Third Sunday in Lent 2018 (Cycle B)
March 4, 2018
Exodus 20:1-17
1 Corinthians 1:22-25
John 2:13-25
The Book of Exodus not only gives us a picture of the Israelites as a people of God, but it is as much as a selection process by the Lord to take these people who call themselves the tribes of Israel out of Egypt. Exodus literally means “going out” and in this case it is the journey they under take to leave the slavery they were under in Egypt. They have been crying out to YAHWEH that they felt abandon by their God, that they were destined to live out their days as slaves under the Pharaohs. This exodus becomes the faith experience for them where they recall what the Lord has done for them.
Not only does this experience start them on the way to being a people of God, but it is to become their faith journey that they recall even today. This verbal story that they tell over and over again is the reminder that they have a God who led them from slavery to the promised land. It is their rich faith experience they hand down generation by generation until it is finally put in written form.
Our reading today takes place after they have left Egypt and are heading towards the promised land. While the Lord is already known to the people as the one who has led them out of the slavery of Egypt, the Lord opens this passage by introducing Himself, taking that first step in communicating to the people who He is and who they are in His sight, establishing them as His chosen ones.
The word commandments is really translated as "words." When the Lord spoke to the people through Moses, He spoke ten words, which we now translate as Ten Commandments. These ten words form the basis of the covenantal relationship He is establishes with the people.
One unique aspect of the commandments is that they are written as a series of laws, commands, directed to a person, requiring them to either to perform or refrain from performing some action. They are not written as governmental laws for a community to follow. While these types of laws are not typical in the ancient Near East, they are characteristic of Israel. This aspect of the law then becomes very intimate as God is speaking directly to each individual Israelite.
Most all of these commands form a tribal wisdom that was handed down by the elders in the tribe that the young were expected to learn. They were meant to provide for the common good of the tribe, and as elders of the tribe, their were words were given emphasis since they were the authority figures.
It is very clear, right from verse1, that Yahweh is the one who is giving the laws, but it is far from the wisdom of a tribal leader, but is given as one acting in behalf of the entire community, This direct intervention by the Lord is a continuation of Him acting in the lives of the people, waiting for them to respond to what he asks of them.
Our passage from 1 Corinthians is short, but has a huge impact theologically. As Paul often does, his words "Christ crucified" sums up what can be called as stumbling block. especially for those who are non-believers. He says that Jews demand signs, Greeks look for wisdom. This stumbling block, this scandal can keep people from faith. The Jews see someone hanging on a tree as a curse, and the Greeks see someone undergoing this disgrace as foolishness.
This paradox is one that Paul continuously tries to express in all of his letters, especially in his letter to the Philippians. But, here in this letter, he sets up the contrast of the two, human judgment and divine wisdom. What Paul once considered power and wisdom he now considers "rubbish."
Our gospel scripture this week is from John where we read his description of Jesus purifying the temple. At the outset it seems like Jesus is upset that the merchants are not showing respect to God's temple. For us to have a clear understanding, we must know that the reference to the temple is not to just the actual building, but the area that surrounded the building. It consisted of court yards that were used for many things. When we hear Jesus teaching in the temple, he is teaching in the court yard outside of the building.
Among other signs, symbols, and words carrying double meanings, John attempts to set up Jesus ultimate death by equating other events in His life.
Going to Jerusalem near the time of Passover equates to the time Jesus enters Jerusalem we celebrate as Palm Sunday.
The Jewish laws demanded that all Jews make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and that they were to make a sacrifice. For those who came from foreign lands, they need to exchange their money for the money recognized and used by the Jews, so they need a place for money exchange and purchase of the animals to be offered for sacrifice. That place was the temple where those things happened. The conflict with the money changers becomes a conflict with the Jewish authorities who enforced the sacrifices at the temple.
The conflict then changes to Jesus and the Jews asking for a "sign," a stumbling block once again. As with most answers Jesus gives the people, they misunderstand His reply. The sign he gives them is the temple being destroyed and being raised again in three days. They think he means the temple courtyard and building, but His reference is His own body raising from the dead after three days. John is writing this gospel after the Roman soldiers under Titus in 70 AD have destroyed the temple and so John uses this destruction of their place of worship to characterize Jesus death because the Jews did not believe Jesus while he was still with them.
We need to ask ourselves today if we seek signs, wisdom or other things to help us believe in God because of a lack of faith on our part. Or has our faith made us strong enough to say that our life is based on the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus?