Lift Up the Son of Man March 27

The LORD said to Moses, “Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover.” Numbers 21:8

So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him.” John 8:28-29

Piety

Lord, you always sought to comfort the afflicted – the poor in spirit, the broken-hearted, the blind, the lame and the lowly. However, in your next breath you challenged those who were blessed with more in life. You challenged them with your words. You challenged them with your teachings and you challenged them with your deeds. Help us all to live together in solidarity always doing your will and what is pleasing to you. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/032707.shtml

We have a little quiz today: Just answer each question “True” or “False:”

Question 1: I always do what is pleasing to God.

Question 2: I always do what is pleasing to my boss.

Question 3: I always do what is pleasing to my parents.

Question 4: I always do what is pleasing to my spouse.

Question 5: I always do what is pleasing to my children.

Question 6: I always do what is pleasing to myself.

You don’t have to show your answers to anyone. Think about your answers for a second. Are you more like the complaining Israelites in the Hebrew Bible Book of Numbers – complaining about being led to freedom? Or are you more like Jesus, always doing what is pleasing to God?

If you are like me and the Israelites, then you too might need to get over with your kvetching. Once we get over our self-indulgent feelings, pre-occupations and complaints, the challenge is how to get back into God’s good graces. First Moses and then Jesus points the way – through the cross.

When Moses mounts a serpent on a pole to heal the Israelites from their snakebites, the resulting image looks like the serpent is mounted on a cross. Through this rudimentary cross, the people are saved from their affliction just as we are saved when Christ is raised up on the cross to redeem us from our sins and afflictions. That tradition of connecting the snake on a pole to healing carries on today in logos like the American Medical Association and the Star of Life (pictured to the right) which we find on ambulances.

Jesus points to his pending execution – “Where I am going you can not come” and “When you lift up the Son of Man” on a cross. Because through that cross, he will redeem us for our sins…sins which would otherwise kill us like the snake in the Garden of Eden.

Action

What is pleasing to God? When confronted by any situation today, ask yourself how would you react if your only concern was to do what is pleasing to God?

As you go about your daily work, errands and chores today, remember these words of wisdom from Mother Teresa: “To show great love for God, we need not do great things. It is how much love we put in the doing that makes our offering something beautiful for God.”