Thursday
4th Week of Lent
1st Reading: Exodus 32:7-14
The Lord's Ire
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[7] And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down; for your people, whom you brought
up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves; [8] they have turned aside
quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made for themselves
a molten calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'These are your
gods, 0 Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!"' [9] And the LORD
said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people;
[10] now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I
may consume them; but of you I will make a great nation."
Moses' Prayer for Israel
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[11] But Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, "0 LORD, why does thy
wrath burn hot against thy people, whom thou hast brought forth out of the land
of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? [12] Why should the Egyp-
tians say, 'With evil intent did he bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains,
and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and
repent of this evil against thy people. [13] "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
thy servants, to whom thou didst swear by thine own self, and didst say to them,
'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I
have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever."'
[14] And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people.
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Commentary:
32:7-14. The Lord's dialogue with Moses contains the doctrinal basis of salvation
history--Covenant, sin, mercy. Only the Lord knows just how serious this sin is:
by adoring the golden calf the people have taken the wrong road and have vitiated
the whole meaning of the Exodus; but most of all, they have rebelled against God
and turned their backs on him, breaking the Covenant (cf, Deut 9:7-14). God no
longer calls them my people" (cf. Hos 2:8) but "your people" (Moses') (v. 7). That
is, he shows him that they have acted like anyone else, guided by human leaders.
The punishment that the sin deserves is their destruction (v. 10), for this is a stiff-
necked nation (cf. 33:3; 34:9; Deut 9:13). The sin deserves death, as the first sin
did (Gen 3:19) and the sin which gave rise to the flood. (cf. Gen 6:6-7). However,
mercy always prevails over the offense.
As Abraham did in another time on behalf of Sodom (Gen 18:22-23), Moses inter-
cedes with the Lord. But this time intercession proves successful, because Israel
is the people that God has made his own; he chose it, bringing it out of Egypt
in a mighty way; so, he cannot turn back now; in fact, he chose it ever since he
swore his oath to Abraham (cf. Gen 15:5; 22:16-17; 35:11-12). He established
the Covenant with Israel, as Moses reminds him when he refers to "thy people,
whom thou has brought forth out of the land of Egypt' (v. 11.). Thus, promise, ele-
ction and Covenant form the foundation which guarantees that God's forgiveness
will be forthcoming, even if they commit [he gravest of sins.
God forgives his people (v. 14) not because they deserve to be forgiven, but out
of pure mercy and moved by Moses' intercession. Thus God's forgiveness and
the people's conversion are, both of them, a divine initiative.
Gospel Reading: John 5:31-47
Christ Defends His Action (Continuation)
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[Jesus said to the Jews,] [31] "If I bear witness to Myself, My testimony is not
true; [32] there is another who bears witness to Me, and I know that the testi-
mony which he bears to Me is true. [33] You sent to John, and he has borne
witness to the truth. [34] Not that the testimony which I receive is from man;
but I say this that you may be saved. [35] He was a burning and shining lamp,
and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. [36] But the testimony
which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father has gran-
ted Me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear Me witness that
the Father has sent Me. [37] And the Father who sent He has Himself borne wit-
ness to Me. His voice you have never heard, His form you have never seen; [38]
and you do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom
He has sent. [39] You search the Scriptures, because you think thatin them
you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to Me; [40] yet you refuse
to come to Me that you may have life. [41] I do not receive glory from men. [42]
But I know that you have not the love of God within you. [43] I have come in My
Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name,
him you will receive. [44] How can you believe, who receive glory from one ano-
ther and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? [45] Do not think
that I shall accuse you to the Father; it is Moses who accuses you, on whom
you set your hope. [4] If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he
wrote of Me. [47] But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My
words?"
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Commentary:
31-40. Because Jesus is Son of God, His own word is self-sufficient, it needs
no corroboration (cf. 8:18); but, as on other occasions, He accommodates Him-
self to human customs and to the mental outlook of His hearers: He anticipates
a possible objection from the Jews to the effect that it is not enough for a person
to testify in his own cause (cf. Deuteronomy 19:15) and He explains that what
He is saying is endorsed by four witnesses--John the Baptist, His own miracles,
the Father, and the Sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament.
John the Baptist bore witness that Jesus was the Son of God (1:34). Although
Jesus had no need to have recourse to any man's testimony, not even that of a
great prophet, John's testimony was given for the sake of the Jews, that they
might recognize the Messiah. Jesus can also point to another testimony, better
than that of the Baptist--the miracles He has worked, which are, for anyone who
examines them honestly, unmistakable signs of His divine power, which comes
from the Father; Jesus' miracles, then, are a form of witness the Father bears
concerning His Son, whom He has sent into the world. The Father manifests the
divinity of Jesus on other occasions--at His Baptism (cf. 1:31-34); at the Trans-
figuration (cf. Matthew 17:1-8), and later, in the presence of the whole crowd (cf.
John 12:28-30).
Jesus speaks to another divine testimony--that of the Sacred Scriptures. These
speak of Him, but the Jews fail to grasp the Scriptures' true meaning, because
they read them without letting themselves be enlightened by Him whom God has
sent and in whom all the prophecies are fulfilled: "The economy of the Old Testa-
ment was deliberately so orientated that it should prepare for and declare in
prophecy the coming of Christ, Redeemer of all men, and of the Messianic King-
dom (cf. Luke 24:44; John 5:39, 1 Peter 1:10), and should indicate it by means
of different types (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:11). [...] Christians should accept with
veneration these writings which give expression to a lively sense of God, which
are a storehouse of sublime teaching on God and of sound wisdom on human
life, as well as a wonderful treasury of prayers; in them, too, the mystery of our
salvation is present in a hidden way" (Vatican II, "Dei Verbum", 15).
41-47. Jesus identifies three obstacles preventing His hearers from recognizing
that He is the Messiah and Son of God--their lack of love of God, their striving
after human glory and their prejudiced interpretation of sacred texts. His defense
of His own actions and of His relationship with the Father might lead His adver-
saries to think that He was looking for human glory. But the testimonies He has
adduced (the Baptist, the miracles, the Father and the Scriptures) show clearly
that it is not He who is seeking His glory, and that the Jews oppose Him not out
of love of God or in defense of God's honor, but for unworthy reasons or because
of their merely human outlook.
The Old Testament, therefore, leads a person towards recognizing who Jesus
Christ is (cf. John 1:45; 2:17, 22; 5:39, 46; 12:16, 41); yet the Jews remain
unbelievers because their attitude is wrong: they have reduced the Messianic
promises in the sacred books to the level of mere nationalistic aspirations: this
outlook, which is in no way supernatural, closes their soul to Jesus' words and
actions and prevents them from seeing that the ancient prophecies are come
true in Him (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:14-16).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
[참고: 이 파일은 저서명 "가톨릭 교회의 말씀 전례에 따른 성경공부 해설서"(엮은이: 소순태, 출판사: 가톨릭출판사)의 각주의 연장으로 마련되었습니다].