A sermon on John 2:13-22

Fr. Mike Paraniuk
HCP columnist

The Feast of Passover was the most sacred way the Jewish people worshipped God. It celebrated the end of their slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. The stubborn Pharoah finally allowed the Jewish people to leave due to the tenth plague when God sent the angel of death to smite all the first born in Egypt.  

Moses commanded Jewish families to slaughter a lamb and sprinkle its blood on the door frame of their home. Upon seeing the lamb's blood on the door the angel of death would "passover" that house, sparing the life of the first born.

Every year the Jews went to the Temple in Jerusalem to thank God for their deliverance from slavery. It was supposed to be a holy time when pilgrims would worship God with a sacrifice of oxen, lambs, goats or pigeons. But in the days of Jesus this holy festival became a sordid carnival. The priests of the Temple forced worshippers to exchange their Roman pagan coins with Temple coins. The exchangers weighted their scales in their favor. The unjust profit went to them and the Temple priests. Only Temple coins could be used to buy "temple approved" animals for sacrifice at inflated prices.

Jesus was upset that the exchangers, who were in cahoots with the priests, used the Temple not to worship God but to cheat the poor. And all of this immoral activity was done right in the middle of the Temple's holiest place that was set apart for His Father. It would be like playing Bingo in a church sanctuary...and the game was rigged! Many worshippers celebrated Passover on the hills surroundings the Temple due to the large number of pilgrims. They were supposed to be praying. Instead, they turned the hillsides into drunken orgy parties.

Jesus was furious not only about this blasphemy to his Father, but also the hypocrisy of those claiming to thank God for the Passover...by stealing. Jesus was consumed to cleanse the Temple both spiritually and physically. Jesus spiritually reclaimed the Temple as a holy place of worship not a market place of business. Physically, Jesus cleansed any more dirt from defiling the Temple. Guess what animals do after eating? They unload all over the sacred floor.

The one thing Jesus most wants from His followers is this: "authentic worship." Say what you mean. Mean what you say. And live what you believe. God does not tolerate hypocrites. Jesus said this so well in Matthew 15:8, “’These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."

Jesus described authentic worship as “True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:23). Worshipping God in Spirit is more than just rituals. It is connecting to God with love from your heart. Worshipping God in truth means to give God authority over your life (Submission). It means to live your life the way God wants you to live it (Obedience). My life is guided by the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do). Worshipping God does not end with the last song sung in church. Worshipping God begins as soon as you walk out the church doors. Announce the Gospel by your life. 

St. Paul ask a question for us to ponder. Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (1 Cor 3:16.) Worshipping God goes way beyond one hour in church on a Sunday. It is a daily devotion of obedience, submission and love to God for all the blessings He bestows upon you. Ask Jesus to cleanse the Temple of your heart from anything that blocks His Spirit from dwelling in your soul.

I close with a tribute to my grandmother who showed me what love for God looks like. For her it was more than just praying her Rosary and going to Mass every day. Grandma lived it. During the Great Depression, the hobos would hitch a free ride in railroad boxcars traveling from city to city looking for work. Her home in Conway, Pa. had the largest railroad hub in the nation. The hobos would climb the hill into Conway looking for food. 

Grandma fed all those who knocked at her door with kielbasa, sauerkraut, and dumpling soup. Before leaving her kitchen, the hobos pained a large "X" on her house as a sign to other hungry hobos they can get a good meal here. 

Ephesians 1:13 says, "When you believed, you were marked in him (Jesus) with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit." Go...and live it. Blessings...Fr. Mike.