How soon we shall taste Christ's Passion / 4th Sunday Lent

How soon we shall taste Christ’s Passion  /  4th Sunday Lent

When a conclusion to something unexpected arrives we will either accept or reject the news.  The mission of Jesus began with a rejection (Lk 4: 1 - 19) and from there the road was not free of insults and a conspiracy to kill him.  The path to freedom from tyranny is always acceptance of evil that surrounds us and seeking God’s intervention without becoming like those who would destroy us.  That is not the way of people who want to become anarchists.  However, this is not the way of God.  

Reaching out for the Way that is Christ, we must look at the example found in Isaiah:  “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit:  he shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street.  A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching.”  (Is 42: 1 - 4).  The 1st Suffering Servant Song.

As we approach the Easter Triduum we need to remind ourselves that God never viewed a retribution with mankind for all the rejections humanity used to reject his Love.  Instead, he humbled himself by becoming one like us and took upon himself our sins in order to forgive us.

“The Lord has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them.  Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back.  I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; My face I did not shield from buffets  and spitting.  The Lord is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.  He is near who upholds my right; if anyone wishes to oppose me , let us appear together.  Who disputes my right?  Let him confront me.”  (Is 50: 4 - 8).  The 3rd Suffering Song.

When we went through the first 3 weeks of Lent, we were reminded of how the Lord through his Incarnation was here to pull us up from our sins.  Today, the 4th Sunday of Lent,  the same scenario reiterates the only way that God will deal with you and me;  love because of our sins, forgiveness because there is nothing any of us can do to earn his mercy.  

Tolerance is something many people will comply with if there is nothing we can do to change someone who is intolerable.  This does not fit God’s omnipotence and in spite of our disobedience he sent his Son to put his arms around us and lift each one upon his shoulders when the weight of our sin became too heavy for us to carry.

“I waited for the Lord who bent down and heard my cry, drew me out of the pit of destruction, out of the mud of the swamp, set my feet upon rock, steadied my steps, and put a new song in my mouth, a hymn to our God.  Many shall look on in awe and they shall trust in the Lord.”  (Ps 40: 2 - 4).  “Sacrifice and offering you do not want;  but ears open to obedience you gave me.  Holocausts and sin-offerings you do not require; so I said, “Here I am;  your commands for me are written in the scroll.  To do your will is my delight;  my God; your law is in my heart!”  (Ps 40: 7 - 9).

As the days of sacrifice for each of us arrives, let us remember that he who became our sin was not a deed of forgetfulness rather a pledge of eternal love that is the Light of Light; God Almighty!

Ralph B. Hathaway