Journeying into the Mystery
Now we begin to move into the deep waters of Lent. For the next three weeks we leave behind the Gospel of Mark to read instead from the Gospel of John. John will introduce us to a new theme which is both evocative and enigmatic. This theme is the lifting up of the Son of Man. For John, this saying mirrors the predictions of the passion in the synoptic gospels in which Jesus tells his disciples that the Son of Man will be handed over into the powers and be put to death and rise on the third day. We are of course talking of his crucifixion, death and resurrection, the central mystery of our faith which Lent prepares us for.
In order to emphasise that the cross and its implications are present from the very outset of Jesus’ ministry, John has moved the incident of the cleansing of the Temple from the week before the Passion to the very beginning of his gospel. It is as if he is telling us that from the commencement of his preaching and teaching, Jesus has understood that the cross and its meaning must be integral with all that he says and does. As such, this focus on the cross turns the incident in the Temple courtyard from a spontaneous act of pique into the very sign which the Jews ask for in justification of what he has done. Although they fail to comprehend what Jesus is talking about, we should remember at this moment, how later on in the gospel, when Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob, he told her that the time would come when worship would no longer be focused either on the Temple or on the Mountain, but rather through him. From these, and from other encounters there begins to emerge the concept of Jesus drawing all people to himself as the focus of worship, which will climax in the moment when he is lifted up.
This reality of being drawn to Christ is a deeply sanctifying and sacramental concept. The imagery of light and water for baptism, of bread for the eucharist, are used by Jesus in his encounters with the man born blind, the woman at the well and the feeding of the multitudes as signs of his presence amongst us and as a way of enabling us to connect with him in our lives. Jesus tells us that he is the way, the truth and the life – no one comes to the Father but through him. How this is fulfilled is difficult for us to grasp as our world is a many layered one with a great diversity of beliefs and faiths. The Church accepts the paths of goodness which are rooted in these beliefs and faiths, yet the Church teaches that Jesus Christ is the fullness of God’s revelation to all people, and that God’s holiness, compassion, mercy and forgiveness are made present to us all in and through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. But we must also understand that the drawing of all people to Jesus is not a time bound event but one which encompasses both our life and our death – the mystery into which we all will ultimately enter.
Our Lenten journey asks us to contemplate this mystery of being drawn to Christ. The synoptics tell us that the Temple veil was indeed torn from top to bottom on Good Friday, but not John. John tells us that from his body on the cross, there flowed blood and water, signs of our baptism and of eucharist and it is in and through these signs that we are drawn to him. Our baptism is our incorporation into his body and the eucharist is the food which he provides to nourish that body. It is for us to live according to his teaching, to be drawn to him through love, and to show the world that what it regards as madness, is actually the path to holiness and through death to fullness of life.
3rd Sunday of Lent
Journeying into the Mystery
Now we begin to move into the deep waters of Lent. For the next three weeks we leave behind the Gospel of Mark to read instead from the Gospel of John. John will introduce us to a new theme which is both evocative and enigmatic. This theme is the lifting up of the Son of Man. For John, this saying mirrors the predictions of the passion in the synoptic gospels in which Jesus tells his disciples that the Son of Man will be handed over into the powers and be put to death and rise on the third day. We are of course talking of his crucifixion, death and resurrection, the central mystery of our faith which Lent prepares us for.
In order to emphasise that the cross and its implications are present from the very outset of Jesus’ ministry, John has moved the incident of the cleansing of the Temple from the week before the Passion to the very beginning of his gospel. It is as if he is telling us that from the commencement of his preaching and teaching, Jesus has understood that the cross and its meaning must be integral with all that he says and does. As such, this focus on the cross turns the incident in the Temple courtyard from a spontaneous act of pique into the very sign which the Jews ask for in justification of what he has done. Although they fail to comprehend what Jesus is talking about, we should remember at this moment, how later on in the gospel, when Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob, he told her that the time would come when worship would no longer be focused either on the Temple or on the Mountain, but rather through him. From these, and from other encounters there begins to emerge the concept of Jesus drawing all people to himself as the focus of worship, which will climax in the moment when he is lifted up.
This reality of being drawn to Christ is a deeply sanctifying and sacramental concept. The imagery of light and water for baptism, of bread for the eucharist, are used by Jesus in his encounters with the man born blind, the woman at the well and the feeding of the multitudes as signs of his presence amongst us and as a way of enabling us to connect with him in our lives. Jesus tells us that he is the way, the truth and the life – no one comes to the Father but through him. How this is fulfilled is difficult for us to grasp as our world is a many layered one with a great diversity of beliefs and faiths. The Church accepts the paths of goodness which are rooted in these beliefs and faiths, yet the Church teaches that Jesus Christ is the fullness of God’s revelation to all people, and that God’s holiness, compassion, mercy and forgiveness are made present to us all in and through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. But we must also understand that the drawing of all people to Jesus is not a time bound event but one which encompasses both our life and our death – the mystery into which we all will ultimately enter.
Our Lenten journey asks us to contemplate this mystery of being drawn to Christ. The synoptics tell us that the Temple veil was indeed torn from top to bottom on Good Friday, but not John. John tells us that from his body on the cross, there flowed blood and water, signs of our baptism and of eucharist and it is in and through these signs that we are drawn to him. Our baptism is our incorporation into his body and the eucharist is the food which he provides to nourish that body. It is for us to live according to his teaching, to be drawn to him through love, and to show the world that what it regards as madness, is actually the path to holiness and through death to fullness of life.