On our journey together towards Holy Week and Easter, the Word of God reminds us of the attitude of the people of Israel who had just experienced the saving power of God who brought them out of Egypt. Rather than proclaiming their thanksgiving, they complain against Moses and God because their new life of freedom does not include all the luxuries as they had hoped it would. It does not meet up to their expectations. God provided the food and water they needed – yet they had hoped for steak and mashed potatoes with wine and beer each night. Many continued to be slaves to their personal needs and desires and so they were unable to be content with their life with God and their neighbors. There was no thankfulness, no joy in them – they were still slaves, slaves to themselves and their own perceived needs.
Today’s Gospel follows the story of the woman caught in adultery which we heard on Sunday. Right after that, the religious leaders in the temple area once again asked Jesus about his actions and who he is. It seems more like an interrogation rather than a deepening of their faith. They do not recognize him as the Savior. Just as the people in the desert were cured by looking up with faith at the symbol of God, so Christians must look up with faith towards the Cross. The Cross is the basic orientation point of every Christian life. Anyone who does not have that attitude and faith will simply get lost without a compass in the things of the world. A lack of the Cross produces selfishness and an ego-centric way of life. We become centered on our perceived needs and desires, and we want them immediately. The complaints against Moses and God in the desert by the people of Israel begin to dominate our lives.
Rather than being joyful and thankful through our living out of our Cross, we become quarrelsome murmurers; we complain about everything in our lives. We become people without faith.
Lent is a time to put aside our personal complains and recenter our lives on the Cross.
Where I am going you cannot come….
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.
Image https://joshbenner.org/2018/08/01/meaning-of-the-bronze-serpent-the-gospel-in-numbers/