Commandments

                      3rd Sunday of Lent

                      B cycle

 

 

The Ten Commandments are the subject of today’s first reading from the Book of Exodus. Although we think of these commandments as relevant to all people at all times, they were given particularly to the Jewish people on their wandering in the desert after they had escaped from slavery in Egypt. We might want to think of the Commandments not as a spiritual guide but as a practical guide to survival during their journey. 

 

How could this people, made up of different families and tribes, survive during this time of adversity? It is clear that the first step would be to remember that they were all united in the service and worship of one God. Unlike the Egyptians and the other pagan peoples encountered on their journey, they would not have many gods, especially those obviously false gods made of wood or stone. 

 

Moreover, they would have to behave in a certain way to each other in order to survive. On their journey, they would have to set aside one day for rest, a rest that would be shared by all. No one, even their slaves and animals, could be required to work on the Sabbath. This is good practical advice which we would be well advised to follow today.

 

They would have to remember their obligation to their own parents. How can you have a working, well-functioning society if children don’t respect and honor their parents, or grown children do not care for their infirm parents? If this elemental bond is broken, what other bonds can remain? Moreover, they will have to respect their other tribesman. They must work together. How will they survive if they kill each other, fail to respect their marriage bonds, bring false charges against their fellow travelers, or desire what does not belong to them?

 

We know that many of them did not keep the commandments. Even their leaders often failed. King David coveted another man’s wife and connived to have her husband killed in battle. King Ahab coveted another man’s property and his wife, the notorious Queen Jezebel, showed him the way to get rid of the poor farmer. 

 

In the time of Jesus it was much the same. Today’s gospel account of the cleansing of the Temple illustrates the anger of Jesus at their failure to follow the commandments. He drove those who sold animals for sacrifice out of the Temple area because they had made the house of God into a marketplace. The buying and selling of animals had become like the worship of idols. 

 

The most significant part of this passage comes at the end. The evangelist tells us that many had come to believe in Jesus because of the signs he had worked but that Jesus knew they did not understand his message.

 

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.

 

Sadly, he understood human nature. He knew that his contemporaries as well as the Jews from the time of Moses had often failed to live by the Commandments, and that human nature would make us all today likely to stumble and fall. In his letter to the new Christian community at Corinth, St. Paul had noticed that even these recent converts had trouble living in harmony with one another. 

 

Paul told them to concentrate on Jesus who died to redeem our fallen nature. Just like the Jews of old, we too demand signs or miraculous deeds. Just like the Greek philosophers of old, we look for wisdom or human reason to solve all our problems. Modern culture regards much of what Christians believe and do as superstitious, irrational, or unreasonable. 

 

Jesus expanded on the Commandments. He applied them not just to one tribe but to all people. He told us not just to love our neighbor but to share our love with strangers. He told us that not only was killing forbidden but that anger was just as bad as killing. He told us not only to avoid adultery but to not even think about it. The idols of the Greeks and Romans were nothing compared to the idols we have created. We worship athletes, entertainers, and celebrities. We even have a popular show called American Idol. 

 

Paul’s words to the Corinthians are as valid today as they were 2000 years ago.

 

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,

And the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

 

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Reading 1. Exodus 20: 1-17

Reading II. 1 Corinthians 1: 22-25.

Gospel. John 2: 13-25 (cleansing the temple)