Readings: 2 Chronicles 36:14-17; Ephesians 2:4-10; and John 3:14-21
In the midst of our Lenten season of penance, the readings for the Fourth Sunday provide a joyful reminder of the way God’s mercy brings life out of death. With our Jewish ancestors who were restored to Jerusalem after the death of the Babylonian exile, we listen to the lyrical words of today’s entrance antiphon:
“Rejoice, Jerusalem! Be glad for her, you who love her: rejoice with her, you who mourned for her, and you will find contentment at her consoling breasts.” (Isaiah 66:10-11)
The reading from Second Chronicles is a reflection on the Chaldean (Babylonian) destruction of both Jerusalem and the temple and their restoration by Cyrus the Persian. According to the chronicler, Judah caused its own destruction by its repeated rejection of God’s prophetic messengers who were sent to warn the nation of covenant infidelity. But, from the chronicler’s perspective, God’s intention was not simply to destroy the temple and the land of Judah. Rather, the word of God through the prophet Jeremiah had spoken of a sabbatical rest for the land and then its restoration. This promise has been fulfilled with Cyrus’ victory over Babylon and his subsequent decree allowing the Jews to return to Judah and rebuild the temple. Our reading ends with the joyful good news of Cyrus’ proclamation:
“(God) has … charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people let him go up and may his God be with him!”
The reading from Ephesians reminds us of the gratuitous and life-giving character of our salvation in Christ. Before the coming of Christ, both Jews and Gentiles were hopelessly dead in sin. But now through the gift of God, and not through their own doing, both have been brought to life in Christ, who was raised up and has taken his place in the heavens. This new community of Jews and Gentiles is God’s handy-work and is now called to lead a life of good deeds:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is a gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance that we should live in them.”
The Gospel reading from Jesus’ dialogue with Nicodemus in John continues the theme of last week’s Gospel by providing us with a symbolic foreshadowing of the cross and resurrection. For John, Jesus’ crucifixion is the beginning of his life-giving exaltation and return to the Father. In his dialogue with Nicodemus, Jesus compares his being “lifted up” and giving eternal life to all who believe to an incident in the Israelites’ journey in the desert from Sinai to the Promised Land. In Numbers 21, some of the Israelites are bitten by serpents and die because they complain to the Lord and Moses, saying, “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!” At the Lord’s command, Moses makes a bronze serpent and mounts it on a pole. Whoever was bitten and looked at the bronze serpent recovered.
John understands Jesus’ coming into the world in the same way. The conclusion of the reading is a profound reflection on God’s motive for sending his Son into the world. God has acted out of love for the world and desires to share his eternal life of love with it. The light of God’s revelation in the darkened world of sin is the Son’s act of love in laying down his life “for his friends” (see John 15:11-17). God does not actively condemn the world in John’s Gospel. Condemnation and judgment come when the world rejects the light of God’s love in Jesus and prefers the darkness of wickedness. Evil hates the light of God’s love and retreats into darkness. As we move closer to the celebration of Jesus’ life-giving death and resurrection, let us allow the love of God manifest in Jesus to draw us into the truth of God’s light.
