You are the Temple of God (Sunday, Lent 3, Year B)

On the first Sunday of Lent, we were presented with the image of the “desert” – Jesus was led by God’s Spirit into the desert and there He was tested. And so, the “desert” is a place of testing. Of course, by its nature, the desert is a very difficult place. Last Sunday (the Second Sunday of Lent), we are presented with the image of a “mountain” – Jesus led Peter, James and John up a high mountain and there in their presence, He was transfigured. And a voice coming from a cloud said, “This is my Son the Beloved, listen to Him”. So, the “mountain” is a place of listening – in fact, by its nature a mountain creates an atmosphere for concentrated attention to God. On this third Sunday of Lent, we are presented with the image of a “Temple” – Jesus enters the Temple. Now, let us revisit what the Temple symbolizes.

The Temple is a symbol of God’s presence; a special place where God dwells among His people. In a more common expression, the Temple is God’s house. The Temple exclusively belongs to God. However, by the death of Christ, God has given us full access to His own house (cf. Matt. 27:51): we can freely we walk in and out of God’s own house; and more or less we have become the stewards of God’s house. In the New Covenant inaugurated by Christ, the understanding of the Temple is no longer limited to the physical structure. In a more serious sense, you and I are now the special Temples of God. And that is why St Paul bluntly said in 1 Cor. 6:19 that “We are not our own”. We are an exclusive possession of God. And God has made us stewards of His own property which our bodies and souls are. We have been placed in charge of what rightly belongs to God. 

But we need a technical communication document commonly called a User Manual or Guide in order to manage this property of God in a proper way. The Ten Commandments are like a User Manual that contains the “dos” and “don’ts” for a proper management of God’s Temple which we are. And these Ten Commandments have been reduced to one single commandment by Christ – the commandment of LOVE (Matt. 22:37-37). If we love God, we will love God’s Temple which our bodies are; we will treat it reverentially and will never think of desecrating it. How would I feel if have given my room out for someone to use only to come back to see my bed and room messed up with urine and faeces? I cannot but feel enraged.

Now, let the illustration above help us understand how Jesus felt when He saw people desecrating His Father’s House/Temple and turning it into a marketplace. Out of holy anger, he sent the money changers out of the Temple and overturned their tables. When He was interrogated for acting the way He acted, He shifted the people’s attention to the real Temple which is His Body – “Destroy this Temple and in three days, I will raise it up.” The Temple He spoke of was the Temple of His Body.  

Since we are part of His Body, we are part of His Temple. In fact, St Paul makes it abundantly clear that “Our bodies are the Temples of the Holy Spirit” (cf. 1 Cor. 6:19a). Is there any form of “buying-and-selling”, any form of desecration going on in the Temple of God which my body is? Is this body, which God has given to me, being used for immorality? Any time I offer any part of this body for criminality and wicked manipulation, then I am simply turning this beautiful Temple of God into a den of wickedness and robbery. Whenever I induce or subject other people to sin or dishonor the bodies which were given to them, then I must also know that I am seriously culpable for the destruction of those special Temples of God. The Lenten season reminds us that there’s need for a periodic cleansing of this Temple.