Reflection on Today's Readings, 3rd Sunday of Lent, Year B, March 7th, 2021
Texts: Ex. 20:1-17; Ps. 20:1-3.7-8.12-17; 1Cor. 1:22-25; John 2: 13-25
In today's first reading God gave His people commandments. The commandments are meant to guide us on the path of righteousness. The commandment is not just showing us the way, but also reveals to us the mind of God. This means God reveals Himself by the commandments he gives to His people. By the commandments, God reveals Himself as the Lord and Saviour of His people. This is clear in the introdction that immediately precedes the commandments: God spoke all these words, saying, I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ....'" As our Lord and God, He owns us, He made us, He is to rule over us and we are to obey Him. The commandments show that God wants us to orientate our life towards Him, and towards Him alone. This is not out of selfishness but out of love, so that He can continue to be our Saviour, to rescue us from power of death and sin; it is because our salvation is in His hands alone; it is because only Him can be trusted; it is because He is our God and Lord, and no other.
The commandments show that God wants to be honour, to be honour with our whole heart. Today, He says, "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." We honour Him for our own salvation, not for Himself. God says, "Those who honour Me I honour in my turn, and those who despise Me will be an object of contempt" (1Sam. 2:30b). We honour Him when we keep His commandments; we honour God when we identify with Him and fear Him. We honour Him when we keep His name holy; we honour Him when we are true to Him, for we cannot claim to honour Him when we are deceptive before Him. When we honour God we become true to ourselves and to God, and as such our salvation is sure.
The commandments also reveal the mind of God towards us: He wants us to honour one another. Honouring one another breeds mutual love. When we honour one another, we will live in peace and unity. Pope Francis hits on importance of this when he says, "Only if we learn to look beyond our differences & see each other as members of the same human family will we be able to ... leave to future generations a better, more just & more humane world” (Message, visit to Iraq, March 6th, 2021). God has concern for our welfare and so commands us to honour one another.
Today's psalm tells us about the beauty of the law. It says, "The law of the LORD is perfect; It revives the soul. The decrees of the LORD are steadfast; they give wisdom to the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right; They gladden the heart. The command of the LORD is clear; It gives light to the eyes." The law of God is perfect because it is given out of love; it is love that makes it perfect. Some of us see the law as faulty, not taking our situation into consideration. The law of God is not just perfect, it also makes us perfect. It revives the soul because it is the path of life; keeping the law, we walk the path of life and have life within us. It revives the soul because it gives hope and makes the soul to stand with confidence before God, no hide-and-seek like that of Adam Eve. Keeping the commandments of God also fills the soul with peace that comes from God. Soul that obeys God's law is never deprived of inner joy and peace. The law of God is steadfast because it is ever true, it does not change.
The commandments of God are the wisdom of God given to man for his guidance and as a path to follow to God. Hence, the psalm says, "they give wisdom to the simple". Wisdom refers to the rules of life, instructions for right living. Being the wisdom of God, through the commandments we come to know the ways of God and how to walk in them. Following the commandments, we become pleasing to God. The commandment of God achieves its full meaning in Jesus Christ, who is the definitive wisdom and revelation of God. Hence, in today's second reading, St. Paul says, "to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." In Jesus Christ, we have, in fulness, the wisdom and revelation given in the commandments. Hence, following Jesus Christ, we have the demands of the law and have at our disposal the wisdom of God to teach, guide and lead us in the path to life.
In today's gospel reading, Jesus Christ, as the wisdom and revelation of God, taught the Samaritan woman, guided and led her to discover God. The woman's understanding of Jesus Christ grew gradually from that of ordinary Jew to that of a prophet and finally to that of the Messiah. In their discussion Jesus Christ revealed Himself to her as the fountain of living water and the Messiah, the hope of Israel. As fountain of living water He is also the fountain of wisdom: rules of life, instructions for right living. Hence, he said to the woman thus: "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” In this, He gives the woman the instruction for right living; we are to worship God in spirit and truth. Let us set ourselves close to Jesus that we may drink from the fountain of wisdom and by so doing have life and have it in full.
Lord Jesus, the Revelation of God and Fountain of wisdom, pour into us wisdom in abundance and grant that we may come to know God the Father through you. Amen.
Fr. Andrew Olowomuke
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