Every day of Lent, Bishop Edward Malesic writes a Scripture reflection for the faithful. Follow the bishop on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Click HERE for the readings.
Today Jesus gets angry. He is upset with the money changers in the temple area who are taking advantage of the people who are required to find something to sacrifice in their worship of God. These greedy merchants of religious accessories are selling oxen, sheep, and doves for inflated prices and turning a place of worship, the Temple, into a highly profitable personal money-making venture for themselves. Jesus has a reason to be angry.
At the end of the Gospel for today, we read, “(Jesus) knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify to human nature. He himself understood it well.”
Jesus is able to read the hearts of men and women. He knows their good intentions and their wicked ones. He knows you and he knows me, both the good and the bad in us.
In the Old Testament reading for today, God gives the Ten Commandments. These were the laws for human happiness and social peace. Do not worship false idols. Do not use God’s name in vain. Keep the Sabbath Holy. Honor your mother and your father. Don’t kill, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, or covet what belongs to someone else, like his wife or his goods.
But, how many of these have we broken? Over a lifetime, we have broken many of them, if not all of them from the heart. Remember that Jesus said to look with lust at another person is to commit adultery and to be angry with another person makes one liable to judgement, just as one who kills.
What should we do? Jesus knows our hearts. He knows our lives. He knows our temptations and our weaknesses. He knows what we need to become stronger, holier. We need his mercy. We must come to him with humility in our neediness in order to receive it.
That is what the money changers would never get. They were so public about their sinfulness. They almost took pride in their greed and showed off their lack of reverence. Jesus got angry about that. It was in contrast to the mercy he showed to the woman caught in adultery (who was not proud of her sin). He showed her his compassion because of her humility.
Whenever we sin — and we do — let’s not brag about it. Let’s not show off, as if we can ignore the commandments of God without repercussion. Instead, let us bow down and say, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
Have a blessed week everyone.