The Third Sunday of Lent – March 7, 2021

The Third Sunday of Lent – March 7, 2021

First Reading: Exodus 20:1-3, 7-8, 12-17

Psalm: Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 11 (John 6:68c)

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:22-25

Gospel Acclamation: John 3:16

Gospel: John 2:13-25

Introduction

It struck me as I was contemplating this week’s readings, which include the giving of

the Ten Commandments, the ten-point summary of God’s law, to Israel, that they really

are outstanding and good. Why wouldn’t we want to do them?

The problem lies with us. Our relationship with God, which is supposed to be what is

described in the first three Commandments, is disordered because of concupiscence

and Original Sin, which we have inherited through the Fall, precipitated by the

disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden. And since all our other relationships

(the other seven Commandments) flow from that most basic relationship with God, all

of our other relationships are disordered as well.

So what happened to our relationship with God at the Fall? The Serpent (Satan)

introduced us to the lie that God was holding out on us, that He did not really have

our best interests in mind. “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any of the trees

in the garden’” The inference was that God was not good, that He was a cosmic killjoy.

Eve clarified God’s command, that it was only the fruit of one tree they were not

supposed to eat, or else they would die.

Then Satan assured her that God was lying about the penalty. In fact, the one thing

that would make them like gods — the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and

evil — God had forbidden them to eat. Therefore, he implied, God had made it

impossible for them to fulfill their destiny to become God-like. Their only recourse was

to act independently and disobey the command of God, seize the fruit, and eat it. The

truth was that God has already created them in His image, and they were to grow into 

that image through a relationship of trust, obedience, and dependency, walking with

Him.

Instead, the Lie was bought hook, line, and sinker by our first parents and fear (hiding

from) and death entered their and our relationship with God. All human beings since

then have operated from that basic relational paradigm established by the Fall. The

relationships between the man and the woman and their relationship with creation

were also disordered at the same time.

First Reading

God delivers the Ten Commandments to the Israelites as His basic rules of

relationship with Him and each other. It is important to note that the relational pattern

established in the Fall is still holding true, with fear and ignorance of God

predominating, as the people beg Moses to be their intermediary or buffer between

God and them. And given their sinful condition, God had to protect them from their

impure presumption and pride, from violating His commands and incurring the severe

consequences of that violation.

As we look at God’s Commandments, we can see they make a good basis for our

relationships with Him and each other. But because of our belief in the Lie, along with

fear, pride, and self-seeking, we are unable to do them on our own. If we do obey the

Commandments them, it is on the wrong basis or with the wrong motives.

Psalm

Psalm 19 is a psalm of David, in which he extols the excellency and virtues of the

Commandments. Our response says, they are the words of everlasting life. Even

though David loved God and His commandments, he was unable to keep them

perfectly and had some terrible falls into sin. He was a man of divided loyalties, even

though he did not want to be.

David says that the fear of the Lord is pure. That is because we are sinners, and we

have good reason for fearing God, but that is not God’s ultimate goal for us, which is 

love, as the Apostle John reveals in his First Epistle: There is no fear in love, but perfect

love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not

reached perfection in love. (1 John 4:18 NRSV-CE)

Second Reading

Notice that both the Jews and the Greeks (Gentiles) are looking for things, signs and

wisdom. We, however, proclaim a Person, Jesus Christ, who loved us so much that He

died for us, to reconcile us with God and restore our relationship with Him. And this

relationship provides the power and wisdom of God, so we can grow into

Christlikeness and fulfill the upward call of God in our lives. Human wisdom and

strength cannot do this. This is why we should not approach Christianity as a “thing”

based religion. I have found that Catholicism, properly understood, provides the most

resources to go deep in our relationship with God in prayer, Sacraments, and

obedience. But if it is not properly understood, it can degrade into a “thing” based

religion, just can happen in all the other forms of Christianity.

Gospel Acclamation

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him

might have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Gospel

Many of the Jews had perverted their God-ordained religion into a thing-based

ideology. Jewish businessmen had invaded the temple to make worship convenient

and to increase their wealth in the process. They had made it a marketplace and were

distracting the people from pursuing their relationship with God through worship and

prayer.

Jesus became angry with this development and drove out the businessmen with their

merchandise, using a whip of cords and overturning their tables. The other three

gospels record Him saying, “‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are 

making it a den of robbers.” But John records that the event brought Psalm 69:9 to the

minds of the disciples and fixed that prophetic verse in their minds.

Notice that the Jews immediately demand a sign as justification for His actions. And

He gave them as the sign the resurrection of His body after they have killed Him, but

they mistakenly applied it to the temple building. When they later remembered it, this

predicted sign would increase the faith of His disciples in Him.

The Gospel closes with the omniscience of Jesus, who knows what is always in our

hearts and minds.

Conclusion

The Law is good, but it cannot save us. It is a great guide about how we should live

our lives, but we need to be living a restored and growing relationship with the Holy

Trinity in order to be able follow it and not have it become a caricature of what God 

intends for us.