FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT (B) 18 March 2012
You have to wonder what Jesus was speaking about when he said to Nicodemus that the Son of Man was going to be lifted up like Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert. In order to understand what he meant I think we have to deal with two other stories. In the first place there is the incident with Moses in the desert, when there was an infestation of snakes and people were being bitten. Moses used some iron to make an image of a snake and attached it to a post. The people who had been bitten would come near the image of the snake and look at it and would be healed. The second story we need to think about is the story of the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden. We remember that the snake was lurking around and tempted them. From that incident the serpent has become a universal sign of the sin of the world.
So when Jesus speaks about the serpent he is probably expecting Nicodemus to think about all that alienates people from God, and all that destroys human freedom. He is thinking of what, in a shorthand way, we refer to as the sin of the world. Nicodemus seems caught between the attractiveness of Jesus and his fear of the religious authorities. He lurks around in the dark and only visits Jesus by night. The references to light and to darkness suggest that there may have been something shadowy about Nicodemus’ life. He was probably confused and not even sure of himself. By the end of the conversation we sense that the light is overpowering the darkness of Nicodemus’ life. Of course, the light is Jesus himself. All Nicodemus has to do is to look upon Jesus and believe in him, and he will be saved.
But Jesus’ message is not just addressed to Nicodemus; it addressed to all people. So, what is he saying about the Son of Man being lifted up? Quite clearly, he is likening himself to the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up in the desert. Just as the bronze serpent cured those who looked upon it, so all who approach Jesus and trust in him will be saved.
However, there is something that doesn’t quite seem to work. If Jesus is like the bronze serpent, might that also mean that he is like the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve in the garden? Now we know that this can’t be right. But something important is happening here. Jesus is suggesting that in his death the sin of the world is exposed – it is held up high. We shouldn’t understand this in the sense that Jesus is a sinner, but rather that he takes on the sin of the world so that it can be healed.
In the ancient world there was a common practice whereby the people would symbolically load onto a goat all the sin of the village. They would then drive the goat out of the village and throw it off a cliff so that it died and all the sins of the people with it. This was the scape goat. Once the sin and guilt had been destroyed right relations were restored in the village among the people. The idea still persists even in our own day, when often a single person is forced to bear the brunt of the guilt or misdeeds of others, for the sake of harmony of the group, which can now put the past behind it. Jesus is like the scape goat and is innocently accused. In his death he carries all of the sin and alienation that humans experience, and he redeems it; he sets us right with God and with each other.
What does all this mean for our Lenten journey? I think the message is that Lent is a time to gaze on Jesus in order to find the healing and light that he brings. At Easter we will renew the profession of faith that was made at our baptism. Put simply, this profession of faith is our belief in Jesus and his power to make a difference in our lives and to save us. The profession of faith is about our trust in him and our reliance on him. Remember what happened in the desert: all those who had been bitten by the snake had to look at the bronze serpent. All we have to do is to stand before Jesus. Our Lenten penance assists us in doing this. It will make us free to receive the salvation God offers as a gift. During Lent we make our hearts ready to recognise and receive this gift.
In a world like ours one of the hardest things we all have to deal with is to accept God’s graciousness in our lives. How many people, I wonder, live in such a way that their sense of their own worth and dignity is measured by their success or their wealth or their fame or prominence? We see it played out in our newspapers almost every day. The gospel tells us something different. It tells us to gaze on the one who was lifted up, to trust him, and to allow him to put us in right relationship with God. During this Lent let us see ourselves as God sees us.
Fr. Gerard Kelly
