Readings

In the final weeks of Lent the readings from John’s Gospel describe Jesus’ various visits to Jerusalem to celebrate different Jewish feasts. In John’s gospel today, Jesus is in Jerusalem celebrating the Jewish feast of Pentecost, which took place 7 weeks after Passover. (John 5, 31-47)  Our Pentecost comes from the Jewish feast.

The Jewish feast of Pentecost goes by different names. It’s called Shavuot, meaning weeks, which originally celebrated the beginning of the barley harvest, but also recalls Moses handing on the law to the Jews as he comes down from Sinai. This year the Jewish feast begins at sundown, June 11. The Christian feast of Pentecost falls on Sunday, June 19th, this year. 

Our first reading today recalls the descent of Moses from Sinai to an unbelieving people.”I see how stiff-necked this people is. Let me alone, then, that my wrath may blaze up against them to consume them.Then I will make of you a great nation,” God says to him. (Exodus 34:7-14)

But Moses pleas for his people, lest Egypt be convinced the God of Israel is cruel. Moses also recalls God’s covenant made to Abraham. Jesus appears as the new Moses on this feast, pleading for forgiveness for his people and promising to open the graves of their dead. 

The miracles and his works of healing testify to him, Jesus says. The scriptures, long searched by the Jews as the way to eternal life also “testify on my behalf,” Jesus says. Above all, his heavenly Father, who through an interior call draws to his Son those who are humble, speaks for him.

Faith in Jesus still comes in these ways. The Jewish scriptures still point him out. On their feast of Shavuot, Jews study the Torah, the law of Moses. One Jewish custom is to stay up all night and read the Torah.

Our heavenly Father draws us to his Son in lent. The voice of the Father says once more: “listen to him.” We listen to him in the scriptures.

We’re reminded by scholars that in these passages from John’s Gospel, “the Jews” who condemned Jesus are not the Jewish people but a powerful group that turned against him at that time. We approach the mystery of God together with our Jewish brothers and sisters..

Prayer

O God
I come to you
who have given so much to me. You know “my inmost being” and “all my thoughts from afar.” I want to listen to you
and be changed by what I hear.

Help us all to be changed by you. Amen.