Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

(Numbers 21:4-9; John 8:21-30)

Many Catholic children, even those in parochial schools, do not attend mass on Sunday.  If you would ask them why, they say that they sometimes have a soccer game or go out of town.  Their parents, of course, are not attending either.  They may find themselves one day like the Jews in today’s gospel unable to understand Jesus.  They may think that he suffered a needless death that was tantamount to suicide.

We are probably mistaken if we think of the dialogue in the gospel as an actual conversation. More likely it is the evangelist’s rebuttal of the Jewish denial of Jesus as the Messiah.  He uses ideas and phrases from Jesus but directs himself to Jewish critics of Christianity a generation or two later.  These Jews, the evangelist is saying, cannot appreciate what Jesus said and much less did.  They think in worldly ways that Jesus was an imposter who claimed to be God.  They cannot accept that he spoke and acted as God’s real representative. They also think that they did away with Jesus on the cross.  But the evangelist knows that the crucifixion was the supreme sacrament of divine love.  Because he did His will, the Father has raised Jesus from death to glory.

Jesus’ sacrifice is memorialized in the mass, especially on Sunday.  It is not just a lesson in recall but a re-enactment of the sacrifice for our advantage.  Somehow we must draw both children and their parents to this sacrament.  Only in this way will they transcend worldly ways to participate in Christ’s glory.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

(Numbers 21:4-9; John 8:21-30)

In 1939 Albert Einstein signed an important letter to Franklin Roosevelt.  He told the president of the certain possibility of creating an atomic bomb by means of nuclear fission.  He also said that Germany was likely already testing uranium for this purpose.  The letter received due attention.  Roosevelt set up an advisory committee which led to the Manhattan Project.  In today’s gospel Jesus has a message for the Jews with the same urgency as Einstein’s letter to Roosevelt.

Jesus realizes that there is little time left.  He will be going back to the Father soon.  He tells the people that they must make a decision for him or they will die.  But the people hesitate because they do not know Jesus.  So he gives them a sign to look for.  When he is raised up on the cross, they will realize who he is.  Evidently the prediction of a sign has effect.  Many Jews come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah worthy of their allegiance.

We must hold onto that belief.  Next week we commemorate Jesus’ being lifted up, his crucifixion.  It is a scandalous sight in one way – a man being executed in the cruelest of ways.  Some may wonder if it was not all over then.  We, however, accept the testimony of his disciples that he rose from the dead.  And because of his resurrection we believe that we have the freedom to live righteous lives that last for eternity.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

(Numbers 21:4-9; John 8:21-30)

The Reverend William Sloan Coffin Jr., a prominent peace activist, used to say that he had a “lover’s quarrel with America.”  He served the country as a CIA agent but thought some of its international policies were wrong-headed.  We might see Jesus in today’s gospel as having “a lover’s quarrel” with Judaism.

Jesus is in the midst of a debate with the Jews.  He is, of course, Jewish himself but is opposing standard Jewish teaching.  He tells them that he has much to say to condemn current Jewish doctrine.  He concludes that when he is lifted up on the cross, the world will know that his criticisms of Judaism are just.

We should realize that the dialogue in this gospel was framed long after Jesus’ death.  Christians and Jews were much at odds because of Roman persecution of both.  John, the evangelist, writes as if Jesus defies his own people.  This is likely an exaggeration.  But it is true that Jews cannot accept Jesus’ divinity as we do.  A central issue is Jesus’ death on the cross.  For Jews it is the ultimate stumbling block. “How could God allow himself to be crucified?” they ask.  For us Jesus’ allowing himself to be crucified in obedience to God, his Father, indicates his divine nature. 

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Lent

(Numbers 21:4-9; John 8:21-30)

Emily Dickinson is certainly one of America’s greatest poets. Her story is remarkable since during her lifetime less than one percent of her poems were published, and these often edited to fit nineteenth century sensibilities. Only after her death was her genius recognized. It is something like Jesus saying in the gospel today that only when he is lifted up to die, the people will finally recognize who he is.

Jesus has been in debate with the Pharisees. He has told them that he comes from the Father. But they cannot understand what he means because they have chosen to live in darkness. Jesus now tells them that when they lift him up (he means on the cross), they will realize that he is from God. In John’s account of the Passion, this prophecy is realized when a declaration is put on the cross that he is the “king of the Jews.” It is written in multiple languages so that the whole world may understand. The title admittedly has less impact today than in Jerusalem around 33 A.D. Then it means that he is God’s favored son, if not God himself.

We recognize Jesus as Lord, but at times we want to step out of the light and into the darkness. Instead of following Jesus, we desire pleasure, prestige, or power. In any case, it would be a poor choice since it means surrendering the glory of Jesus’ second lifting up. We would be trading away our resurrection from the dead.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Lent

(Numbers 21:4-9; John 8:21-30)

Folksinger Bob Dylan wrote a song where everyone denies responsibility for the death of a prizefighter. In “Who Killed Davey Moore?” Dylan shows how the referee, the fans, the sportswriter, the manager, and the boxer who knocked the victim out all participated in the killing. Yet each of these conspirators excuses himself or themselves from blame.

Although a prizefighter may seem an unlikely figure for Jesus, we can find a comparison between Bob Dylan’s ballad and the gospel today. Just as many share the guilt of Davey Moore’s death but no one cares to admit it, so too the whole world should recognize that their sins have caused the death of Jesus when he “is lifted up” on the cross, but few will acknowledge their complicity.

Jesus comes to the world as the completely innocent son of God. His mission is to redeem the world of sin. He accomplishes this when he is crucified allowing everyone – ourselves as well as the people who surround him – to recognize that his or her sins have brought about his death. Those who deny involvement remain in sin. Those who admit complicity, he forgives. There is no escaping judgment.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Lent

(Numbers 21:4-9; John 8:21-30)

Jesus tells the Pharisees that when they lift him up, they will realize who he is and that he has done what the Father wills. Jumping to that scene, however, we have difficulty finding any such awareness among the Jews. What is going on?

John the evangelist only subtly shows Jesus’ divine sonship on the cross. He notes that Pilate has a sign printed in three languages proclaiming Jesus “the king of the Jews.” This tells us that, like-it-or-not, the Jews have to face the fact that an objective authority acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah, the anointed king of Israel. Also, Jesus’ last words, “It is finished,” indicate his identity. “The “It” here refers not only to his life but also to his mission from the Father of redeeming the world. Although the Pharisees “realize” this evidence in as much as they objectively see it, most will not be swayed. Indeed, only one of their numbers comes forward professing belief in Jesus. Nicodemus, whom we remember from an earlier encounter with Jesus, steps on the scene at this time with enough burial spices for a king.

We should not be any more dismayed by the Pharisees rejecting Jesus than by our own contemporaries. After all, Jesus conquered no empires like Alexander the Great. Nor did he write works of wisdom like Aristotle. Even his mighty deeds were not testified by any other than his followers. Why then do we accept Him as God? Certainly there is something to the fact that those followers died in making their testimony. But we believe also because he has acted in our lives. His words, which his disciples recorded, have given us a solid foundation. More than that, when we have called upon him, he has met our needs – not just once but repeatedly. We cannot help but hand over ourselves to him.

Homilette for Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Lent

(Numbers 21:4-9; John 8:21-30)

Folksinger Bob Dylan wrote a song where everyone denies responsibility for the death of a prizefighter. In “Who Killed Davey Moore?” Dylan shows how the referee, the fans, the sportswriter, the manager, and the boxer who laid the knocked the victim out all participated in the killing. Yet each of these conspirators excuses himself or themselves from blame.

Although a prizefighter may seem an unlikely figure for Jesus, we can find a comparison between Bob Dylan’s ballad and the gospel today. Just as many share the guilt of Davey Moore’s death but no one cares to admit it so too the whole world should recognize that their sins have caused the death of Jesus when he “is lifted up” on the cross, but few acknowledge their complicity.

Jesus comes to the world as the completely innocent son of God. His mission is to redeem the world of sin. He accomplishes this when he is crucified allowing everyone – ourselves as well as the people who surround him – to recognize that his or her sins have brought about his death. Those who deny involvement remain in sin. Those who admit responsibility, he forgives. There is no escaping this judgment.

Homilette for March 11, 2008

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

(John 8:21-30)

“What’s My Line?” was a favorite television quiz show fifty years ago. Contestants with varied occupations would challenge the celebrity panel to guess what they did to earn a living. The celebrities were informed of a contestant’s name and whether she or he was hired or self-employed. Then they would conduct an investigation by asking questions with “yes” or “no” answers.

In some ways John’s gospel today mimics “What’s My Line?” The Jews try to figure out what Jesus is doing among them. They ask him questions as we hear today, “Who are you?” They also have Jesus’ marvelous “signs” like changing the water into wine to help them determine who he is. But most of the Jews do not catch on because they are predisposed against Jesus. They are looking for a political Messiah who will defeat aggressive enemies like the Romans now occupying their land. They do not realize that the Messiah has come to save them from a far greater enemy – sin. Even when Jesus is lifted up on the cross, as he mentions in the reading, with writing in four languages declaring him “King of the Jews,” the majority of people do not understand who he is.

Perhaps we have wished that we would have been alive in Jesus’ days. We might have questions that we would like to put to him to clear up some of our doubts. Odds are, however, that our questions would never be answered to our satisfaction. Sooner or later, we would have to make the same act of faith in him that the Jews are challenged to make throughout the Gospel of John. Do we believe that this man of marvelous works and wise judgments is God’s own Son?