A reading from the book of Exodus (20:1-17)
Then God spoke all these words. He said, ‘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 yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven above or on earth beneath or in the waters under the earth.
‘You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God and I punish a parent’s fault in the children, to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me; but I act with faithful love towards thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
‘You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
‘Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath for the Lord your God. You shall do no work that day, neither you nor your son nor your daughter nor your slaves, men or women, nor your animals nor the foreigner living with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, earth and sea and all that these contain, but on the seventh day he rested; that is why the Lord has blessed the Sabbath day and made it sacred.
‘Honour your father and your mother so that you may live 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 give false evidence against your neighbour.
‘You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s spouse, or slave, man or woman, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.’
After leaving Egypt the Israelites travel to the holy mountain, known both as Sinai and Horeb, where they meet God (Exodus 19). This is the place of the covenant between God and the people. The ‘ten words’ which follow spell out the covenant obligation of Israel. It is God who has brought Israel out of slavery, and who lays down rules for them to live in freedom. There is to be no acknowledgement of other gods. Idolatry is the first and most serious transgression. God is ‘jealous’, for it is this God alone who is real, and who loves and cares for people. Punishment is announced for sins, ‘to the third and fourth generation’ of those who ‘hate me’, but there is no limit to God’s ‘kindness’, his covenant love (hesed), towards the thousands who ‘love me’ and who keep the commandments. The commandments list solemn duties towards God, such as the sabbath, and towards brothers and sisters. They are a basis on which both Judaism and Christianity will build.
Psalm 19 This psalm and its longer counterpart in Psalm 119 rejoice in the Law. It is given for our delight and to assist our freedom; it is more desirable than gold, and ‘sweeter than honey flowing from the comb’.
A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians (1:22-25)
While the Jews demand signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, we are proclaiming a crucified Christ: to the Jews a stumbling-block, to the gentiles foolishness, but to those who have been called, both Jews and Greeks, a Christ who is both the power of God and the wisdom of God. God’s folly is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Paul, with his cosmopolitan background, is keenly aware of what Jews and Greeks seek. Neither is satisfied, it seems, with what God offers. The Jews look for signs, and are scandalised by the gospel of death and resurrection. The gentiles search for wisdom, and find foolishness. For the Jews the crucifixion of the Messiah is a ‘stumbling-block’ (skandalon) , never anticipated in their scriptures. For Greeks it is sheer madness (moria). God brings human beings to realise by grace that in the cross of Christ lie both the power and wisdom of God, for death is overcome in resurrection.
A reading from the holy gospel according to John (2:13-25)
The time of the Jewish Passover was near and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and doves, and the money-changers sitting there. Making a whip out of cords, he began to drive them all out of the Temple, both sheep and cattle, scattered the money-changers’ coins, overturned their tables and said to the dove-sellers, ‘Take all this away from here and stop making my Father’s house a market-house.’ Then his disciples remembered that it had been written, I am eaten up with zeal for your house. The Jews in reply said, ‘What sign can you show us for doing this?’ Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews replied, ‘It took forty-six years to build this Temple: are you going to raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking about the Temple that was his body. When he had been raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the words that he had spoken.
While he was in Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he did, but Jesus did not trust himself to them, since he knew all people. He needed no witness about anyone; he himself knew what was in everyone.
The action of Jesus in the temple is provocative. He defends the holiness of the Father’s house, where the court of the Gentiles has been taken over for the sale of sacrificial animals and the exchange of currency. The ensuing conversation goes deeper and Jesus offers as justification the ‘sign’ of his own resurrection, a sign misunderstood by his opponents and understood only later by the disciples. He is the sign of a new reality, of resurrection to new life. We should notice the concluding statements of the evangelist, that ‘many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he did’. The signs of John’s gospel present the paschal mystery of death and resurrection in multiple ways, and many will come to faith.
What are the unexpected signs which point to faith?
Pray for an understanding that everything is connected and laid before us by the love of God.