Both the Old and the New

August 2, 2007

Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

“Moses did exactly as the LORD had commanded him.” Exodus 40:16

“Every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” Matthew 13:52

Piety

Jesus you feed us from your storeroom of faith and knowledge. Help us today and every day to do exactly as you have commanded us. Help us to do things the hard way, carrying the cross you laid out for us. We can not cut corners and look for short cuts to building the Kingdom of God on Earth. Teach us both the old and the new ways so we may pass this wisdom on to our neighbors and our children. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/080207.shtml

How can we bring both the old and the new together?

Today, we read the final chapter of Exodus. The old journey is over but Jesus wants to walk with us on a new journey to the New Jerusalem.

Moses completed leading the Israelis out of Egypt. When they arrive at the Promised Land, he carefully erects a shrine to the Lord as he was instructed to do. When the Lord makes their pathway clear, the Isrealis move on…when the path is obscured by the clouds, they stay in one place.

“But if the cloud did not lift, they would not go forward;
only when it lifted did they go forward.”

The construction scene for the dwelling place for the tabernacle to the Lord alludes to two scenes from the Good News. First, recall the Transfiguration – the time when Moses was appearing with the Lord and Elijah. In today’s reading, this time it is the Lord and Moses appearing together. In the Transfiguration, when the clouds clear, the disciples who went up on the mountain with Jesus wanted to build a tent for Moses, Elijah and Jesus. But God commanded people instead about His love for Jesus and the need for us to heed his message in word and deed. They have to continue on to Jerusalem.

Today, at the end of the Exodus journey, as the clouds are lifted, people are guided by the fire within that was set by the Holy Spirit.

Synergizing the Old and the New Testament is helped when we recall the Transfiguration narrative. The notes from the N.A.B. explain that at that time, the dazzling brightness which emanated from Jesus’ whole Body was produced by an interior shining of His Divinity. False Judaism had rejected the Messiahs, and now true Judaism, represented by Moses and Elias, the Law and the Prophets, recognized and adored Him, while for the second time God the Father proclaimed Jesus as His only-begotten and well-loved Son.

The story from the Hebrew Bible also brings to mind the opening scene of John’s Gospel when Jesus is asked by potential disciples (Where do you dwell?). Jesus comments that the “Son of Man has no where to lie his head.” Unlike the shrine erected by Moses in the desert as a special place to keep the scrolls with the messages from God, Jesus remains an itinerant preacher, moving from place to place. Fittingly so, after today’s story in Matthew’s Gospel, he moves on to his home town of Nazareth then is seen throughout the region until he returns to Jerusalem for his Crucifixion.

But if the cloud did not lift, they would not go forward; only when it lifted did they go forward. Just as the Hebrews moved on only when the way is clear, the people Jesus is teaching claim that they understand his parables so Jesus is free to move about the countryside. Once the cloud of misunderstanding obstructs the pathway, Jesus helps us understand with parables and stories. When we don’t understand these stories, Jesus remains with us until we better understand the New Testament. Perhaps he clouds the way forward by only sharing daylight as a teaser.

Action

The other question posed in my mind by today’s reading is, “When and what have you done exactly like Jesus asks of you?”

Do you, like Moses, drop everything to lead His people to the Promised Land? Do you welcome Jesus into your home, your office, your car and your life so he has a place to dwell? Or do you wonder what it will seem like with this preacher visiting? Or do you walk hurriedly past the homeless person holding a sign on the street corner?

What if Jesus was to check with you today? Do you understand all these things? What if he asked you? Do you always do what he asks like Moses did today?

Would you be able to pass with flying colors if Jesus surprised you with a Pop Quiz on the Bible? Allow Jesus into your life through those around you so you can listen to his teaching. He will lift the cloud of the unknowing in your life.