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. . . As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord . . . Joshua 25:15b
Lent 3 Yr B
Introduction
Introduction
Good reading and thinking this week. The gospel tells us of Jesus' frustration with commerce going on in the temple. So much frustration that he chased the merchants away and overturned their exchange tables. With his action, Jesus was saying that what they were doing was wrong, that God would not approve. So what does God approve of? Read the Exodus telling of the Ten Rules of Life, spoken by God to Moses (who subsequently told the Israelites). These are the rules to guide our lives. The question from sermon4kids.com is most appropriate: Are there some areas of your life where Jesus needs to do some "spring cleaning"? Feel free to comment.
John 2:13-22
John 2:13-22
. . . In the temple he [Jesus] found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”
From sermon4kids.com: “. . . the word Lent meant ‘the season of spring’. But it has now become much more than that. . . . Are there some areas of your life where Jesus needs to do some ‘spring cleaning’? I know there are in mine!”
Scripture: March 3, 2024, Lent 3—Exodus 20:1-17 (image); Psalm 19 (image); 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 (image); and John 2:13-22 (image). A visual/oral journey through the scripture. Coloring page for Psalm 19.
Collect: Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Reflection: The third Sunday of Lent focuses on the gift of God’s law (Exod. 20:1–17). John Calvin (1509–1564) described three uses for the Ten Commandments: First, they show us how to live before God and neighbor, and expose our sins in failing to live as God intends. Second, they instruct our civic or common life, showing us how to live responsibly in the freedom God gives. Third, rather than show us what we must do in order to receive God’s grace and love, the commandments show us how we should live because we are a people who have already received God’s grace and love in Jesus Christ. Does God’s law restrict or enhance our freedom as human beings?
(excerpted from Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: Liturgies for Year B, Volume 1 © 2014 Westminster John Knox Press)
Symbols of the Church
Symbols of the Church
Fish is a symbol of lent which calls us to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. It further reminds us of abstinence from meat on all the Fridays of Lenten season.
from "The Symbols of Lent and their Meaning" website.
Eye Candy: “Cleansing of the temple” (1000), unknown; “The moneychangers” by Iain McKillop; “Jésus chassant les marchands du Temple“, by Jacob Jordaens
Christ overturns the tables, Peter Koenig, https://www.pwkoenig.co.uk/Portfolio/christ-overturns-the-tables-of-the-moneylenders
Ear Worm: “Soon, love, soon“, by Vienna Tang: “Christ is the world’s true light“, Cathedral choir; “Inspired by love and anger“, Trinity College, Melbourne
Brain Food: “A banal overturning of tables” by Andrew Prior; “Spring cleaning with Jesus” by David Sellery; “Words” by Anna MacDonald Dobbs
Parables: “Strictly ballroom” (19925), Australian film about people making the most of their creativity; “Jesus of Montreal” (1989), a contemporary staging of the Passion Play
For families: Study guide, group activity, snacks (based on Old Testament), kid video
For children: activity, bulletin games, craft (based on OT)
For middlers: activity, bulletin games, craft (based on OT)
For youth: “Marketplace or Holy Space” from The Stewardship of Life website informed this paragraph. Ask most folks and they will say that we don’t sell stuff in the church anymore. But is that really true? Do we re-construct our worship service to appeal to one group so they will be interested in becoming members? Should we? Look around your worship space. Do you see evidence of “selling” that make you uncomfortable? Feel free to comment.
The ultimate saving action of God, in the dying and rising of Jesus, was preceded by a series of salvation events in the history of Israel. Today, in that series of events, we reach the most important of the Old Testament actions of God, the time of the Exodus when Israel is definitively established as the chosen people and God makes the Covenant with the people at Mount Sinai. God’s salvation of Israel requires a response by the people which is described in the Decalogue (Ten Commandments). Note that the grounds for these commandments is stated at the beginning, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”
In the second reading, Paul speaks of the true wisdom which brings salvation. Rather than human wisdom, God places before us what seems to be foolish, the crucifixion of Jesus. In the dying and rising of Jesus, God showed that the divine power is greater than any human power or wisdom.
The Gospel reading is John’s account of Jesus cleansing the Temple. That event may be taken as an image of Christ cleansing us from sin in Baptism. We are the continuation of the ancient people of God who were saved in the Exodus and given the Commandments. In the dying and rising of Jesus, salvation has been extended to all people. Through Baptism, we have become part of Jesus’ Body and have died and are being raised with him. We use this time of Lent to recall all that God is doing for us in Jesus, and to prepare for the renewal of our redemption at Easter.
From The Rite Light: Reflections on the Sunday Readings and Seasons of the Church Year. Copyright © 2007 by Michael W. Merriman. Church Publishing Incorporated, New York.
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