Saint Rita Catholic Church and School in Webster, NY - An Introduction to Sunday's Scripture Readings

“He Humbled Himself, Becoming Obedient To Death, Even Death On A Cross”

This Sunday's scripture readings ask us to contemplate the divine paradox of Jesus subjecting Himself to the most horrible death conceived by mankind in order to bring forgiveness of sins and salvation to humanity. Gazing upon this torturous instrument is what will lead us to Christ.

Our first reading (Numbers 21:4-9), is the story of the serpents afflicting the Israelites in the desert. They were ungrateful for the food and water and freedom from slavery that God had provided.In response, God sent serpents among them to bite them so that many of them died. They repented and upon God’s command, Moses erected a bronze serpent on a pole and lifted it high so that anyone who had been bitten and gazed upon it would be healed. This serpent on a pole is the same one that Jesus referred to in today’s Gospel reading.

In our Epistle reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Philippians (Philippians 2:6-11)), St. Paul describes the humility and obedience with which Jesus accepted “death, even death on a cross”, so that all humankind would be freed from their own sins. “Because of this, God greatly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name . . .”

In our Gospel reading (John 3:13-17), Jesus establishes that He, “the Son of Man” has indeed come down from heaven and yet, while stressing His divinity, He must suffer, die and be held up high on the cross, just as Moses held the serpent up in the desert (see today’s first reading). This is so that all humanity would be healed. John’s Gospel puts it so clearly in this famous passage (John 3:16), “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. “

This is a strange comparison that Jesus makes in today’s Gospel reading, “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up . . .” The first is a type or foreshadows the second. Both were terrifying instruments of death, and yet, it was in both instances what God chose for His people to gaze upon to know healing and salvation. So now, the Cross of Jesus, exalted in today’s liturgy, is embraced and revered by those who love and believe in Jesus.

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091425.cfm