Lent Week 3

Psalm: Psalm 19
Old Testament: Exodus 20:1-17
Gospel: John 2:13-22
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

This week is a bit of a challenge for me to try and find connections between our four passages. I always wonder when it comes to the Lectionary why the church has brought these four particular passages together for each Sunday in the church year. Why during Lent do we read these four passages and what does each passage say to the other? Some weeks these questions are easier to answer than others.

The reading from Exodus is the giving of the 10 Commandments. Psalm 19 is a song of praise of God revealing himself through creation and through his law and precepts. These two arenas are referred to as natural or general revelation and special revelation. Our Gospel reading from John is the episode of Jesus throwing out the merchants and traders in the Temple. Finally, in 1 Corinthians, Paul challenges the wisdom and power of the world through the perceived foolishness and weakness of the cross.

To begin with, this passage from Paul makes me wonder what to make of the apologetic Christians (those who try and defend Christianity, typically through reason). In a very real sense Christianity can't be rationally explained. We proclaim a crucified God. We worship a messiah who was killed by a worldly power that was eventually overrun by "barbarians" a few centuries later. Even the Incarnation itself, God becoming man, seems like complete foolishness to those who lack faith. So I really appreciate Paul at this point in recognizing that Christianity's central claim, that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, was crucified and rose again, can seem a bit foolish.

One other point that struck me this week was in the reading from John 2 when it says, "After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken." (v. 22) What does it mean for them to believe the Scripture? The easy answer is that they believed the Old Testament because that was the only scripture they had. But what it also means is that they came to understand that the Old Testament was pointing to Jesus all along. This opens up the door for us to join in with what Christians have been doing from the very beginning: reading the Old Testament Christologically. All the New Testament writers look back into the Old Testament and interpret and find clues that point to Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.

Well, unfortunately this week I started with a bunch of questions I never answered. I guess you can say we started with Law, Jesus challenged the Law, and Paul says what Jesus did is foolishness to the world. But that is stretching it, doesn't truly connect and doesn't do justice to any of the texts. So I invite you this week to explore these 4 texts and see what patterns or connections you can find. The Bible continues to challenge and speak to us no matter how many times we read it. We are able to study it, but the strange thing is that it also challenges us and examines us.

This week, and during this season of Lent, may you continue grow in the knowledge of the Scriptures and our risen Savior.

Grace and Peace