Reflection

Third Sunday of Lent

Gospel

Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,  as well as the money changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,  and spilled the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables,  and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here,  and stop making my Father’s house a market place.”His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,  Zeal for your house will consume me. At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered and said to them,  “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,  and you will raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,  his disciples remembered that he had said this,  and they came to believe the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.

While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,  many began to believe in his name  when they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all,  and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.                                                                                                     John 2: 13-25

Reflection

Our reading from John’s Gospel might assist us with an answer. The cleansing in the temple in the three other Gospels takes place rather close to Jesus’ arrest and condemnation to death. In John, it takes place in the second chapter right after the changing of the water into wine. Yes, it is tucked in after the First Sign of His identity and mission. The very and absolute mission for Jesus is, by His life, death and resurrection to re-identify God as the saving-loving God, and us as the very created-people of God. He has changed water, a symbol of chaos, into wine, the symbol of life. Jesus moves, in this second chapter, to His mission of re-creating God’s loved family, nation, people.

Human frailty is embraced by the human Jesus. Keeping over six-hundred laws is an impossible expectation. So an unjustified person can fulfil the rules to obtain righteousness by sacrificing various animals which would render God pleased and back in relations with the sacrificer.

In today’s Gospel the sellers or money-changers provide such animals, sheep and cows mainly. They are helping those who feel separated from God by not observing various laws of God. Dramatically, Jesus, the Man of change, appears doing His mission, living His identity. Here and in many confrontations, Jesus is defining that He is Justification, He is the Lamb of Sacrifice, He is the Loving Face of God bringing God’s people out of slavery to their chaos and out of darkness about their, and our, identities.

So the real answer is not what is justification, but Who is! Our Lent is giving up false identities which tend to disidentify ourselves. We operate as misnamed, misidentified flying objects. We are invited to allow Jesus to turn us over, drive out our ways of chaos and allow Him to meet us in our simplicity, humility and faith.

May we all enjoy being at His Eucharistic Table where He turns Himself over to us.

Julie Leonard Religious Education Leader/Wellbeing Leader