THE TEMPLE

On this third Sunday of Lent the symbol that emerges from the Gospel is that of the temple. However, with his prophetic gesture, Jesus declares its function has now lapsed. Among other things, the temple has been reduced to a market rather than a place of meeting with God. At the same time, Jesus presents himself as a true sanctuary, where every man has access to the Father. To the Samaritan woman, Jesus will also indicate a new cult in spirit and truth (cf. John 4.23), that is, in the Holy Spirit, who makes us cry: Abba (cf. Rom 8.15). But Jesus will go even further. A new temple and a new cult are not enough, a new priesthood is also needed. This is what we can glean from the gesture of Peter, who, wanting to defend the Master, draws his sword and cuts off the praise of the right ear of Malchus, the servant of the high priest (cf. Jn 18:10). It should be known, in this regard, that in the rite of consecration of the high priest the blood of a ram was taken and the various parts of the consecrated person’s body were touched, including the lobe of the right ear (cf. Ex 29.20). Removing one’s ear, therefore, is a prophetic gesture that decrees the end of that institution. Saint Paul, in this horizon, will come to speak of the body as a temple of the Spirit (cf. 1Cor 6,19-20). This statement revolutionizes the Greek concept itself of the prison-body (soma-sema) of the soul; the body, in the Christian vision, does not deny the soul but is its living translation. Furthermore, the body does not obscure God but reveals him, manifests him. This is why a Tertullian would go so far as to say: «Caro cardo salutis» that is, the flesh is the cornerstone of salvation. Hence the need, on our part, to be more aware of it in order to then be truthful and credible witnesses among men. As a pictorial icon for this Sunday we think of Giotto’s Expulsion of the Sellers (1301-1302) in the Scrovegni Chapel (Pd). With prophetic force, Christ’s gesture recalls the primacy of God on the markets of devout men who make religion a sinister motive of interest.

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,
Prinknash Abbey