Third Sunday in Lent - Keeping Our Bodies and Lives Holy

Welcome Statement

Good morning everyone, we left off last week with a discussion about how Christ can be that destiny changer in your life. This Change of destiny doesn’t end, he can continue to reorient you each and every week! So I encourage you to keep reflecting on this idea. This week, we are going to go backwards a bit and reflect on the Ten Commandments, the Mosaic Covenant. The reason for this is this will show us the beginning of the shift to legalism and it sets the stage for the New Testament reading we have today.

Old Testament Reading - Exodus 20:1-17

Exodus 20:1–17 ESV

And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

A Reflection on Current Usage

I remember at Meadowdale H&H Chapel in one of the sunday school rooms the had the ten commandments on a poster, in that old cartoon drawing style they use for all Vacation Bible School art back in that time. It really reminded me and ingrained those commandments into my mind to take them seriously. I remember as a kid worrying sometimes about the idea of honoring my Mother and my Father properly, because I knew I wasn’t a perfect kid.

One of the things we always find ourselves struggling with, is this back and forth between the law, and Grace. Where is that line that we toe as Christians? We see a world that tells us to just give into everything, but that’s obviously not right, but a life of works trying to achieve “human perfection” is not right either. Having a church where we are so legalistic in our faith and heavy handed clearly doesn’t work. So what is that balance? We get a few clues. Paul reflects on the grace in his many epistles of the grace of which we receive through the lord Jesus Christ in his many epistles, but he also, in his letter to the Corinthians, stresses to them that they cannot abuse their grace to sin more, as that would be no faith at all. There is clearly a “good faith” test of conscience, where you “inherently know” through your heart when you’re hitting that mark too far. There are sins we know we are committing, and the ones we don’t know. Christ covers them all, but we have to make that honest effort, but it’s clearly not about getting participation trophies either, because it’s not about us and our ego, it’s about God.

The Commandments, had to be followed as a legalistic covenant for the followers under Moses. For us, they provide an ethical framework, and we fullfill them under the two commandments we received through Jesus Christ that fullfill the entirety of the law, that set a higher bar. Because it’s no longer about setting the bare minimum, it’s about being ethical with love, not just not murdering your neighbor and respecting people from an outwardly perspective, you actually have to LOVE people.

A Tainted Covenant

And this is one of the difficulties we will see a lot in the Old Testament and in the New, is the legalists, the Sadducees and Pharisees, abusing these laws, not as ethical ideas to fulfill to express love towards others, but just as rules and cultural markers to use for control and keeping the status quo. When Jesus said,

Matthew 10:34 LEB

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth! I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

He was talking about tearing up the status quo, people would be turning against eachother, not out of literal warfare, but due to a falling apart of the status quo, people turning against injustice, demanding Love in the world once again, the spirit of the law was gone.

New Testament Reading - John 2:13-22

John 2:13–22 ESV

The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Some Notes

This passage is always tough to go over, because it is a passage that can be abused to say some pretty awful things about Judaism, which such ideas are not the point of the passage at all, there are two points and two points only that should ever come out of this passage.

Jesus is Upset at the State of the Law and the Temple

Jesus witnesses the state of the 2nd temple, how it has become a house of trade. There is a struggle based on the passage to know exactly what is occurring, different commentaries and histories denote that exorbitant exchange rates were used, or that only temple-approved animals could be purchased there. The difficulty with some of this is that you did indeed need to have an animal without blemish, so in some sense it was cheaper to just buy one on site than to bring one of your own and hope it made it all the way! But this is the problem, it was breaking the spirit of the law. The Roman Empire was benefiting off of the commerce with the foreign currency usage, the trade, the taxes. While it probably didn’t necessarily matter that you brought an animal you personally raised and owned, the problem is, this was turning the temple into a showpiece of vanity. People were simply coming to show they could pay the fees needed to prove they were worthy. It wasn’t about the sacrifice of blood anymore, it was about money. It was Pride.

Jesus Announces the New Temple

Jesus also notes that he will raise the temple again in three days, this is the second reason he comes to do this, to make a dramatic prophesy. If you have looked at any of the Prophets in the Bible, many of them do strange things to prophesy and warn about great exiles or events that are going to occur. The main Prophet I always think about is Ezekiel, but I won’t get into the weird stories with him and his bread. There was Symbolism, Jesus was driving out and purifying his temple. The Law was being cleaned up. Because Jesus was the temple. He was going to be raised/resurrected again in three days. He is the fullfiller of the law as he has said! He will fulfill it! So we too become mini temples now that the Holy Spirit dwells inside of us!

Closing Statement

Thanks to this prophetic proclamation, we are reminded, Christ built that foundation, he drew up the blueprints, of how to build a temple in each persons heart, so that people could have God dwell within them, instead of them feel far away from God. This changes the whole picture. No longer are we restricted by bricks and four walls. God is everywhere. The Spirit dwells within us, and is around us, thanks to that Prevenient Grace we are blessed with. Let us Pray

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, We thank you for the gift of the temple you built inside of each and every one of us. Let us reflect this Lent season the sacrifice you made, through the loss of your old Temple, and the rebuilding of your new one. We thank you that you loved us so much, you were willing to feel the pain, sorrow, and guilt of each and every one of us and bear it for us, so that we no longer have to. This gift allows us to move foward, to a brighter today, with you. Let us this season rejoice as we prepare for your Resurrection. I say this in your Foundational Name.

Amen.

Doxology / Benediction / Closing

As you go out this week, reflect on how God has been foundational in building up your life. How has he kept your life together? What values has he instilled in you? What is that temple that he built in you that he has held together for so many years? Even if it feels like at this point it is only held with duct tape, believe me, God has plenty more rolls to use. Like the old VBS Song, The wise man built his house upon the rock, the rain came down and the floods came up, and the house on the rock stood firm. So Build your house on the Lord Jesus Christ and the blessings will come down!

May you Have a Blessed Sunday, and rest of your Week! Amen!