3rd Sunday of Lent Year B
Readings: Exodus 20: 1-17 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 John 2: 13-25
Theme: Jesus: The fullness of the commandments
On this 3rd Sunday of Lent Year B, the three readings we have are packed with lessons that will guide and help us to be good followers of Christ. They present us with some important issues that will help us to be true witnesses to the word of God that we are called to live and share with our brothers and sisters wherever we find ourselves.
In the 1st reading from the Book of Exodus, we see an admonition that centres on the Ten Commandments given to Moses for the people of Israel and by extension for Christians all over the world. The commandments direct us on the path we should walk if we truly want to be sons and daughters of God. It is a good reminder for us during this season of Lent, an opportunity for us to re-evaluate our faithfulness to God in relation to our call to discipleship. It is an opportunity for us to fill the valleys in our lives and level the mountain; so that on the resurrection morning, we will all rise in Glory with our Lord Jesus Christ. This commandment and so many other commandments of the Israelites, is what Jesus summed up as love of God and neighbour. If all our actions are guided by love of God and neighbour, it therefore means we are already practicing the admonition presented to us in the Book of Exodus.
In the gospel reading for this Sunday, we see an emotional and angry Jesus. He chased people who were doing business inside the Temple, by so doing desecrating the Temple. This is an aspect of Jesus that is not easily noticed, even when he is provoked. The Temple is a place of prayer and not a place for business. The action of Jesus in the Temple, is presenting a very important question to Christians all over the world. Do you respect the Church as a sacred place and a place of worship? We are all encouraged to conduct ourselves in the church, in a manner that shows that we are in a sacred place and acknowledge the presence of God. If we can do this, we will stop chatting and making noise inside the church and we will also stop making use of our phones to distract other people while we are in the church. The church is a sacred place and must be treated as such. If we can take the admonition in today’s 1st reading serious, it will help us towards keeping the church as a sacred place and also issues pertaining to God.
St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians, points out the fact that Jesus is the fullness of the Law and the Wisdom of God. However, the Jews and the Gentiles see him differently. “He is a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles”. You and I as children of God, preach a crucified Christ; that brought salvation to humanity. This is the message that we carry and are encouraged to live in our daily lives in a very special way during this season of Lent. By so doing living a life that is pleasing to God.
May God grant us the grace to preach the crucified Christ in our daily life. Peace be with you. Amen.