march 7

Lent 3

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple,[a] and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

The gospel according to john

John 2:13-22

  1. Can you remember a time that you were zealous for something? The time does not need to be specifically “religious” zeal.
  2. Trade and changing money are not inherently wrong or bad. Jesus was furious because in the Temple setting they diluted and compromised the nature of that holy place, one set apart for worship and prayer. In what ways is worship diluted and compromised in our day? In your own life?
  3. Finish by asking the Lord to reveal any impurities in your life and purify in your heart.

visio divina

Jesus Cleansing the Temple by Carl Heinrich Bloch, circa 1874, oil on copper plate,  38″ x 34″ / Frederiksborg Palace, Copenhagen

What are you most drawn to in this image? 
How are your emotions stirred by it? 
Ask the Lord to increase your holy desires.

Musical Devotion

Worship

Lent 3: Delight in the Lord (Liturgical Folk)

O God, Be Merciful to Me (The Corner Room)

Classical

Engage with these pieces cognitively, emotionally, textually, and musically. Classical music can help us to uncover the many layers of Scripture by portraying characters, ideas, and emotions in musical form. Enjoy soaking in the music and the text (translated below).
 
Before listening to the Bach cantata, view Janna Williamson’s mini-lecture on How to Listen to Bach Cantatas.

Cantata: Dixit Dominus HWV 232 (George Frederic Handel)

String Quartet No. 8 Op. 110 (Dmitri Shostakovich)