Tuesday March 14 Lent 3
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Psalm 78 Part 1
This poem speaks of how God showered the people with constant protection and generosity as God held the sea back so they could escape from their slavery in Egypt, and continued to protect them and miraculously feed them in the desert. But the people continued to distrust this God of justice and inclusion for all. There are consequences, as always, for unjust exploitative behaviour, but God does not abandon the people, even though they have abandoned God’s call to justice. So God continues to care because God makes care of the weakest a priority.
In effect, this is the basic creed of the ancient Israelites. If it were our basic belief today, what a difference that would make to our personal and international life.
Jeremiah 7: 21-34 What’s Jeremiah about?
Jeremiah can see the disaster of Babylon approaching. Ever since God rescued the people they have followed other gods, even sacrificing their children. God never commanded this. The consequences will be beyond imagining.
These passages are difficult to read, but the real difficulty is that they apply so well to us, who may be sacrificing our children’s future. But Jeremiah’s message is not that God is angry, but that we are being warned, and therefore are being offered a way out.
John 7: 37-52 What’s John about?
Jesus offers himself as drink. People understand that Jesus comes from Galilee, not Bethlehem, and therefore cannot be the messiah from God who it was thought, must come from Bethlehem. John may be saying that in Jesus, God is not constrained by religious orthodoxy or by scripture. Because Jesus is breaking the religious expectations, the religious authorities increasingly decide to eliminate him.
This week’s collect:
Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ gives the water of eternal life,
may we always thirst for you,
the spring of life and source of goodness;
through him who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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