Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Sandwiched between the feast of St. Patrick and the Solemnity of St. Joseph, we have this Thursday of the fourth week of Lent. Our first reading is from the book of Exodus. The exodus story is a powerful one because of the miracles God worked in freeing his people from slavery in Egypt. But while God managed to get the people out of Egypt, it was harder to get Egypt out of the people. They had become accustomed to the polytheistic religion of Egypt, and were used to the idea of worshiping statues and images. So when Moses went off to confer with God on Mt. Sinai, the people made a golden calf and worshiped the calf as though it were their God.
It’s no wonder that God would be angry about this – some thanks that is for being rescued! Moses, however, is an advocate for the people of Israel. He implores God to relent, reminding God of the promises he made to their ancestors. And Moses is a powerful advocate. God relents, no doubt appreciating that Moses has come to value the people of Israel in the same way that God does.
In our gospel reading from John, Jesus brings up Moses when talking to the Jews. Moses was a powerful figure for the Jews, known as God’s designated leader for his people. The people Jesus is addressing know all about Moses. They have tried to live the faith of Moses, but ultimately they have not succeeded because they do not recognize Jesus for what he is – the Jewish Messiah. Hence Jesus says that they are accused by Moses. When we think back to that first reading, we remember that Moses was an advocate for the people, willing to go to bat for them when they had fallen to worshiping idols. What Jesus is saying now is that Moses would no longer be an advocate for them but would instead be an accuser. They have failed again; they have once more rejected God. This time, however, it is worse because they think they are following Moses’ faith when really, in rejecting Jesus, they are rejecting also the God of Moses.
The readings today remind us that Jesus was a Jew, and that his coming as Messiah brought the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures, which we call the Old Testament. It was a time of tension among the Jewish people, many of whom were the first to believe in Jesus. The apostles and many disciples were Jewish. But not all could stretch their minds to recognize Jesus as their Messiah. He wasn’t what they expected from their Scriptures.
In our world today, there are many who still fail to recognize Jesus as their Messiah. There are some who want to make Jesus out to be what they want – perhaps a warm, fuzzy friend who makes no demands but is there when you need him. But what Jesus wants is for us to recognize that we need to come to him in order to have life. This season of Lent is supposed to be drawing us closer to Jesus, helping us to be aware that we need him in order to have life. We need him to live our life on earth to the fullest, and we need him to find eternal life in heaven. In this second half of Lent, we need to ask ourselves if we would be accused by Moses or if we recognize that we need Jesus to live. Jesus came to save us, and his life, death, and resurrection are the ultimate testimony to God’s love for his people whom he once brought out of Egypt.
Today, let us call this message to mind. There is no life but that found in Christ. Do our lives reflect that?
- Maria Morrow