Readings for Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Numbers 21:4-9
From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road,
to bypass the land of Edom.
But with their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
"Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!"
In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,
which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said,
"We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.
Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us."
So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,
"Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live."
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Nm 21:4-9
The people were growing tired of the food, probably manna, and complained bitterly. They believed that in failing to love God they sinned against him and in punishment serpents were sent to afflict them.
There is great symbolism in the final paragraph as Moses makes the bronze serpent.: “If anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover: "and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that those who believe in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting" (John 3:14-15).”[4]
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21
R. (2) O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
O LORD, hear my prayer,
and let my cry come to you.
Hide not your face from me
in the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to me;
in the day when I call, answer me speedily.
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,
and all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion
and appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,
and not despised their prayer.
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
Let this be written for the generation to come,
and let his future creatures praise the LORD:
"The LORD looked down from his holy height,
from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die."
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21
Psalm 102 is an individual lament. In this selection we find the cry of the people in the desert once more being directed to the Lord. The song proposes a covenant – If you hear our plea, we will revere your name.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: John 8:21-30
Jesus said to the Pharisees:
"I am going away and you will look for me,
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going you cannot come."
So the Jews said,
"He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?"
He said to them, "You belong to what is below,
I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I do not belong to this world.
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins."
So they said to him, "Who are you?"
Jesus said to them, "What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I heard from him I tell the world."
They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
So Jesus said to them,
"When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
because I always do what is pleasing to him."
Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn 8:21-30
Jesus continues his discourse with the Pharisees, trying to lead them to understanding. He tells them that he is going away, clearly implying his own death, and tells them they may not follow him. Their unbelief is sin and hence they will die in the sin. They do not understand the manner of his death (that he will lay his life down) but rather see a partial truth in thinking he will kill himself.
Even though he uses language filled with specific clues (the use of the phrase “I Am”, God’s own designation for himself) they still do not understand. Toward the end he alludes to the Saraph image from Numbers; “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I Am” and at the same time makes it clear whose Son he is.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
In the Gospel, Jesus is clearly getting a bit frustrated with the Hebrew leadership for not being able to understand who he is (even though he uses the Hebrew formula for God – “I AM” referring to himself on a couple of occasions). We, his modern day disciples see clearly the meaning in his statements and understand he is truly the Son of God.
Frustration and impatience also plays a role in the first readings. This time however, it is the Hebrew people being lead out of Egypt. From a practical standpoint, the reading from Numbers should speak to us today. How often have we fallen into the role of the Hebrews in the story about the saraph serpents? How frequently have we heard ourselves complaining; why did God let that happen? Or; why did God put me in this situation?
It’s the old “Blessing and Curse” thing. God made us in his own image and likeness. In doing so he gave all mankind (the good, the bad, and the ugly) free will. He gave us the freedom to make choices, good and bad and placed us in a world full of people with that same ability. What he did not do was make us slaves to Him as he so easily could have done. That would have been absolutely necessary if all of our choices in life would lead us to happy outcomes all of the time.
So, bad things happen. They happen because we make bad decisions and put ourselves in situations where the outcomes are not positive. They happen because the people we are around make bad decisions – perhaps not for themselves (look at executives who decide they need to reduce labor costs and lay people off so they can make their profit numbers and get their bonus, so shareholders can make the money they expect on their investments.) For the executive it was a good decision, for the people who invested their 401K money in the company it was a good thing. For the worker who no longer has an income – it might seem that God had dealt them an unfair blow.
God is there for us. He sent his Son to us to give us hope and peace. We only need to reach out to him, to believe he is I AM, and we find that salvation and peace.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used is “Christ Holds the Cross” by El Greco 1602-07
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
[4] See NAB Footnote on Numbers 21: 4ff
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Numbers 21:4-9
From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road,
to bypass the land of Edom.
But with their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
"Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!"
In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,
which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said,
"We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.
Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us."
So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,
"Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live."
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Nm 21:4-9
The people were growing tired of the food, probably manna, and complained bitterly. They believed that in failing to love God they sinned against him and in punishment serpents were sent to afflict them.
There is great symbolism in the final paragraph as Moses makes the bronze serpent.: “If anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover: "and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that those who believe in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting" (John 3:14-15).”[4]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21
R. (2) O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
O LORD, hear my prayer,
and let my cry come to you.
Hide not your face from me
in the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to me;
in the day when I call, answer me speedily.
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,
and all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion
and appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,
and not despised their prayer.
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
Let this be written for the generation to come,
and let his future creatures praise the LORD:
"The LORD looked down from his holy height,
from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die."
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21
Psalm 102 is an individual lament. In this selection we find the cry of the people in the desert once more being directed to the Lord. The song proposes a covenant – If you hear our plea, we will revere your name.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: John 8:21-30
Jesus said to the Pharisees:
"I am going away and you will look for me,
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going you cannot come."
So the Jews said,
"He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?"
He said to them, "You belong to what is below,
I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I do not belong to this world.
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins."
So they said to him, "Who are you?"
Jesus said to them, "What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I heard from him I tell the world."
They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
So Jesus said to them,
"When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
because I always do what is pleasing to him."
Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Jn 8:21-30
Jesus continues his discourse with the Pharisees, trying to lead them to understanding. He tells them that he is going away, clearly implying his own death, and tells them they may not follow him. Their unbelief is sin and hence they will die in the sin. They do not understand the manner of his death (that he will lay his life down) but rather see a partial truth in thinking he will kill himself.
Even though he uses language filled with specific clues (the use of the phrase “I Am”, God’s own designation for himself) they still do not understand. Toward the end he alludes to the Saraph image from Numbers; “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I Am” and at the same time makes it clear whose Son he is.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:
In the Gospel, Jesus is clearly getting a bit frustrated with the Hebrew leadership for not being able to understand who he is (even though he uses the Hebrew formula for God – “I AM” referring to himself on a couple of occasions). We, his modern day disciples see clearly the meaning in his statements and understand he is truly the Son of God.
Frustration and impatience also plays a role in the first readings. This time however, it is the Hebrew people being lead out of Egypt. From a practical standpoint, the reading from Numbers should speak to us today. How often have we fallen into the role of the Hebrews in the story about the saraph serpents? How frequently have we heard ourselves complaining; why did God let that happen? Or; why did God put me in this situation?
It’s the old “Blessing and Curse” thing. God made us in his own image and likeness. In doing so he gave all mankind (the good, the bad, and the ugly) free will. He gave us the freedom to make choices, good and bad and placed us in a world full of people with that same ability. What he did not do was make us slaves to Him as he so easily could have done. That would have been absolutely necessary if all of our choices in life would lead us to happy outcomes all of the time.
So, bad things happen. They happen because we make bad decisions and put ourselves in situations where the outcomes are not positive. They happen because the people we are around make bad decisions – perhaps not for themselves (look at executives who decide they need to reduce labor costs and lay people off so they can make their profit numbers and get their bonus, so shareholders can make the money they expect on their investments.) For the executive it was a good decision, for the people who invested their 401K money in the company it was a good thing. For the worker who no longer has an income – it might seem that God had dealt them an unfair blow.
God is there for us. He sent his Son to us to give us hope and peace. We only need to reach out to him, to believe he is I AM, and we find that salvation and peace.
Pax
[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used is “Christ Holds the Cross” by El Greco 1602-07
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.
[4] See NAB Footnote on Numbers 21: 4ff
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