Word Wide Open: The Third Sunday of Lent (B) - 3/3/24

First Reading (Exodus 20:1-17)

A reading from the Book of Exodus.

In those days, God delivered all these commandments:

“I, the LORD, am your God, 

who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.

You shall not have other gods besides me.

You shall not carve idols for yourselves 

in the shape of anything in the sky above 

or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; 

you shall not bow down before them or worship them.

For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, 

inflicting punishment for their fathers’ wickedness 

on the children of those who hate me, 

down to the third and fourth generation; 

but bestowing mercy down to the thousandth generation 

on the children 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 leave unpunished 

the one who takes his name in vain.

“Remember to keep holy the sabbath day.

Six days you may labor and do all your work, 

but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD, your God.

No work may be done then either by you, or your son or daughter, 

or your male or female slave, or your beast, 

or by the alien who lives with you.

In six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, 

the sea and all that is in them; 

but on the seventh day he rested.

That is why the LORD has blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

“Honor your father and your mother, 

that you may have a long life in the land 

which the LORD, your God, is giving you.

You shall not kill.

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, 

nor his male or female slave, nor his ox or ass, 

nor anything else that belongs to him.”

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? What do the 10 Commandments teach us about how we should act and what our priorities should be?

Second Reading (1 Corinthians 1:22-25)

A reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians. 

Brothers and sisters:

Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 

but we proclaim Christ crucified, 

a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 

but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, 

Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, 

and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

The word of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this reading? What should we look for from God if not signs and wisdom?

Gospel (John 2:13-25)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John.

Since the Passover of the Jews was near,

Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, 

as well as the money changers seated there.

He made a whip out of cords

and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, 

and spilled the coins of the money changers

and overturned their tables, 

and to those who sold doves he said,

“Take these out of here, 

and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”

His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, 

Zeal for your house will consume me.

At this the Jews answered and said to him,

“What sign can you show us for doing this?”

Jesus answered and said to them, 

“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”

The Jews said, 

“This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, 

and you will raise it up in three days?”

But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, 

his disciples remembered that he had said this, 

and they came to believe the Scripture 

and the word Jesus had spoken.

While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, 

many began to believe in his name 

when they saw the signs he was doing.

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.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Asking the big questions: Do you have any questions about this reading? Is there anything that stuck out to you from this Gospel reading? What is Jesus so angry about in this reading? What is reverence and how do we grow in it?