Third Sunday in Lent (Three Year Lectionary—Series B)

Exodus 20:1–17
Psalm 19
1 Corinthians 1:18–31
John 2:13–22 (23–25)

The Crucified and Risen Body of Jesus Is the True Temple of the Lord

The Lord rescues His people, Israel, “out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Ex. 20:2) and makes His gracious covenant with them, defined by the Ten Commandments. Since He has become their God by His grace, they shall be His people, having “no other gods” before Him (Ex. 20:3). He is “jealous” for them as a husband for his wife and as a father for his children. He has named them with His name and called them to rest in Him (Ex. 20:5–9). The incarnate Son, Christ Jesus, is likewise jealous for His Father’s house, because it is to be a place of divine grace and Sabbath rest for His people, and not “a house of trade” (John 2:16–17). His zeal consumes Him as He gives up “the temple of his body” to the destruction of the cross, but in three days He raises it up again to be the true temple forever (John 2:17–21). By His crucifixion He cleanses the entire household, and in His resurrection He becomes “wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30).