THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT- YEAR-B

I Reading: Exodus 20:1-17: The Law was given through Moses.

The ten commandments were given to the Israelites as part of their preparation from a wandering to a settled life.

II Reading: 1Corinthians 1:22-25: Here we are preaching a crucified Christ, an obstacle to men, but those who are called, the wisdom of God.

Corinth was a Greek world in a nutshell. There were party divisions in the church; the community at large saw the Crucifixion in widely differing lights, ranging from scandal to madness. Paul casts his own conviction that the death of Jesus was nothing less than the power and wisdom of God.

Gospel: John 2:13-25: Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.

Revelation 2: Jesus is Supreme over God’s House, Jn 2:12-22

The selling of live stock and changing Roman money into Jewish coinage was legitimate business. It is the abuse of the system, the turning of the Temple into a brigand’s cave, that aroused our Lord Jesus’ anger.

Jesus Christ has supremacy over God’s house, that is, over the temple or church. He alone has the right to rule and reign over God’s house.

1.    Jesus left Cana (v.12-13)

a.    He went to Capernaum for a short time

b.    He then went to Jerusalem to attend the Passover

2.    His discovery of evil in the temple (v.14)

a.    He entered the temple

b.    He found the temple desecrated

3.    His right to cleanse the temple (v.15-17)

a.    The whip: a symbol

i.                The whip of cords was a symbol of his righteous anger, of his right to enforce obedience within the temple and the power and cleansing judgement of God that causes people to tremble before God (Ph 2:9-11).

ii.              Jesus’ unique relationship to God. He called God, “My Father” and called the temple, “My Father’s House.” A house for worship for all people not only for Jews but for Gentiles too.

iii.            Jesus’ consuming zeal. His zeal fulfilled Scripture and demonstrated that he was the Messiah. The Messiah was bound to be zealous for God’s house and to react in anger at such corruption within the temple. Scripture had predicted the Lord’s zeal (Ps 69:9); therefore, Jesus had the right to show zeal and anger against such desecration of the temple. He was the Messiah, and his act stirred the memory of the disciples. (Lev 19:30; Hab 2:20; Ps 89:7).

4.    His power to erect a new temple (v.18-21)

a.    His authority questioned

b.    His sign: A new meeting place for God and people

c.     His symbolic meaning: His body-His death and resurrection

5.    His objective achieved: the disciples believed the Scripture and the Word of the Lord (v.22)

Revelation 3: Jesus knows All Men, Jn 2:23-25

This is a brief passage packed full of powerful truths. Jesus revealed that he knew all men.

1.    Fact 1: many believed in Jesus (v.23)

a.    Believed in His name

b.    Believed because of the miraculous signs

2.    Fact 2: Jesus did not commit nor entrust Himself to men (v.24-25)

a.    He knew all men

b.    He knew what was in a man

Thought: The temple is not to be used as a commercial centre. It is not to be a place for buying and selling, marketing and retailing, stealing and cheating. It is not to be profaned. The temple is the House of God, God’s House of worship. It is to be a place of sanctity, refined and purified by God himself. It is to be a place of prayer, quietness and meditation, a place aside for worship, not for buying and selling where people get gain.

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