When the Son of Man is Lifted Up"
Today's Mass Readings
Today's readings are so rich in their intertextuality. In today's reading from the Gospel of John Jesus speaks to a crowd about His being lifted up and taken away. Some in the crowd recognize that what Jesus says somehow relates to His own death, but they wonder whether He is speaking about suicide (8:22). Jesus' language here is very symbolically charged. He is not speaking plainly, but is weaving together imagery, particularly from the Books of Exodus and Numbers, which at least some of the Pharisees who are in the audience, might be expected to catch. Jesus speaks about being lifted up, which later church fathers associated with the bronze serpent from today's first reading from the Book of Numbers. In the Book of Numbers, the people were dying because of angelic flaming poisonous serpents which God sent among the people. You may interpret the serpents as a form of punishment, but notice what happens. The people's attitude changes. They go from complaining against Moses and against God, turning away from both Moses and God, to turning towards Moses and God, pleading for assistance. In a sense, the serpents help the people get back on track, and force them to rely upon God Who alone can help them in their need. So God instructs them to look up at the bronze serpent God had instructed Moses to create on a pole.
Jesus too will be lifted up on the pole of the cross, and like the bronze serpent, He too will save. We need to look to Jesus for our healing. And the reason for this is because Jesus is the great I AM, and allusion to Exodus chapter 3, the famous account of the burning bush.
In the account of the burning bush, Moses asks God Who he should the Israelites God is Who sent Moses to help them. Basically, Moses asks God, "what is your name?" We read in the Exodus 3, "God replied, 'I am who am.' Then he added, 'This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you'" (14).
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus tells His audience, "if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins" (8:24). He's basically saying: "Remember that guy Moses, one of the most important figures in our Bible who encountered God and freed our ancestors from slavery in Egypt? Remember how God called Moses from the burning bush? Remember how the bush burned, but didn't get burned up, and then God told him, 'I am who am?' "Well, that was me."
We too must recognize Who Jesus is. Jesus tells His audience, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I Am" (John 8:28). Jesus' lifting up, His exaltation, we will experience liturgically on Good Friday next week. It is from the cross that Jesus reigns as king. But the cross is not the final say in the matter. All of Lent is one long pilgrimage to the Easter resurrection. Let us take hope, and remember that that man Who was crucified nearly 2,000 years ago, was not only a man, but was God, the Almighty Creator of everything that exists. Through His death and resurrection, Jesus transformed suffering and death. Let us today offer up prayers to God for all of those who we know are suffering. Let us pray for their hope, and for them to have a powerful encounter with God to comfort them.
Jeff Morrow