Third Sunday of Lent

7 March 2010

Exodus 3:1-8a,13-15; Psalm 103:1-8; I Cor 10:1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9

Theme: YHWH, a God merciful and gracious who forgives all your iniquity (Ps 103:3)
         
He makes known his ways to Moses (Ps 103:7) exclaims the psalmist in response to today’s first reading from Exodus in which God reveals Godself to Moses, the great prophet of Israel, whom the Lord knew face to face (Deut 34:10). The Name YHWH, which God revealed to Moses, is associated in rabbinic thought with the attribute of mercy, as opposed to the generic name of God,’elohim, which is associated with justice (see Exodus 34:6; Ps 103:8).
    As we come to the mid-point in our Lenten observance, we are confronted with the God of judgment in today’s Gospel selection from Luke. We encounter a double call for teshuvah (repentance) in the repetition of Jesus’ stern warning: I tell you . . .  unless you repent, you will all perish (vv 3, 5). To stress his point, Jesus calls on a traditional folk-tale which probably circulated in various versions, but which is given an unexpected ending by the addition of the intercessory figure of the gardener. Jeremias asks, “Is the introduction of this figure to be ascribed merely to the desire to add vividness to the picture? Or is there a deeper meaning behind it? Does the figure of the gardener, pleading for the reprieve from the judgement pronounced, conceal the figure of Jesus himself?” (Jeremias, 170). The gardener’s request for a reprieve is granted and the story concludes with God’s mercy trumping God’s justice. As Alan Culpepper insightfully comments, “…the gardener pleads for and is granted one more year, the year that Jesus proclaimed, . . . the year of the Lord’s favor (4:19) would be a year of forgiveness, restoration and second chance” (Culpepper).
    As we pass the halfway mark in our Lenten reflections, we join the psalmist in praising the God revealed to Moses as YHWH, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (Ps 103:8), a God whose justice is trumped by mercy as the prophet Hosea also observed: My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender (Hos 11:8). With the psalmist we pray:   

Reflection and Discussion: Often we have been taught and even have taught ourselves that God is a judge. It is worth reflection on this the Third Sunday of Lent to concentrate on the overwhelming message of our readings --- that YHWH is a merciful God. Take some time today to develop this thought.

Bibliography: Alter, The Book of Psalms: Translation and Commentary (New York, 2007); Culpepper, “The Gospel of Luke: Introduction, Commentary and Reflections,” NIB (1995); Jeremias, The Parables of Jesus (New York, 1963).