Category Archives: Scripture

There was a rich man

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The gospel for this coming Sunday is from Luke 16 and begins: “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property.” Swirling in the milieu of our readings are themes of riches, reversals, and hospitality. Chapter 16 of Luke forms an interesting literary grouping. The chapter begins with a parable (the dishonest steward) and ends with a parable (Lazarus and the rich man). Each parable begins with “There was a rich man…”  Between the two parables is the identification of the audience, “the Pharisees, who loved money…” It’s easy to lose the manner in which Jesus has been warning against the lure of possessions:

  • renouncing the greed of the Pharisees and the challenge to give alms (11:39-41),
  • the rich fool who forfeited his soul for wealth (12:13-21),
  • the prudent servant who was praised (12:42-48),
  • the warnings of chapter 12 on how to prepare for the final accounting,
  • the outcasts called to the great banquet (14:15-42),
  • giving up all one’s possessions to be a disciple of Jesus (14:33),
  • the prodigal son (15:14-32), and
  • now the dishonest steward (16:1-13)
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Something a little different

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My usual Saturday 6 am post is a reflection on some aspect of the gospel reading after a week of posts and commentary on the reading itself. Since tomorrow’s Sunday celebration is the Exaltation of the Cross (instead of the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time), I thought I might do something a little and explore the question I have been asked over the years by folks: Why did Jesus have to die?

At one time or another I think every believing Christian has asked that question. It is a question that is central to Christian theology and  has been thought about since the earliest days of the Church. It has also been written about by the Church patriarchs who have offered a range of perspectives often overlapping but emphasizing different aspects. 

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God so loved the world…

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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. 

Verse 16 provides the link between the two parts of the discourse. It sums up vv. 14-15 by reiterating the salvific dimensions of Jesus’ death, but moves the argument forward with its reference to God’s love. God gave Jesus to the world because God loves the world.

The verb translated “give” (didōmi) is regularly used in the Fourth Gospel to describe God as the source of what Jesus offers the world (3:35; 5:22, 26, 36). John 3:16 is the only place in the Fourth Gospel that says God “gave” his Son to the world; the more common expression is that God “sent” Jesus, as in 3:17. (Two Greek verbs meaning “to send” [pempō and apostellō are used interchangeably see 3:17; 4:34; 5:23-24, 30, 36-37; 6:38.) “send” Jesus is more clearly associated with will for the world, whereas didōmi seems to be used in 3:16 to underscore that the incarnation derives from God’s love for the world as well as from God’s will.

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Lifted up to Eternal Life 

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This coming Sunday the celebration of the Exaltation of the Cross replaces the normally scheduled 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time. In yesterday’s post we considered the first reading, the bronze serpent episode from the Book of Numbers. In John’s Gospel, the sacred writer clearly echoes the scene from Numbers 21, our first reading. As mentioned, our gospel reading is taken from a larger passage (John 3:1-21). 

Picking up the dialogue between Nicodemus and Jesus in John 3, we hear

11 Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. 12 If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

The significance of the ascension of the Son of Man is elaborated through an OT example (Num 21:8-9). The key to interpreting this analogy between Moses’ lifting up of the serpent in the wilderness and the ascension of the Son of Man is the verb (hypsoō), meaning both “lift up” and “exalt.” (The Hebrew verb nāsā’ has a similar double meaning; see the pun based on this verb in Gen 40:9-23.) Once again the Fourth Evangelist asks the reader to hold two meanings together simultaneously. As the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up on the cross. The double meaning of hypsoō implies, however, that the physical act of lifting up is also a moment of exaltation. That is, it is in the crucifixion that Jesus is exalted. John 3:14 is one of three statements about the “lifting up” of the Son of Man in John (see also 8:28; 12:32-34). These three sayings are the Johannine analogue to the three passion predictions in the synoptic Gospels (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33.34; and parallels).

The overlap of crucifixion and exaltation conveyed by v. 14 is crucial to Johannine understanding of salvation, because the Fourth Evangelist understands Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension as one continuous event. Verse 14 also contains a key to the theological grounding of the Evangelist’s attraction to irony; the cross as humiliation is actually exaltation. This will become especially clear in the crucifixion narrative of John 18-19. The Fourth Gospel is often criticized for having an inadequate theology of the cross, but such criticism misconstrues the Johannine treatment of the crucifixion. As v. 14 makes clear, there is no exaltation apart from the crucifixion for John.

The overlap of crucifixion/exaltation also provides the context for interpreting the role of the ascent/descent language in v. 13 (and 1:51) and the Fourth Evangelist’s use of the title “Son of Man.” The Fourth Evangelist appropriates the traditional apocalyptic figure of the Son of Man (cf. Dan. 7:13) and invests it with his christological perspective. Ascent/descent language thus speaks of Jesus’ relationship to God and to the world. The Son of Man’s ascent to heaven is salvific, because he is the one who has descended from heaven, the very one whom the Prologue celebrates.

John 3:15 makes explicit the salvific dimension of the crucifixion. Jesus’ offer of his life through being lifted up on the cross makes “eternal life” (zōēn aiōnion) possible for those who believe. “Eternal life” is one of the dominant metaphors in the Fourth Gospel to describe the change in human existence wrought by faith in Jesus (e.g., 3:36; 4:14; 5:24; 6:27; 17:4). To have eternal life is to live life no longer defined by blood or by the will of the flesh or by human will, but by God (cf. 1:13). “Eternal” does not mean mere endless duration of human existence, but is a way of describing life as lived in the unending presence of God. To have eternal life is to be given life as a child of God. To speak of the newness available to the believer as “eternal life” shifts eschatological expectations to the present. Eternal life is not something held in abeyance until the believer’s future, but begins in the believer’s present. The focus on the crucifixion in 3:13-15 provides the key to interpreting Jesus’ earlier metaphors of new birth and the kingdom of God. The offer of new life, “to be born anal-hen,” has only one source—Jesus’ offer of his own life. The cross thus makes sense of the double meaning of anōthen: To be born from above is to be born again through the lifting up of Jesus on the cross.

Image credit: Moses and the Brazen Serpent | Esteban March (1610-1668) | Banco Santander Collection, Madrid |  PD-US

Raising the Bronze Serpent

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This coming Sunday the celebration of the Exaltation of the Cross replaces the normally scheduled 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time. The first reading for the celebration is from the Book of Numbers 21:4-9:

With their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses, “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!” In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses, “Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if any who have been bitten look at it, they will live.” Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. (Nb 21:4-9)

The Book of Numbers is the title of the book in English, but the Hebrew title is, more commonly, bemiḏbar, “in the wilderness [of]”). “In the wilderness” describes the contents of the book much better than “numbers,” which is derived from the censuses described in later chapters. Our passage occurs after God has assigned them to wander in the desert for a generation because of their rebellion against the leadership of God. They seem to have to fight their way through the wilderness. 

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The Readings

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This coming Sunday the celebration of the Exaltation of the Cross replaces the normally scheduled 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time. 

The gospel reading for this feast is John 3:13-17 which is an integral part of a much larger narrative. John 3:1-21 comprises a single, cohesive scene within the Johannine narrative and ideally should be studied as a single pericope – but this Sunday we glance at only a small portion that forms a capstone-like statement of the role of Jesus in our salvation.  And that small passage needs to be understood in the context of the first reading from Numbers 21 when Moses raises the Bronze Serpent in the wilderness which is covered in tomorrow’s post.

In John 3:14, Jesus explicitly refers to Numbers 21: “just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert…” This connection is deliberate. In Numbers, the Israelites, plagued by deadly serpents as a consequence of their sin, are given a means of healing: if they look at the bronze serpent lifted up on a pole, they live. In John, Jesus identifies himself as the fulfillment of that sign: he, too, will be “lifted up” (a phrase that means both crucifixion and exaltation), and those who look to him in faith will have eternal life.

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Exaltation of the Cross – Historical Background

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September 14th is the date established for a feast that recognizes the Cross as the instrument upon which our salvation was won by Jesus Christ. This feast is called in Greek Ὕψωσις τοῦ Τιμίου καὶ Ζωοποιοῦ Σταυροῦ (“Raising Aloft of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross”) and in Latin Exaltatio Sanctae Crucis. In English, the 3rd Edition of the Roman Missal restored the traditional name, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, replacing the 1972 nomenclature of the Triumph of the Cross. 

When the feast day falls on a Sunday (e.g. this year, 2025) it replaces the Sunday celebration of Ordinary Time.

According to tradition, the True Cross was discovered in 326 by Saint Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, during a pilgrimage she made to Jerusalem. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was then built at the site of the discovery, by order of Helena and Constantine. The church was dedicated nine years later, with a portion of the cross placed inside it. Other traditions explain that in 614, that portion of the cross was carried away from the church by the Persians, and remained missing until it was recaptured by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius in 628. Initially taken to Constantinople, the cross was returned to the church the following year.

The date of the feast marks the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in 335. This was a two-day festival: although the actual consecration of the church was on September 13, the cross itself was brought outside the church on September 14 so that the clergy and faithful could pray before the True Cross, and all could come forward to venerate it.

Image credit: Moses and the Brazen Serpent | Esteban March (1610-1668) | Banco Santander Collection, Madrid |  PD-US

Reflection on Life’s Aspirations and Avocations

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What does the expression “church membership” bring to your mind?  The expression carries different meanings across Christian denominations, depending on their theology, governance, and ecclesial identity. For mainline Protestant denominations (Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians) membership typically involves Baptism, Confirmation or profession of faith, and often, a formal joining ceremony. Members may be listed on membership rolls and such affords one voting privileges in congregational meetings and eligibility for leadership roles.

In Evangelical Churches (e.g. Baptists, Assemblies of God, or independent Bible churches) church membership is often voluntary, distinct from baptism (though baptism is usually a prerequisite). It involves a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ, believer’s baptism (by immersion), completion of a membership class, and a congregational vote or pastor’s approval. The emphasis is placed on active participation, accountability, and sometimes church discipline. Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches are similar to Evangelicals, but with more focus on the Holy Spirit’s work.

What about the Catholic Church? Church membership is not a voluntary affiliation but a sacramental reality; one becomes a member through Baptism with full communion via the Sacrament of Confirmation and participation in the Eucharist. There’s no formal “joining” ceremony later in life for baptized Catholics. There is OCIA for adults coming to the Church as either unbaptized or from other Christian traditions. Parish registration is sometimes called “membership” in practice, but it is administrative and not sacramental.

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Seriousness of Commitment

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This coming Sunday is the 23rd Sunday (Year C) with the gospel from Luke 14:25-33. These two parables are unique to Luke and are without parallel. Jesus draws attention to a simple observation: a prudent person would not begin a project until being sure it can be finished – neither a builder nor a king. In the first parable Jesus says, “Sit down and consider whether you can afford to follow me.” In the second he says, “Sit down and surmise whether you can afford to refuse my demands.”  In the same way, God has not entered a redemptive process without being prepared to complete it. Jesus did not set his face to Jerusalem (9:51) without knowing and being prepared for his own Passion.

The two parables move from the lesser to the greater. In the first, the threat is that of embarrassment before one’s peers and neighbors. In the second, the consequence is the defeat at the hands of an enemy. In continuing the movement to the even greater, the implication is that one’s network of family or simply membership in a religious tradition is inadequate to assure one’s status before God. What is required is fidelity to God’s only Son.

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Carry One’s Cross

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This coming Sunday is the 23rd Sunday (Year C) with the gospel from Luke 14:25-33. The expression carry his own cross is a metaphor of discipleship. In terms of dedication, one is to live as already condemned to death, “oblivious to the pursuit of noble status, find no interest in securing one’s future via future obligations from others or by stockpiling possessions, free to identify with Jesus in his dishonorable suffering” [Green, 566].

Many scholars interpret “carrying the cross” as a vivid metaphor for complete renunciation of self-will and self-preservation. Roman crucifixion was public, humiliating, and painful. In the Roman world, carrying one’s cross was literally the path to execution—a condemned man would carry the beam of his own instrument of death. So Jesus’ words suggest that following Him requires being willing to lose one’s life, ambitions, or status. It is a stark image suggesting to his followers that a disciple should expect to walk as Jesus did: a path of suffering, shame, and possible martyrdom.

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