Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Lectionary: 244

Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.

Our weekday gospel readings throughout the rest of Lent will be taken from the Gospel of Saint John. This document has always had a particularly high place in the liturgy of the Church. It describes a Savior who is clearly human and transparently divine. He knows who he is and what he is about. With great confidence Saint John's Jesus approaches Jerusalem; he is presider, priest, master of ceremonies, and sacrificial lamb on the altar of his cross. As he says, "No one takes my life from me. Freely I lay it down, and freely I take it up again."

In today's gospel we're given direct instruction as to how we should conduct ourselves during Lent, "...the man believed in what Jesus said to him." 

We do not require a sign of the Lord; we have heard his word. We have seen enough to know he comes from God and is returning to God. When he speaks we set our doubts, hesitation, reluctance, and fear aside. As Thomas said, "Let us go to die with him."

The prophet Isaiah also inspires confidence as we hear the LORD's words, 

Lo, I am about to create new heavens

and a new earth;

The things of the past shall not be remembered

or come to mind.

Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness

in what I create.... 

The new heaven and earth begin with the Resurrection of Jesus. Easter morning is resplendent with the Glory of God. We have the memory of his Transfiguration to sustain us through the apparently grim days of Lent, the hopeless darkness of Good Friday, and the silence of Holy Saturday. We will watch and wait and expect something new, unforeseen, and unimaginable. 

Isaiah speaks repeatedly of the new things that are to come to pass: 

Isaiah 42.9:
See, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
I tell you of them.

Isaiah 43.19:

I am about to do a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 48.6:

You have heard; now see all this;

and will you not declare it?

From this time forward I make you hear new things,

hidden things that you have not known.

In fact, the same Hebrew prophet coined our favorite expression:

 How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
who announces salvation,
who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’
           Isaiah 52.7:

 

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and release to the prisoners;

                        Isaiah 61.1

 As we read the daily news we see nothing new. The same old wars, violence, poverty, crime, corruption -- and they call it news? There is more sickness and death. 

But our hearts, minds, and lives are undergoing renewal during this season of Lent. The Lord has told us, and because he said so, we believe. 

We have only to watch, wait, and expect.