Third Sunday of Lent

Scripture readings may not always seem important when you hear them, but when you open your heart to God the message will flow right in. To me there were three main themes to today’s gospel - Jesus made human, Jesus rising from the dead, and believing in Jesus.

First, why was Jesus blessed to us in human form? God made his only son human so all humans can have someone of the holy trinity to relate to and show them the way. One way that we can know that he was human is he got mad at the merchants selling goods in the Temple. He even flipped tables! I can relate to this, like when I have friends over and they make a mess that I have to clean up. Obviously it’s not the same, but having similar experiences helps me understand what Jesus did for us. 

Next, Jesus rose on the third day, which the gospel tells us he actually predicted to the disciples. In this story Jesus told them that if the Temple was destroyed he would rebuild it in three days. This foreshadows that he would die and rise three days later. The disciples didn’t understand what he meant at the time, so they were probably confused. Similarly, I don’t always understand a reading at church, but maybe later Jesus shows me something in my life and I can think back and truly understand what it was he was telling me in that reading.

This goes to the third message from this gospel. Jesus foretelling that he would die and rise again helped his disciples really believe and have faith in him. When his words came true, they realized what he knew. When Jesus arose and walked the earth once more, he struck belief and hope in his disciples who had been feeling despair, and he made everyone truly believe in what God was doing to bring about the greater good. While sometimes Jesus’ teachings aren’t clear to me right away, I figure them out later as I learn more, and that makes me believe in Jesus more.

Q:  Which of Jesus’ teachings did I only come to understand after some time, and life experience, had passed? 

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