[Salvation]

Insight Scoop

True Worship and the Cleansing of the Temple

"Christ driving the moneychangers from the Temple" (1635) by Rembrandt [WikiArt.org]

A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, March 8, 2015, the Third Sunday of Lent | Carl E. Olson

Readings:
• Ex 20:1-17
• Psa 19:8, 9, 10, 11
• 1 Cor 1:22-25
• Jn. 2:13-25

Benedict XVI, in Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration (2007), explained that Jesus Christ is the new Torah and the new Temple. “Jesus understands himself as the Torah—as the word of God in person”, wrote Benedict. And then, a bit later: “The issue of Jesus’ claim to be Temple and Torah in person also has implications for the question of Israel—the issue of the living community of the people in whom God’s word is actualized.”

This understanding is not unique to Benedict. For example, Dr. Matthew Levering developed it in his book, Christ’s Fulfillment of Torah and Temple (University of Notre Dame Press, 2002), emphasizing the insights of St. Thomas Aquinas. But, you ask, what does such high-minded theology have to do with living a Christian life, especially during Lent? Today’s readings, which focus on the Torah and the Temple, provide an opportunity to reflect on that question.

Let’s begin by asking: what was the purpose of the Torah? The Ten Commandments (and 603 other commandments) were given within the context of two key events: the Exodus from Egypt and the covenant at Mount Sinai. The Exodus was aimed at two things, the first obvious, the second less so: land and worship. We all know of the promised land flowing with milk and honey, but we often overlook God’s words to Pharaoh, given by Moses: “Let my people go to serve me in the wilderness” and “We must go a three days’ journey in the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord, our God, as he commands us” (Ex 7:16; 8:23). Freedom from slavery meant freedom to openly worship God.

Finally free, the people went to the base of Mount Sinai, where Moses eventually received the Torah. As Joseph Ratzinger notes in The Spirit of the Liturgy (Ignatius Press, 2000), the covenant established there united “the three aspects of worship, law, and ethics”—that is, how to relate to God and to others, in public and private relationships. The Torah was meant to lead to the fullness of life, which included entering the promised land. Rather than giving blind submission to an unknown, capricious deity, the people were to respond with love to the mercy and goodness of the Lord (see CCC 2062).

The Torah, then, was not legalistic or based in anger, but came from a rather stunning expression of divine, personal love. Just as God had created everything out of love, he also created a people of his own out of love and with a distinct purpose. Jewish scholar Maurice Samuel, in his introduction to Solomon Goldman’s commentary, The Ten Commandments (University of Chicago, 1963), wrote, “Just as Genesis is an explosive denial of the randomness of the physical universe, so the Revelation at Sinai is a repudiation of the meaninglessness of history.”

That repudiation culminated in the Incarnation. And Jesus Christ, by his life, death, and resurrection established a new and everlasting covenant that perfectly fulfilled the Torah (cf., CCC 2052-2055). Through him, we have life and purpose, for in him we share in the very life of God.

The Temple in Jerusalem was, of course, a place of worship; it was God’s dwelling place among his chosen people. Sacrifices were offered there for the atonement of sins, but it had increasingly become the home for a lucrative system of money changing and price gauging. The house of God had become, in many ways, a supermarket and a “den of robbers” (Jer 7:11). Rather than a sacred place where man be reconciled to God, the Temple was becoming a place of corrupt commodity.

Just as the covenant at Sinai established man’s right relationship with God, the cleansing of the Temple drew a line in the sand—not to repress, but to redeem. If God is not given proper honor and worship, love begins to die and relationships are perverted. We begin by loving God and accepting Christ’s mercy, grace, and life. All else follows.

(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the March 11, 2012, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)

[Salvation]

Regnum Christi

Purify Us, Lord!

U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

March 8, 2015. Third Sunday of Lent

By Father David Daly, LC

John 2:13-25

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 moneychangers 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 moneychangers 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 marketplace." 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.

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe in your Incarnation: that you came to teach us, suffer for us and show us the way home to heaven. I trust in your utter goodness and mercy and am confident that you are leading me always. I love you and wish to make you known to many others, so they can be filled with the peace and joy that only you can give. Here I am now, ready and longing to encounter you through this meditation.

Petition: Lord, purify me!

1. “Zeal for Your House Will Consume Me.” When they witnessed Jesus cleansing the Temple, the apostles remembered the words from Psalm 69: “It is zeal for your house that has consumed me” (Psalm 69:9). Through his zeal — his passionate love for God’s house — Jesus fulfills the words from the Old Testament. He takes possession of his own house, the Temple, and he evicts all of those who are making it a place of commerce. In doing so Christ teaches us that our faith must also be pure from all selfish, pragmatic concerns. We must be purified to grow in our friendship with Christ.

2. Destroy This Temple: Jesus’ teachings about the Temple also show us the path to interior purification: the Paschal Mystery. He refers to his death and resurrection when he says, “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up.” Not only does he fulfill the Old Testament in this Gospel passage, but he also gives us the example and the key to our own purification: We must die to ourselves in order to have life! We must cast out the concerns and “commerce” that dominate our hearts and minds even during times of prayer. Only through purification can we can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.

3. Jesus Knows: Jesus does not need anyone to tell him about human nature. He knows it well. He knows how hard it is to break away from what is merely human and to elevate all we do to a spiritual level. When he was on earth, he experienced the struggle and the temptations we face. Through his unfailing example he taught us how to live. He taught us to be radical in choosing God in our lives and courageous in putting him first. We need to put him first in our work, family and personal lives. When we can put God first, then we can truly be temples of the Holy Spirit.

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, you know how we become weighed down with mere human concerns; yet you desire much more for us. Help me to follow your example and be radical in my interior life. Give me the strength to put you above all other worries and concerns.

Resolution: Lord, today I will weigh what really is first in my life against what ought to be first in my life, and I will take a specific step to reestablish the proper order.