Fourth Sunday in Lent
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VIII, Cycle B
Theme For The Day
We look to the cross of Jesus for salvation.
Old Testament Lesson
Numbers 21:4-9
Snake On A Pole
Because the Israelites have been grumbling about Moses' leadership -- and have gone even further, complaining about the Lord -- the Lord sends poisonous snakes to afflict them. The word "poisonous" literally means "fiery," a vivid description both of God's anger and of the sensory experience of being bitten. When the people come to Moses repenting of their sin, the Lord instructs Moses to make a bronze image of a snake and place it on a high pole. When snakebite victims gaze upon this statue, the Lord says, they will live. Moses does so, and the snakebite problem is solved. 2 Kings 18:4 relates how, centuries later, Moses' bronze serpent (or perhaps a facsimile of it) has become an idolatrous object of worship, which Hezekiah pulls down as part of his reform.
New Testament Lesson
Ephesians 2:1-10
Saved By Grace Through Faith
This passage, describing the mercy and grace of God in bringing true believers to salvation, includes one of the greatest of all scripture verses for Protestants: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God -- not the result of works, so that no one may boast" (vv. 8-9). This verse became the source of the slogans, sola gratia, sola fide ("by grace alone," "by faith alone") that became the theological battle cry of Luther and others. This is God's doing, not the believer's -- and it is a free gift. The verb "to boast" is one that occurs frequently in the Pauline tradition. Boasting does not have quite the pejorative connotation of prideful puffery that it has in English (indeed, in other letters, Paul uses it frequently to refer to himself); but it does mean taking credit for what one has achieved, and the author of Ephesians wants to make it absolutely clear that Christians can have nothing to do with earning their own salvation. It is the free gift of God. Verse 10 says that Christians are "created for good works." The good works, here, are a response to grace -- not a prerequisite for it.
The Gospel
John 3:14-21
For God So Loved The World ...
(See The Holy Trinity, p. 152, for a discussion of the larger story of which this passage is a part.) The lectionary abruptly breaks into the conversation between Jesus and the Pharisee Nicodemus at the point where Jesus is using Moses' bronze serpent as an example: "just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life" (v. 14). The thought of the Son of Man (whom John identifies with Jesus) being "lifted up" occurs elsewhere in John (8:28; 12:32). John apparently sees the image of the serpent lifted up on the pole as an allegorical type of the cross and resurrection: just as the Israelites gazed on the bronze serpent and lived, so they gaze at the image of Christ -- raised on the cross as well as raised from death -- and live. The linkage of the Son of Man with the Numbers passage -- and indeed, the very allegorical method of interpretation being applied here -- is a bit obscure for modern ears. John 3:16, of course, is one of the most famous verses in the New Testament. It has been called "the gospel in miniature." It is overflowing with preaching possibilities. Like most verses, though, it is best interpreted in context -- so it is important, here, to tell the full story of Jesus' encounter with Nicodemus, so worshipers may understand what led Jesus to say this. John may well be using Nicodemus as a composite example of all the learned, pious people of his own day who have investigated faith in Christ, but found it wanting. The fact that they have looked and looked but have never truly seen is a source of some considerable frustration for the evangelist, one he explores through passages such as this one. Verses 19-20 bring up, once again, the great Johannine theme of light versus darkness. Jesus' words here echo those of the Prologue (1:4-5, 9). Some people turn to the light, and others do not. "Those who do what is true come to the light" (v. 21).
Preaching Possibilities
The anthropologists would positively have a field day with Moses' bronze serpent on a stick in Numbers 21:4-9. They'd flip open their notebooks and write it up as a totem, a fetish, a talisman. "Such things are used in primitive cultures," they would surely pontificate, "to ward off plagues and evil spirits. Displaying an image of the thing one most fears unleashes a certain sympathetic magic, that causes its maker to feel protected. Primitive people the world over practice this sort of 'sympathetic magic.' "
It is, admittedly, a bit of a shocker to discover this sort of thing here in the Bible. With all the layers of redaction and editing that went into the composition of the Pentateuch, this little story has survived -- and, in fact, its very strangeness suggests that it's an absolutely genuine historical artifact. Nobody could make this sort of thing up. Every once in a while, in the Bible, these wild images of very ancient religious ideas crop up (Jacob wrestling with the angel is one example, as is the account of the clay household gods that Jacob and his wives carry around with them).
This ancient tale would have remained buried deep within the Old Testament, squirreled away like some dusty family heirloom, were it not for the fact that Jesus refers to it. In the third chapter of John's Gospel, in the middle of his famous dialogue with the Pharisee Nicodemus, Jesus trots out the old story of Moses' snake-on-a-stick. From here, Jesus goes on the quote the sublime words of John 3:16, the memory verse beloved both of Sunday school kids and guys in football stadiums holding bedsheets.
So what does Jesus mean when he says, "the Son of Man be lifted up"? Some say he's talking about the cross, some the resurrection, some the ascension. Most likely, it is the cross -- because the cross bears the closest physical similarity to what this ancient object must have looked like. When the poor, afflicted snakebite victims gazed upon that magical talisman, they were healed. When you and I look in wonder upon the cross of Jesus Christ, we, too, are touched to the heart.
Just after Jesus speaks of the Son of Man being lifted up like Moses' snake in the wilderness, he adds these words: "that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." The cross of Jesus is not altogether an image of abandonment and despair. For the human race, it is also an image of hope.
Moses raises the bronze serpent in the wilderness so the Israelites may look upon it and live. Maybe God raises Jesus on the cross for all to see, so the people of the world may look on him, and live. If the bronze serpent is a way for ancient people to deal with their fear of snakebites, then maybe the cross of Jesus Christ is the way in which people of every age may deal with their fear of death -- and not just death as the cessation of biological life, but eternal death, cosmic oblivion, the black hole of existential despair. In the wilderness, Moses elevates an image of the thing ancient Israel most fears. On Calvary's hill, God raises up an image of the thing you and I most fear -- and somehow, gazing upon God's crucified Son, we know that there is no human suffering that is utterly beyond the reach of our Lord's healing and sustaining love.
Yet what of Nicodemus? John leaves us hanging, at the end of chapter 3. Does Nicodemus ever get Jesus' point?
We're not entirely sure, but John does give us two hints. He mentions Nicodemus two other times. The first is when the chief priests and the scribes are plotting against Jesus. Nicodemus stands up in the council and argues for fairness; he insists that due process be followed. Not a ringing endorsement, exactly -- but it may reveal a little sympathy.
The real evidence, though, comes near the end of John's Gospel. Jesus has been crucified, and his fearful disciples have scattered to the four winds. No one dares to come forward, at first, to claim the body. But then, two unlikely people show up. The first is a man named Joseph of Arimathea, who offers the loan of his own tomb. And the other? Why, it's Nicodemus, that cautious Pharisee. Nicodemus is the one who goes with Joseph to anoint Jesus' body for burial. He carries on his back 100 pounds of embalming spices -- far more than what's needed. In a time when it's extremely risky to confess loyalty to Jesus, it is Nicodemus, that secret visitor in the night, who walks the streets of Jerusalem in broad daylight, carrying on his back a weighty bundle, 100 pounds of pure devotion. Nicodemus has come into the daylight.
Prayer For The Day
The cross has become for us, O God,
a piece of jewelry around the neck,
a logo for the top of the letterhead,
a symbol of pride to set us apart,
dividing us from your other children with whom we share this planet.
In these Lenten days, we ask for vision:
that we may come to see the cross not only as a symbol of who we are,
but also of how deep and abiding is your love for us and all people. Amen.
To Illustrate
An issue of Newsweek magazine from the year 2000 contained an insightful article about how other religions of the world view Jesus of Nazareth. While these other religions do not consider Jesus the Son of God, some do esteem and respect him highly -- calling him prophet, or teacher, or enlightened one. Yet, as the article points out in its concluding paragraphs, the one thing about Jesus these other religions do not have room for is his cross:
Clearly, the cross is what separates the Christ of Christianity from every other Jesus. In Judaism there is no precedent for a Messiah who dies, much less as a criminal as Jesus did. In Islam, the story of Jesus' death is rejected as an affront to Allah himself. Hindus can accept only a Jesus who passes into peaceful samadhi, a yogi who escapes the degradation of death. The figure of the crucified Christ, says Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh, "is a very painful image to me. It does not contain joy or peace, and this does not do justice to Jesus." There is, in short, no room in other religions for a Christ who experiences the full burden of mortal existence -- and hence there is no reason to believe in him as the divine Son whom the Father resurrected from the dead.
***
Homiletician, John R. Brokhoff, tells of seeing a film called The Bridge. It narrates the life of a beautiful young couple who have a son. The boy is trying to grow up to be just like his father. "Then the film shows the father going off to his work. He is the switchman for a railroad line that carries people on holiday from one place to another. Part of the line lies over a river, where it must be kept back most of the time for the boats to pass. It is his job to wait until the last moment and then pull the switch that will swing the bridge into place before the thundering approach of the train. We, the viewers of the film, see what the father does not see -- his little son has followed him down to the river and is coming across the bridge. As the train whistle blows to signal the approach of the speeding train, the father sees the boy. If he closes the track, the boy will die. We watch the agony on his face. He loves the boy better than anything in his life. But finally he pulls the lever and the bridge locks into place. We see the people on the train laughing and having a good time as the train races across the bridge. They do not know how narrowly they have averted disaster -- or what it has cost the switchman."
-- Homiletics magazine, May 26, 1991
***
There's a wonderful passage in C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia when Aslan, the huge lion who symbolizes Jesus Christ, calls the young girl Lucy over to him. It's been a frightening time, and the young girl cries out ...
"Aslan, Aslan. Dear Aslan -- At last." The great beast rolled over on his side so that Lucy fell, half sitting and half lying between his front paws. He bent forward and just touched her nose with his tongue.
His warm breath came all round her. She gazed up into the large wise face.
"Welcome, child," he said.
"Aslan," said Lucy, "you're bigger."
"That's because you are older, little one," answered he.
"Not because you are?"
"I am not. But every year as you grow older, you will find me bigger."
We look to the cross of Jesus for salvation.
Old Testament Lesson
Numbers 21:4-9
Snake On A Pole
Because the Israelites have been grumbling about Moses' leadership -- and have gone even further, complaining about the Lord -- the Lord sends poisonous snakes to afflict them. The word "poisonous" literally means "fiery," a vivid description both of God's anger and of the sensory experience of being bitten. When the people come to Moses repenting of their sin, the Lord instructs Moses to make a bronze image of a snake and place it on a high pole. When snakebite victims gaze upon this statue, the Lord says, they will live. Moses does so, and the snakebite problem is solved. 2 Kings 18:4 relates how, centuries later, Moses' bronze serpent (or perhaps a facsimile of it) has become an idolatrous object of worship, which Hezekiah pulls down as part of his reform.
New Testament Lesson
Ephesians 2:1-10
Saved By Grace Through Faith
This passage, describing the mercy and grace of God in bringing true believers to salvation, includes one of the greatest of all scripture verses for Protestants: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God -- not the result of works, so that no one may boast" (vv. 8-9). This verse became the source of the slogans, sola gratia, sola fide ("by grace alone," "by faith alone") that became the theological battle cry of Luther and others. This is God's doing, not the believer's -- and it is a free gift. The verb "to boast" is one that occurs frequently in the Pauline tradition. Boasting does not have quite the pejorative connotation of prideful puffery that it has in English (indeed, in other letters, Paul uses it frequently to refer to himself); but it does mean taking credit for what one has achieved, and the author of Ephesians wants to make it absolutely clear that Christians can have nothing to do with earning their own salvation. It is the free gift of God. Verse 10 says that Christians are "created for good works." The good works, here, are a response to grace -- not a prerequisite for it.
The Gospel
John 3:14-21
For God So Loved The World ...
(See The Holy Trinity, p. 152, for a discussion of the larger story of which this passage is a part.) The lectionary abruptly breaks into the conversation between Jesus and the Pharisee Nicodemus at the point where Jesus is using Moses' bronze serpent as an example: "just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life" (v. 14). The thought of the Son of Man (whom John identifies with Jesus) being "lifted up" occurs elsewhere in John (8:28; 12:32). John apparently sees the image of the serpent lifted up on the pole as an allegorical type of the cross and resurrection: just as the Israelites gazed on the bronze serpent and lived, so they gaze at the image of Christ -- raised on the cross as well as raised from death -- and live. The linkage of the Son of Man with the Numbers passage -- and indeed, the very allegorical method of interpretation being applied here -- is a bit obscure for modern ears. John 3:16, of course, is one of the most famous verses in the New Testament. It has been called "the gospel in miniature." It is overflowing with preaching possibilities. Like most verses, though, it is best interpreted in context -- so it is important, here, to tell the full story of Jesus' encounter with Nicodemus, so worshipers may understand what led Jesus to say this. John may well be using Nicodemus as a composite example of all the learned, pious people of his own day who have investigated faith in Christ, but found it wanting. The fact that they have looked and looked but have never truly seen is a source of some considerable frustration for the evangelist, one he explores through passages such as this one. Verses 19-20 bring up, once again, the great Johannine theme of light versus darkness. Jesus' words here echo those of the Prologue (1:4-5, 9). Some people turn to the light, and others do not. "Those who do what is true come to the light" (v. 21).
Preaching Possibilities
The anthropologists would positively have a field day with Moses' bronze serpent on a stick in Numbers 21:4-9. They'd flip open their notebooks and write it up as a totem, a fetish, a talisman. "Such things are used in primitive cultures," they would surely pontificate, "to ward off plagues and evil spirits. Displaying an image of the thing one most fears unleashes a certain sympathetic magic, that causes its maker to feel protected. Primitive people the world over practice this sort of 'sympathetic magic.' "
It is, admittedly, a bit of a shocker to discover this sort of thing here in the Bible. With all the layers of redaction and editing that went into the composition of the Pentateuch, this little story has survived -- and, in fact, its very strangeness suggests that it's an absolutely genuine historical artifact. Nobody could make this sort of thing up. Every once in a while, in the Bible, these wild images of very ancient religious ideas crop up (Jacob wrestling with the angel is one example, as is the account of the clay household gods that Jacob and his wives carry around with them).
This ancient tale would have remained buried deep within the Old Testament, squirreled away like some dusty family heirloom, were it not for the fact that Jesus refers to it. In the third chapter of John's Gospel, in the middle of his famous dialogue with the Pharisee Nicodemus, Jesus trots out the old story of Moses' snake-on-a-stick. From here, Jesus goes on the quote the sublime words of John 3:16, the memory verse beloved both of Sunday school kids and guys in football stadiums holding bedsheets.
So what does Jesus mean when he says, "the Son of Man be lifted up"? Some say he's talking about the cross, some the resurrection, some the ascension. Most likely, it is the cross -- because the cross bears the closest physical similarity to what this ancient object must have looked like. When the poor, afflicted snakebite victims gazed upon that magical talisman, they were healed. When you and I look in wonder upon the cross of Jesus Christ, we, too, are touched to the heart.
Just after Jesus speaks of the Son of Man being lifted up like Moses' snake in the wilderness, he adds these words: "that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." The cross of Jesus is not altogether an image of abandonment and despair. For the human race, it is also an image of hope.
Moses raises the bronze serpent in the wilderness so the Israelites may look upon it and live. Maybe God raises Jesus on the cross for all to see, so the people of the world may look on him, and live. If the bronze serpent is a way for ancient people to deal with their fear of snakebites, then maybe the cross of Jesus Christ is the way in which people of every age may deal with their fear of death -- and not just death as the cessation of biological life, but eternal death, cosmic oblivion, the black hole of existential despair. In the wilderness, Moses elevates an image of the thing ancient Israel most fears. On Calvary's hill, God raises up an image of the thing you and I most fear -- and somehow, gazing upon God's crucified Son, we know that there is no human suffering that is utterly beyond the reach of our Lord's healing and sustaining love.
Yet what of Nicodemus? John leaves us hanging, at the end of chapter 3. Does Nicodemus ever get Jesus' point?
We're not entirely sure, but John does give us two hints. He mentions Nicodemus two other times. The first is when the chief priests and the scribes are plotting against Jesus. Nicodemus stands up in the council and argues for fairness; he insists that due process be followed. Not a ringing endorsement, exactly -- but it may reveal a little sympathy.
The real evidence, though, comes near the end of John's Gospel. Jesus has been crucified, and his fearful disciples have scattered to the four winds. No one dares to come forward, at first, to claim the body. But then, two unlikely people show up. The first is a man named Joseph of Arimathea, who offers the loan of his own tomb. And the other? Why, it's Nicodemus, that cautious Pharisee. Nicodemus is the one who goes with Joseph to anoint Jesus' body for burial. He carries on his back 100 pounds of embalming spices -- far more than what's needed. In a time when it's extremely risky to confess loyalty to Jesus, it is Nicodemus, that secret visitor in the night, who walks the streets of Jerusalem in broad daylight, carrying on his back a weighty bundle, 100 pounds of pure devotion. Nicodemus has come into the daylight.
Prayer For The Day
The cross has become for us, O God,
a piece of jewelry around the neck,
a logo for the top of the letterhead,
a symbol of pride to set us apart,
dividing us from your other children with whom we share this planet.
In these Lenten days, we ask for vision:
that we may come to see the cross not only as a symbol of who we are,
but also of how deep and abiding is your love for us and all people. Amen.
To Illustrate
An issue of Newsweek magazine from the year 2000 contained an insightful article about how other religions of the world view Jesus of Nazareth. While these other religions do not consider Jesus the Son of God, some do esteem and respect him highly -- calling him prophet, or teacher, or enlightened one. Yet, as the article points out in its concluding paragraphs, the one thing about Jesus these other religions do not have room for is his cross:
Clearly, the cross is what separates the Christ of Christianity from every other Jesus. In Judaism there is no precedent for a Messiah who dies, much less as a criminal as Jesus did. In Islam, the story of Jesus' death is rejected as an affront to Allah himself. Hindus can accept only a Jesus who passes into peaceful samadhi, a yogi who escapes the degradation of death. The figure of the crucified Christ, says Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh, "is a very painful image to me. It does not contain joy or peace, and this does not do justice to Jesus." There is, in short, no room in other religions for a Christ who experiences the full burden of mortal existence -- and hence there is no reason to believe in him as the divine Son whom the Father resurrected from the dead.
***
Homiletician, John R. Brokhoff, tells of seeing a film called The Bridge. It narrates the life of a beautiful young couple who have a son. The boy is trying to grow up to be just like his father. "Then the film shows the father going off to his work. He is the switchman for a railroad line that carries people on holiday from one place to another. Part of the line lies over a river, where it must be kept back most of the time for the boats to pass. It is his job to wait until the last moment and then pull the switch that will swing the bridge into place before the thundering approach of the train. We, the viewers of the film, see what the father does not see -- his little son has followed him down to the river and is coming across the bridge. As the train whistle blows to signal the approach of the speeding train, the father sees the boy. If he closes the track, the boy will die. We watch the agony on his face. He loves the boy better than anything in his life. But finally he pulls the lever and the bridge locks into place. We see the people on the train laughing and having a good time as the train races across the bridge. They do not know how narrowly they have averted disaster -- or what it has cost the switchman."
-- Homiletics magazine, May 26, 1991
***
There's a wonderful passage in C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia when Aslan, the huge lion who symbolizes Jesus Christ, calls the young girl Lucy over to him. It's been a frightening time, and the young girl cries out ...
"Aslan, Aslan. Dear Aslan -- At last." The great beast rolled over on his side so that Lucy fell, half sitting and half lying between his front paws. He bent forward and just touched her nose with his tongue.
His warm breath came all round her. She gazed up into the large wise face.
"Welcome, child," he said.
"Aslan," said Lucy, "you're bigger."
"That's because you are older, little one," answered he.
"Not because you are?"
"I am not. But every year as you grow older, you will find me bigger."
