Gospel for the Third Sunday of Lent
February 28, 2027 · John 2:13-25
My Father’s house
Jesus drives the sellers out of the Temple. He announces that his body is the true temple, and that it will rise. John 2:13-25
Liturgical color: violet
This Sunday’s Gospel, in everyday words
The Passover was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the Temple he found people selling oxen, sheep, and doves, and money changers. John 2:13-14
Jesus made a whip out of cords and drove them out of the Temple with their animals. He overturned the money changers’ tables. John 2:15
He told those who sold doves not to make his Father’s house a marketplace. John 2:16
His disciples remembered what Scripture says: zeal for God’s house consumed him. John 2:17
They asked him for a sign. Jesus told them to destroy this temple, and in three days he would raise it up. John 2:18-19
Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. When he rose from the dead, the disciples remembered this and believed. John 2:21-22
What the Bible says
John 2:13-25
13And the pasch of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14And he found in the temple them that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting. 15And when he had made, as it were, a scourge of little cords, he drove them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the oxen, and the money of the changers he poured out, and the tables he overthrew. 16And to them that sold doves he said: Take these things hence, and make not the house of my Father a house of traffic. 17And his disciples remembered, that it was written: The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up. 18The Jews, therefore, answered, and said to him: What sign dost thou shew unto us, seeing thou dost these things? 19Jesus answered, and said to them: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20The Jews then said: Six and forty years was this temple in building; and wilt thou raise it up in three days? 21But he spoke of the temple of his body. 22When therefore he was risen again from the dead, his disciples remembered, that he had said this, and they believed the scripture, and the word that Jesus had said. 23Now when he was at Jerusalem, at the pasch, upon the festival day, many believed in his name, seeing his signs which he did. 24But Jesus did not trust himself unto them, for that he knew all men, 25And because he needed not that any should give testimony of man: for he knew what was in man.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
The other readings at Mass
First Reading
On Mount Sinai, God gives his people the Ten Commandments. Exodus 20:1-17
Responsorial Psalm
“Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.” Psalm 19:8-11
Second Reading
Paul proclaims Christ crucified. What seems like God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. 1 Corinthians 1:22-25
The full readings for this day, from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: bible.usccb.org
What the Church teaches
The new temple
Jesus loved the Temple and went up to it for the feasts. He taught that his own body would be the final Temple.
Catechism 593
The ten words
This is how the Church understands it: the commandments are the “ten words” that God revealed to his people on the holy mountain.
Catechism 2056
A way of life
The commandments are best understood together with the Exodus from Egypt. They are a way of life for a people set free.
Catechism 2057
To read with your children
Jesus went to the Temple in Jerusalem. John 2:13
There were people there selling animals. John 2:14
Jesus drove the sellers out of the Temple. John 2:15
Jesus said that it was his Father’s house. John 2:16
How do you behave in church, the house of God?
To talk about as a family
- Jesus wanted the Temple to be his Father’s house. What distracts us when we pray?
- Do we know the Ten Commandments by heart? Which one is hardest for us to keep?
- For the child: what do you like most about church?
This week
This week, read the Ten Commandments together in Exodus 20. Let each one choose one to keep better.
To pray
Lord Jesus, you love your Father’s house. Make our hearts clean, so that they may be a house of prayer. Amen.