Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

EXODUS 32:7-16  PSALM 106; JOHN 5:31-47

In today’s first reading, God is full of wrath and threatens to destroy the Israelites because they have made a molten calf and are worshiping it. God proposes to destroy the people and then raise up Moses as the leader of a new nation.  However, Moses intercedes for his people, asking that God forgive them.  But Moses tells God if God does not forgive them, he wants to die with them. Moses stands in complete solidarity with his people. God relents.

In the Gospel, we see that Jesus is the new Moses who accepts death for his people and with his people. Jeus stands in solidarity with us in times of suffering. Christ’s death leads to the resurrection, creating a new people.  In that mystery, sin is destroyed.

In Christ’s death and resurrection, sin is destroyed, and new life begins.  This promise of new life is the Easter hope that sustains us through difficult times.