March 3rd 2024. Third Sunday of Lent
GOSPEL: John 2:13-25
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio
Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...
GOSPEL: John 2:13-25
Just before the Jewish Passover Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and in the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting at their counters there. Making a whip out of some cord, he drove them all out of the Temple, cattle and sheep as well, scattered the money changers’ coins, knocked their tables over and said to the pigeon-sellers, ‘Take all this out of here and stop turning my Father’s house into a market.’ Then his disciples remembered the words of scripture: Zeal for your house will devour me. The Jews intervened and said, ‘What sign can you show us to justify what you have done?’ Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this sanctuary: are you going to raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking of the sanctuary that was his body, and when Jesus rose from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the words he had said.
During his stay in Jerusalem for the Passover many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he gave, but Jesus knew them all and did not trust himself to them; he never needed evidence about any man; he could tell what a man had in him.
The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ
SUMMARY
The Gospel recounts the event of Jesus purifying the Temple and chasing away the things that should not be there. There is a clear parallel between the Temple of Jerusalem and the temple that is our bodies. Each one of us is a temple of the Holy Spirit and in need of the purifying activity of Jesus. The first reading lists the Ten Commandments. In the Old Testament these are always referred to as the “Ten Words”. They were not cold imperatives but statements of a loving dialogue with a providential Father. The Commandments were kept in the Ark of the Covenant in the most sacred part of the Temple. In the same way, the most sacred area deep within each of us should be a place where the word of the Lord dwells. This Sunday’s Gospel should prompt me to ask myself: What is in my heart? A relationship of abandonment to the providential love of God? Or a spirit of profit and self-gain? “To profane the Temple” in the Old Testament meant to place something that should not be there in the Holy of Holies. May the sacred place inside of me not be profane! May it be the place of a relationship of trust with my loving Father!
There is a parallelism in this text between the purification of the Temple in Jerusalem and the need to purify what is inside each one of us, since we are temples of the Holy Spirit.
The last line of this Gospel is a useful way to approach the meaning of the passage, even though it would be very easy not to notice it at all. We are told that Jesus did not need to be told what was in the heart of man, because he already knew. This verse can be used as a lens for viewing the entire story of the purification of the Temple. Jesus arrives at the Temple and discovers animals, doves, money changers and sellers. He fashions a broom and clears all of them away from the entrance to the Temple. The act is clearly premeditated. It is not a case of Jesus losing his temper, flying into a fury and losing control of himself. Such interpretations are inconsistent with the wider picture of this symbolic, profound action on the part of Jesus. He then makes an extraordinary prophecy about his Passion and Resurrection. John places this event in the second chapter of his Gospel, immediately after the miracle at Cana. Matthew, Mark and Luke recount it to us just as Jesus is entering Jerusalem, shortly before the Passion. But John describes this event just after his account of the transformation of the water into wine, using the very jars used by the Jews for acts of purification. Then he goes to the Temple and cleanses it of the things that ought not be there.
Jesus found the spirit of profit and self-gain in the Temple. What does he see when he gazes inside each one of us?
When the Jewish leaders challenge him about his actions, Jesus begins to speak in a prophetic way about his own body. This connection between temple and the body of Christ is something that we are now well familiar with. The Church is the body of Christ, and each of us is called to be a temple of the Holy Spirit. John’s account contains allusions to all of these elements. At the end of the passage he tells us that Jesus knew what was in the heart of man. In this time of Lent it is important to focus on purification and on what is needed for a pure and healthy heart. “Purification” means “to pass through fire”. What is in our hearts that needs to be passed through fire? When Jesus enters the Temple, he finds merchants. In a parallel way we should realize that when the Lord looks into the interior of each of us, he finds a marketplace. He sees habits and attitudes that use the things of God for our own selfish ends.
The most sacred area of the Temple used to contain the Ten Commandments. These commandments represent a relationship of dialogue and trust with God. What is in inside us, in the most sacred area of our interior lives?
The first reading contains a statement of the Ten Commandments. What is the connection between the Commandments and the purification of the Temple? The Ten Commandments were contained in the Ark of the Covenant, and the Ark was placed in the most sacred part of the Temple. The Temple was divided into different sections. The Court of the Gentiles was an area where even the non-Jews could enter. Then there were areas reserved only for Jews, for the tribe of Levi, for the priest whose turn it was to offer the sacrifices, and finally there was the most internal zone, the heart of the Temple, the Holy of Holies where the Ark was kept. To profane the Temple meant to put something in that area that did not belong there. When the Gospel says, “Jesus knew what was at the heart of man”, we should reflect on what ought to be at the heart of any temple of the Lord. In the Latin tradition we speak of the “Ten Commandments” but in the Old Testament these were always referred to as the “Ten Words”. In other words, they were not abstract, cold imperatives, but a relationship of dialogue with the Lord. What is in man? Either God is at the heart of each one of us, speaking to us as an intimate providential Father, or there is deceit, the darkness that comes with refusing the authority of God. When the latter is the case, profit and conceit take over in the Temple. Jesus says, “Do not make a market of this place!” Either we have the paternal wisdom of God at heart, wherein we entrust ourselves to his providence in the Holy of Holies within each of us, or we are a marketplace, consumed by a spirit of self-profit that is never satisfied.
May this Sunday be a time when the sword of God’s word strikes us within, making us ponder what it is that lies in our hearts! Is it a relationship of trust with God, or a spirit of egoism and self-gain?
In this time of Lent we must focus on the state of our hearts. The word of the Lord this Sunday is like a sword that strikes at us within, enquiring what has taken the place of the relationship of trust with God. What is within our hearts? One of the Psalms says: “If you do not speak to me, then I am like one who goes down in the pit”. But if God speaks to my heart, then I am truly alive, happy and well.
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