Friday, May 10<\/b><\/p>\n
Exodus 12: There are four features especially to be noted about this important text that interrupts the narrative sequence in order to place the whole into a more theological and liturgical context:<\/p>\n
First, the paschal lamb is an example of \u201csubstitutionary\u201d sacrifice; like the ram that had replaced Isaac on Mount Moriah in Genesis 22:13, the paschal lamb\u2019s life is given in place of the lives of Israel\u2019s first-born sons.<\/p>\n
Second, there is nothing in the text to suggest that this sacrifice is \u201cexpiatory.\u201d That is, unlike certain other biblical sacrifices, such as those associated with Yom Kippur, the sacrifice of the paschal lamb is not made in reparation for sins. Moreover, the Old Testament provides not a single example of an animal being sacrificed in place of a human being whose sin was serious enough to merit death.<\/p>\n
Third, the blood of this paschal lamb is sprinkled at certain points of the houses of those who are \u201credeemed.\u201d This sprinkling is explicitly said to be a \u201csign\u201d of covenant protection, parallel to the rainbow in the covenant with Noah in Genesis 9:12-17 and circumcision in the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17:19-27.<\/p>\n
Fourth, because this paschal lamb was a type or symbol of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7), it was fitting that the meal celebrating the new covenant in His blood should be inaugurated in the setting of the paschal seder (cf. Luke 22:15-20).<\/p>\n
The \u201cthis day\u201d of verse 14 is the fifteenth day of the month Nisan, but it includes the night of Pascha. Pascha itself was to be the first liturgical day of an entire \u201cweek of sabbaths,\u201d that is, seven days of rest and festival continuing the celebration, during which Israel could eat unleavened bread as on Pascha itself. More regulations relative to this weeklong feast are to be found in 13:3-10. In the New Testament the two terms, Pascha and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, are used almost interchangeably.<\/p>\n
After the lengthy and detailed instructions that prepare for it, the tenth plague is narrated very succinctly, to great dramatic effect. The Exodus itself follows at once. In the writings of the New Testament, the event especially served as a prefiguration and type of redemption, including all of the events narrated of that great week, both His death for our sins and His rising again for our justification.<\/p>\n
So important was the liturgical observance of Pascha to the life of the early Christians that one of the major and most heated controversies of the second century Church concerned the proper dating of the feast. In spite of a venerable tradition held in Ephesus and the other churches of Asia Minor, it was finally determined that Pascha would always be celebrated on a Sunday, a rule that has been maintained by all Christians since the fourth century.<\/p>\n
In verses 43-50 we find more regulations relative to the preparation of the Seder of Pascha. As was noted above, there was no disagreement among the early Christians with respect to the deeper meaning of the paschal lamb. Indeed, verse 46 here, about not breaking the bones of the paschal lamb while preparing it, was seen by St. John as a prophecy of the body of Jesus on the cross, in that the soldiers did not break His legs (cf. John 19:36).<\/p>\n
Saturday, May 11<\/b><\/p>\n
Luke 2:21-24: The baby Jesus is brought to the Temple to comply with the ordinance—and to fulfill the prophecy—in Exodus 13. This is the account of the Messiah’s first visit to the temple in Jerusalem, a site that Luke makes a foundation stone of his literary structure. Indeed, Luke begins and ends his Gospel in the temple (1:5-9; 24:52-53).<\/p>\n
Moreover, near the end of this first visit to the temple, Luke remarks that the prophetess Anna “spoke of [Jesus] to all those who looked for the redemption in Jerusalem” (2:38). The real “redemption in Jerusalem” takes place, of course, in the last pages of Luke, describing the sufferings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. These are the events included in what Luke’s original Greek text calls Jesus’ exodos<\/i>, “which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem” (9:31).<\/p>\n
These four verses take for granted the full significance of the temple. Luke presumes that the reader is familiar with the Lord’s assumption of “residence” there shortly after its completion (1 Kings 8), His departure from it at the time of its destruction (Ezekiel 10), and His return there when the temple was rebuilt (Haggai 2:1-9; Zechariah 8-9).<\/p>\n
Luke especially presumes the prophecy of the Messiah’s coming appearance at the temple, an oracle found near the end of the last prophetic book of the Hebrew Scriptures: “And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming, says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 3:1).<\/p>\n
According to that same prophecy, the purpose of the Messiah’s coming to the temple was to purify its priesthood: “He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness” (3:3).<\/p>\n
It was those very priests, however, who failed to recognize the Messiah’s arrival. On His final recorded visit to the temple, in fact, Luke tells us that “the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him” (20:1). Their confrontation came in response to the purging of the temple in the scene immediately preceding (19:45-48).<\/p>\n
Exodus 13: By the regulations contained in these sections, Israel would be reminded of the Exodus every time a first-born son came into the world. Each such son would have to be \u201credeemed\u201d by the sacrifice of a lamb. Elsewhere we learn that, for poorer families that could not afford the price of a lamb, the redemption could be made by sacrificing two pigeons or turtledoves (cf. Leviticus 12:8). We are familiar with one very notable family that took advantage of that humane and gentle provision (cf. Luke 2:22-24). This particular \u201cFirstborn\u201d would, by His sacrificial death, be the redemption of all humanity.<\/p>\n
In verse 17 the inspired author gives us a picture of what line of reasoning is taking place in the mind of God. It is intimated here that God has a plan yet to unfold. This marvelous detail in verse 19 ties our story back to Genesis 24f. and forward to Joshua 24:32 (cf. the comment in Hebrews 11:22).<\/p>\n
Sunday, May 12<\/b><\/p>\n
Psalms 98 (Greek & Latin 97): The latter part of Isaiah, in which the dominant theme is Israel\u2019s return from the Babylonian Captivity, speaks several times of God\u2019s \u201carm,\u201d a metaphor especially used in conjunction with the noun \u201csalvation\u201d and the adjective \u201choly\u201d (Is. 40:10; 51:9; 52:10; 53:1; 59:16; 63:5).<\/p>\n
This robust image of God\u2019s arm, which had first appeared in the Bible in the context of the people\u2019s deliverance from Egypt (cf. Ex. 6:6; 15:16), was thus applied to their return from exile in Babylon. In each case, the redemption of the oppressed was ascribed to the holy flexing of God\u2019s muscle, as it were, on their behalf.<\/p>\n
It is significant that the Mother of God summoned this same metaphor to describe God\u2019s definitive historical intervention on behalf of His people: \u201cHoly is His name, \/ And His mercy is on those who fear Him, \/ From generation to generation. \/ He has shown strength with His arm\u201d (Luke 1:49\u201351). God\u2019s arm in these contexts is an image of His \u201cpower according to the Spirit of holiness\u201d (Rom. 1:4), \u201cthe power of God to salvation\u201d (1:16).<\/p>\n
The same reference to God\u2019s holy, salvific arm appears several times in Psalms, one example being the opening of Psalm 97 (Hebrew 98): \u201cSing to the Lord a new song, for the Lord has done wondrous things; His right hand and His holy arm have wrought salvation.\u201d<\/p>\n
God\u2019s salvation is not simply a thing announced, but a \u201cwrought\u201d reality. In saving us, God truly does certain deeds, \u201cwondrous things,\u201d by which we are redeemed. God saves man by the forceful intrusion of His holiness into man\u2019s history. God\u2019s arm is a metaphor of this irrupting redemptive holiness. In the \u201cwondrous things\u201d of the Incarnation, the atoning Death, the Resurrection, God\u2019s arm invades the processes of human destiny with the outpouring of His own life. Man\u2019s life is thereby given access to the incorruptible life of God.<\/p>\n
This, says our psalm, is the substance of the Gospel proclaimed to the nations and peoples of the earth: \u201cThe Lord has made known His salvation; unto the nations has He revealed His righteousness. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.\u201d<\/p>\n
The substance of the Gospel, then, is not some theory about God or even some set of norms by which man is to live. At root, the Gospel has absolutely nothing in common with even the highest religious speculations, such as those of the Upanishads, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Lao Tzi, or the Buddha. In the strictest possible sense, beyond all human reckoning or expectation, the Gospel is a \u201cnew song,\u201d a radically different voice on the human scene. It is the revelation of God\u2019s holy arm taking charge of man\u2019s history. It is that redemptive, holy activity by which \u201cHe has shown strength with His arm.\u201d It is \u201cthe power of God and the wisdom of God\u201d (1 Cor. 1:24).<\/p>\n
Monday May 13<\/b><\/p>\n
Exodus 15: The people of God have been hymn-singers right from the beginning. The singing of hymns is the Bible\u2019s normal response to the outpouring of salvation; cf. Judges 5, 2 Samuel 22, Judith 10, many Psalms, etc. This particular canticle, which has been sung by Holy Church at her Paschal vigil from time immemorial, celebrates the Lord\u2019s victory over the oppression inspired of idolatry. It should be thought of as the song of the newly baptized, standing at their baptismal waterside, their demonic enemies drowned in its depths.<\/p>\n
Revelation 15:1-18:<\/p>\n
The song of Moses and Miriam is also the song of the Lamb, a prefiguration of that heavenly chant sung by the \u201csea of glass mingled with fire,\u201d sung after the \u201clast plagues,\u201d sung by those who, with \u201charps of God,\u201d \u201chave victory over the beast\u201d: \u201cGreat and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!\u201d (Revelation 15:1-3).<\/p>\n
The imagery of this chapter rests on details of Exodus 15. The ocean of blood, with which the previous chapter ended, has now become a kind of Red Sea (verses 1-3), which also inserts the theme of the Exodus. This theme itself is appropriate to the outpouring of the plagues.<\/p>\n
Beside this sea stand God\u2019s people who have passed over it in the definitive Exodus. They are musicians—harpists to be exact—identical with the one hundred and forty-four thousand whom we saw with the Lamb in the previous chapter; there was harp music in that scene too.<\/p>\n
John sees in heaven the tabernacle of testimony from the Book of Exodus, the traveling tent of the divine presence that Moses and the Israelites carried through the desert. This tent, however, is “heavenly,” which means that it is the original model, the very pattern that Moses copied (Exodus 25:9,40; ?Acts 7:44; Hebrews 8:5).<\/p>\n
Since the tent is a place of worship, we are not surprised that John sees seven angels coming out of it, clothed in priestly vestments (verse 6; cf. Exodus 28:4; 39:29), very much as Jesus was clothed in the inaugural vision (Revelation 1:12-13).<\/p>\n
The tent itself is full of the cloud of the divine presence, the very cloud that led the Israelites through the desert of old. When that tent was dedicated in the desert, the divine cloud took up residence within it? (Exodus 40:34-38). That cloud later took residence in Solomon’s temple (I Kings 8:1-12), where Isaiah beheld it (6:1-4). In prophetic vision Ezekiel ?saw that cloud return to the second temple built in 520-516 (Ezekiel 44:4).<\/p>\n
Tuesday, May 14<\/b><\/p>\n
Exodus 16: The bitter water is sweetened and made potable by the tree placed in it, this tree often being interpreted in Christian history as symbolic of the Lord\u2019s cross, that salvific tree that sweetens many of our bitter experiences in the desert of our Christian journey.<\/p>\n
The manna is spoken of much more than the quail. There are two reasons for this: (1) On only two occasions does the Bible speak of the quail, whereas the manna will remain the people\u2019s staple food for the next forty years. And (2) The manna received far more theological attention during the course of Israel\u2019s long history. Speculations about the nature of the manna continued in Israel well into Talmudic times.<\/p>\n
Similarly, in the memory of the early Church it is obvious that, with respect to the miraculous feeding with the loaves and fishes, the loaves were the element chiefly remembered, inasmuch as the bread was understood—like the manna—as a prefiguration of the Holy Eucharist.<\/p>\n
This is \u201cdaily\u201d bread, in the sense that God\u2019s people must trust Him each day to provide it. They are to leave tomorrow to His care. The bread, then, becomes the daily occasion of faith in God\u2019s providing. It is the bread for which Jesus commanded us to ask God, \u201cgive us, this day<\/i>\u201d (Matthew 6:11; Didache<\/i> 8.2), or \u201cday by day\u201d (Luke 11:3). As long as our pilgrimage lasts—until the other side of the Jordan (cf. Joshua 5:12)—this bread will be supplied to God\u2019s people, so that they must not fear nor fret for the morrow (cf. Matthew 6:25-34).<\/p>\n
Our NT readings today correspond to that theme: We read John\u2019s account of Jesus feeding the people with bread in the wilderness, the introduction to the lengthy Bread of Life Discourse. We also read the NT\u2019s earliest written account of the Last Supper, First Corinthians 11:17-34.<\/p>\n
Psalms 47 (Greek & Latin 46): In this psalm the Ascension of Christ into glory is the object of biblical prophecy: \u201cGod has ascended with jubilation, the Lord with the sound of the trumpet. Oh sing to our God, sing! Sing to our King, sing!\u201d This is an invitation to us on earth, a summons to join our voices in jubilation with the angels on high. The Ascension of Christ is the event where heaven and earth are joined forever.<\/p>\n
David\u2019s taking of the ark of the covenant into the Holy City may be seen as a figure and type of the Lord\u2019s entry into the heavenly Jerusalem, and that long-distant day was likewise marked with the rapture of happiness at God\u2019s approach: \u201cThen David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet\u201d (2 Sam. 6:14, 15). Our psalm calls for similar marks of celebration at the coming of Christ into the Holy City on high: \u201cOh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! For the Lord most high is awesome; He is the great King over all the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wednesday, May 15<\/b><\/p>\n
Exodus 17: Like the other events associated with the Exodus, the stream of water miraculously struck from the rock was adopted by the early Christians for its spiritual significance. Drawing on this inspiration, today\u2019s reading from 1 Corinthians says that the people \u201cdrank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two remarks should be made with respect to this latter text:<\/p>\n
First, in calling the rock \u201cspiritual,\u201d St. Paul did not intend to deny that it was a physical rock. He had in mind, rather, to say that the physical rock was possessed of a spiritual significance, both as the medium of God\u2019s special intervention, and as a symbol of Jesus the Lord, who provides us with the water of eternal life (cf. also John 4:10-14; 7:37-39). Thus, St. Paul said, \u201cthat rock was Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n
Second, the somewhat surprising detail that the rock in the desert \u201cfollowed them\u201d is derived from rabbinical reflection on the rock. After all, is this not the same rock as in Numbers 20, from which water miraculously flowed at Kadesh?<\/p>\n
Rabbinical texts speak of this as a kind of rocky fountain from which water poured as through a sieve, and they describe it as traveling up and down the mountain ranges while the people wandered in the desert. This rabbinical speculation about the moving rock is witnessed in an ancient targumic (Aramaic paraphrase) version of Exodus, known as the Targum Onkelos, probably inspired by Isaiah 48:21. The rabbinical scholar Paul was completely at home in these traditions.<\/p>\n
For Christian interpreters the picture of Moses praying on the mountain with outstretched arms (verses 8-13) became a type of Jesus praying for mankind with outstretched arms on Mount Calvary. Moreover, the 3rd century commentator, Origen, wrote that this passage in Exodus \u201cis fulfilled whenever we pray in the power of the Cross of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n
Psalms 53 (Greek & Latin 52): In Romans 3:10\u201312 the Apostle Paul quotes this psalm (probably by heart) with special emphasis on the universal need for salvation. His point is that, strictly speaking, there are really no just men in this world—men who are just in the sense that they are able, by the righteousness of their own works, to attain to the presence of God and stand innocent before him. Thus understood, who is a just man in this world? St. Paul\u2019s answer is emphatic—nobody, absolutely nobody, and he quotes our psalm text to prove the point: \u201cThere is none righteous, no, not one; \/ There is none who understands; \/ There is none who seeks after God. \/ They have all turned aside; \/ They have together become unprofitable; \/ There is none who does good, no, not one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thursday, May 16<\/b><\/p>\n
Exodus 18: The story of Jethro (verses 1-12) and the institution of the judges (verses 13-27) represent a chronological departure, it appears, from the historical sequence. There are two indications of this departure: First, Israel is still encamped at Rephidim (17:1 and 19:1), whereas the events in chapter 18 take place at Mount Sinai (verse 5). Second, there is the testimony of Deuteronomy 1 that the institution of the judges took place after<\/i> the Sinai Covenant.<\/p>\n
There is no theological or exegetical difficulty, of course, in discovering here a departure of the story from the historical sequence. After all, there is no a priori<\/i> necessity requiring the biblical narrative to follow the historical sequence. However, if we look more closely at the accounts in chapter 18, there seem to be two reasons that prompted the biblical author to put the stories in chapter 18 before<\/i> describing the Sinai Covenant.<\/p>\n
First, this arrangement is less disruptive to the narrative. Placing these events in chapter 18 before the Sinai narrative permits the biblical author, when he comes to treat of the Covenant, to concentrate attention on the particulars of the Law, without the relative distraction of these other matters. The author reasonably preferred to tell this story earlier than it happened.<\/p>\n
Second, a story about the sacrifice of the pagan Jethro at Mount Sinai would be most unseemly if it were told after<\/i> the institution of the priesthood and sacrifice in the prescriptions of the Covenant (Leviticus 8-10).<\/p>\n
What, then, do we find in chapter 18?<\/p>\n
To this point all of the great burden of leadership has fallen on Moses, though we did begin to see the gradual emergence of some other leadership, especially that of Joshua, in the previous chapter. In the present chapter, however, Moses accepts the counsel of Jethro and lays a broader foundation for the leadership of the people. It is particularly striking that this counsel comes from \u201coutside\u201d the chosen people. Indeed, it is the advice of a pagan priest! The willingness of Moses to accept the prudent counsel of an \u201cefficiency expert\u201d from outside the community, even in regard to his prophetic and pastoral ministry, seems to be a useful precedent for God\u2019s people to bear in mind. This response of Moses to the suggestion of Jethro is thus of a piece with Israel\u2019s earlier \u201cdespoiling\u201d of the Egyptians.<\/p>\n
Friday, May 17<\/b><\/p>\n
Exodus 19: The Book of Exodus, having treated of Israel\u2019s deliverance, now speaks of Israel\u2019s election and the Covenant. Over the next six chapters two sections will emerge as especially prominent\u2014the Decalogue (20:1-17) and the Book of the Covenant (20:22\u201423:19), the latter containing a detailed, practical application of the rules of the Covenant.<\/p>\n
The things narrated in these chapters are not naked events, but events that received theological and liturgical elaboration reflected in the narrative. It is arguable that Israel devoted more attention to these events than to any other in its history.<\/p>\n
The people have now arrived at Mount Sinai, where the rest of the Book of Exodus, and all of the Book of Leviticus, will take place. Indeed, the Israelites will not move from Sinai until Numbers 10:33.<\/p>\n
The stories begin with Moses\u2019 scaling of Mount Sinai (verse 3), still known among the local Arabs as Jebel Musa<\/i>. This peak, 7467 feet high, can be climbed in under two hours. When Moses ascends to speak with God, the people wait below at the base of the mountain, the plain of er-Raha<\/i> (verses 2,17).<\/p>\n
God\u2019s election of Israel (verses 5-6) is an invitation to become His chosen people, an invitation that marks Israel\u2019s history until the end of the world, because God will never reject the descendents of those with whom He made Covenant at Mount Sinai (cf. Romans 11:1). What God proposes, however, is only an invitation, requiring Israel\u2019s ratification of His choice and the resolve to abide by its conditions and strictures (verses 7-8). Moses mediates this Covenant (verses 9,25).<\/p>\n
The people of God are to be a \u201croyal priesthood, a holy nation\u201d (verse 6). Both the kingship and the priesthood of the Old Testament are prophetic preparations fulfilled in Jesus. Like Melchizedek of old, Jesus Christ is both king and priest (cf. Hebrews 7:1-3). Moreover, because of their awareness of sharing in the royal and priestly dignity and ministries of the risen Jesus, the early Christians were prompt to see this Exodus promise as fulfilled in the Church (cf. 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6; 5:10; 20:6).<\/p>\n
The subsequent terrifying scene on Mount Sinai (verses 9-25 and 20:18-20) is contrasted with the invitation to Christians to \u201cdraw near\u201d to God (Hebrews 12:18-24). The theme of a bold \u201cdrawing near to\u201d or \u201capproaching\u201d the divine presence is an important one in the Epistle to the Hebrews, serving as part of its sustained contrast of Christ with Moses (cf. Hebrews 4:16; 7:19; 10:1,22).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Friday, May 10 Exodus 12: There are four features especially to be noted about this important text that interrupts the narrative sequence in order to place the whole into a more theological and liturgical context: First, the paschal lamb is an example of \u201csubstitutionary\u201d sacrifice; like the ram that had replaced Isaac on Mount Moriah … Continue reading May 10 – May 17, 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1402"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1402"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1403,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1402\/revisions\/1403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}