1, 6:4, 11:55) was
near, Jesus also went up to Jerusalem to observe it. When he entered the holy
temple of Jerusalem, he saw that it had been turned into a marketplace with
people selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and money changers seated at their
tables. Jesus became so angry that he made a whip of cords and drove all of
them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle, and poured out the coins
of the money changers and overturned their tables. In today’s Gospel reading,
St. John presents Jesus purifying the old temple, driving out merchants and
merchandise from it with a whip of cords. Why did Jesus act like this?
Background to the Pericope: In the Jerusalem Temple, the Outer Court, or
Court of the Gentiles, was the place where the animals needed for sacrifice or
offering were bought. For those coming from a distance, as well as for the Jews
of Jerusalem, it was convenient to be able to buy on the spot the oxen, sheep,
or pigeons (Lev 5:7, 15:14, 29, 17:3) required for sacrifice or for offerings
of purification. Similarly, the trade of the moneychangers (kollubistes)
was necessary because Roman money could not be accepted in the Temple treasury.
The capitation tax or "atonement money" of half a shekel (Ex 30:13,
Neh 10:32, Mt 17:24) had to be tendered in the orthodox coinage.
For
the feast of Passover, Jews and believers from all parts of the world used to
gather in Jerusalem, sometimes over two million people. Everyone had to pay the
temple tax (equivalent to two days' salary), which could only be paid in the
local currency. Arriving with all sorts of foreign coins, they had to exchange
them in the courtyards of the temple, where the money changers managed to
exploit those poor people, equivalent to another day's work. The same was true
for dove sellers. Most pilgrims wanted to offer a small or large animal as a
temple sacrifice. However, these animals had to be declared suitable by temple
experts. If purchased outside the temple, these animals were almost certainly
declared unsuitable, so they had to be bought inside the temple precincts, at
three times the normal price. Ultimately, the poor had to pay a little more.
In
God’s house, injustice cannot be tolerated. Money should not be the criterion
for worshipping God, which sadly is the situation in many famous places of
worship. Therefore, Jesus reacted to the injustice committed against the
simple, the poor, and more generally, to the idea that one must present oneself
to God with victims and offerings as if it were necessary to buy His favor.
Prophets like Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others have already denounced the use
of worship and faith, especially in the temple, for profit, particularly as a
consequence of oppressing and exploiting the "little ones". Jesus
goes to the very heart of the problem: the temple, which is supposed to exist
as a place of intimacy and invocation to the Father, has become a space for
trade, for profits, and for party interests, which Jesus did not tolerate.
A
House of Prayer: Jesus challenged all the
traders and said to those who were selling the doves, "Take these things
out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace" (Jn 2:16). In
the Matthean account, the Jerusalem temple is termed as a house of prayer: "It
is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer'; but you are making it
a den of robbers" (Mt 21:13). The place of prayer being converted into a
marketplace was viewed by Jesus as an act of desecration. Condemning this,
Jesus said, “Stop making the house of my Father a house of trade” (Jn 2:16).
The remarkable phrase “my Father” (not “our Father”) indicates a special
relationship between Him and God the Father. It is not found in Mark, but it
occurs 4 times in Luke, 16 times in Matthew, and 27 times in John (Jn 20:17).
In Lk 2:49, he would tell the parents that he must be in his Father’s house.
Like the psalmist, Christ is devoured by "zeal for the house of God"
(Ps 69:9).
The
Jerusalem Temple in the Old Testament is fondly cited as “the house of God,” as
Jesus did in the New Testament (Mk 2:26, Mt 12:4, Lk 6:4). This prophetic
action of Jesus alludes to the final words of Zechariah’s vision of the kingdom
of God: “No trader shall again be seen in the house of the Lord of Hosts” (Zec
14:21). The Christological significance of the temple cleansing reveals the
fact that Jesus has come to remove all barriers to the true worship of God,
which will be done in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:23).
The
Jews, especially the temple authorities, demanded a sign (1 Cor 1:22), seeking
an explanation for this daring act of Jesus. Jesus, who vehemently chased out
the traders and the moneychangers in the beginning, later, when asked for a
sign, said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it
up" (Jn 2:19). These words of Jesus became a topic of accusation against
Him at His trial before the high priest (Mk 14:58, Mt 26:61; Mk 15:29, Acts
6:14). It is true, as per the Synoptists' report, that Jesus had predicted the
downfall of the temple (Mk 13:2, Mt 24:2, Lk 21:6). So, we need to understand
Jesus' saying here because the cleansing of the temple gives us the idea of
Christ as the new temple. Because a rebuilding of the Temple would mean the restoration
of the old Jewish system of ritual and sacrifice, and this was not the purpose
of Jesus. Jesus’ peculiar phrase means that the “destruction” of the temple is
completed in the destruction of the body of Jesus, and the building of the new
temple takes place through the resurrection of Jesus. While the Jews will
accomplish the former, Jesus will accomplish the latter, and both actions have
to be understood in the light of Easter.
Points
for Reflection: When I enter the Church
to pray, how do I treat the holy place? Do we respect the Church as the house
of prayer, where we raise our hearts to God in silence and gratitude? In this
time of Lent, we are asked to honor God with our lives, with our commitment to
change and renew, following the commandments of the Lord (1 Jn 5:3). Do we seek
Christ, the power, and the wisdom of God in this Lent (1 Cor 1:24)? Do we love
God’s commandments and make a regular effort to observe and be obedient to
them?
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