3rd Sunday of the Sanctification of the Church

Numbers 7:1-10; 9:15-18

Offerings of the Leaders

7 On the day when Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed and consecrated it with all its furnishings, and had anointed and consecrated the altar with all its utensils, ² the leaders of Israel, heads of their fathers’ houses, the leaders of the tribes, who were over those who were numbered, ³ offered and brought their offerings before the Lord, six covered wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two of the leaders, and for each one an ox; they offered them before the tabernacle. ⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, ⁵ “Accept these from them, that they may be used in doing the service of the tent of meeting, and give them to the Levites, to each man according to his service.” ⁶ So Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites. ⁷ Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service; ⁸ and four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. ⁹ But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because they were charged with the care of the holy things which had to be carried on the shoulder. ¹⁰ And the leaders offered offerings for the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed; and the leaders offered their offering before the altar.

The Cloud and the Fire

15 On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant; and at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. ¹⁶ So it was continually; the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. ¹⁷ And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent, after that the sons of Israel set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel encamped. ¹⁸ At the command of the Lord the sons of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they encamped; as long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.

 

Isaiah 54:1-15

Mercy and Comfort Offered

54 “Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;

break forth into singing and cry aloud,

you who have not had labor pains!

For the children of the desolate one will be more

than the children of her that is married, says the Lord.

² Enlarge the place of your tent,

and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out;

hold not back, lengthen your cords

and strengthen your stakes.

³ For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left,

and your descendants will possess the nations

and will people the desolate cities.

⁴ “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed;

be not confounded, for you will not be put to shame;

for you will forget the shame of your youth,

and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

⁵ For your Maker is your husband,

the Lord of hosts is his name;

and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer,

the God of the whole earth he is called.

⁶ For the Lord has called you

like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,

like a wife of youth when she is cast off,

says your God.

⁷ For a brief moment I forsook you,

but with great compassion I will gather you.

⁸ In overflowing wrath for a moment

I hid my face from you,

but with everlasting mercy I will have compassion on you,

says the Lord, your Redeemer.

⁹ “For this is like the days of Noah to me:

as I swore that the waters of Noah

should no more go over the earth,

so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you

and will not rebuke you.

¹⁰ For the mountains may depart

and the hills be removed,

but my mercy shall not depart from you,

and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,

says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

¹¹ “O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,

behold, I will set your stones in antimony,

and lay your foundations with sapphires.

¹² I will make your pinnacles of agate,

your gates of carbuncles,

and all your wall of precious stones.

¹³ All your sons shall be taught by the Lord,

and great shall be the prosperity of your sons.

¹⁴ In righteousness you shall be established;

you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;

and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

¹⁵ If any one stirs up strife,

it is not from me;

whoever stirs up strife with you

shall fall because of you.

 

Hebrews 9:5-15

⁵ Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

6 These preparations having thus been made, the priests go continually into the outer tent, performing their ritual duties; ⁷ but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people. ⁸ By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary is not yet opened as long as the outer tent is still standing ⁹ (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, ¹⁰ but deal only with food and drink and various baptisms, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) ¹² he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. ¹³ For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.

 

John 2:12-22

12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brethren and his disciples; and there they stayed for a few days.

The Cleansing of the Temple

13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. ¹⁵ And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; you shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” ¹⁸ The Jews then said to him, “What sign have you to show us for doing this?” ¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰ The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” ²¹ But he spoke of the temple of his body. ²² When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.