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Commentary on John 10:1-10

The Vatican II Missal offers us a description of shepherding that is relevant to today’s Gospel:

“Two kinds of sheepfolds or corrals are mentioned in today’s reading.  In the common town sheepfold, the shepherd makes his special call and his sheep follow him out confidently.  Out on the range, however, a “gatekeeper” sleeps across the corral opening: his body is the protecting door.  So we live, pray and are saved through Jesus our Good Shepherd.”

We now jump from chapter 7 to chapter 10, omitting the whole episode linked with Jesus as the Light of the World and the dramatic healing of the man born blind, texts which we reflected on during Lent in relation to baptism. We begin today to consider two images that Jesus gives of himself: the first is that of a gate and the second that of a shepherd.

We have to imagine a “sheepfold” as an area surrounded by walls or wooden fencing but open to the sky, and with only one entrance.  The walls kept the sheep from wandering and protected them from wild animals at night.  Only a genuine shepherd enters the sheepfold through the single gate.  Thieves and brigands will try to enter by another way, such as by climbing over the walls or breaking through the fence.

All who came before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them.

Jesus is referring to all the ‘false shepherds’, including some of the Pharisees and religious leaders of his time who are quite unlike the true prophets of the past.

However, The real shepherd enters by the gate and is recognised and admitted by the “gatekeeper” (the one mentioned above who sleeps across the entrance).  There are many sheep in the sheepfold belonging to different shepherds so the shepherd calls his own sheep out one by one.  He then walks ahead of them and they follow their shepherd because they know his voice.  They never follow strangers.  (This is quite different from the European or Australian custom where the sheep are driven from behind.)

We are told that his hearers failed to understand the meaning of what Jesus said.  They failed to realise that the parable applied particularly to the religious leaders.

So he spoke more clearly:

Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

Here we have the second of the seven ‘I AM’ (ego eimi) statements made by Jesus in this Gospel.  Again Jesus points to his divine origin by using the name of God which was given to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14).

In contrast to the ‘false shepherds’ mentioned earlier, Jesus, as the Gate and the Way, has come:

…that they may have life and have it abundantly.

This is a constant theme we have heard many times already, especially in chapter 6, about Jesus as the food and nourishment giving us life.

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Commentary on John 10:22-30

We continue the image of Jesus as the Shepherd.  “It was winter” and the scene is Solomon’s portico on the east side of the Temple during the winter festival of Dedication or Hanukkah.  This feast is the commemoration of the dedication of the Temple by Judas Maccabeus in December, 165 BC after it had been desecrated by the Syrian King Antiochus Epiphanes.  It was the last great act of liberation which the Jews had experienced.

We are told that Jesus was walking in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon.  This was a roofed-in structure not unlike the ‘stoa’ of the Greeks.  It was commonly believed to date back to the time of Solomon (who built the original Temple), but this was not the case.

Again Jesus is questioned very directly by “the Jews” about his true identity:

How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah tell us plainly.

The question clearly indicates that temple authorities had understood the meaning behind many of the things Jesus said and did.  On the other hand, it was not a question that could simply be answered with a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ because of the many divergent ideas and expectations concerning the Messiah which were current at the time.  And certainly none of these ideas corresponded to the kind of Messiah that Jesus would turn out to be.

Once again Jesus says that he has already told them, but they refuse to believe.  Previous statements made it clear that he spoke as one with a mission from God.  Perhaps he had not explicitly said he was the Messiah (except to the Samaritan woman), but it should have been clear either from his statements or from the evidence of his whole way of life, including the signs he had given—all clearly done in his Father’s name.

The works he has done are a consistent testimony of his true origins:

… but you do not believe because you do not belong to my sheep.

He then lists the characteristics of true sheep or followers:

My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.

And, as we have said elsewhere, to “hear” in the Gospel means:

• to listen
• to understand
• to assimilate fully into one’s own thinking
• to carry out what one hears.

To these disciples, he gives:

…eternal life, and they will never perish.

The security of the sheep is in the power of the Shepherd, and no one will snatch them from his hand.  And that is because they have been given to him by the Father, whose power is greater than any enemy.

Finally, in a clear and unequivocal answer to their original challenge, he tells his questioners:

The Father and I are one.*

The power that the Son has is the same as the Father’s.  This is not an unequivocal statement of divinity, but points in that direction.  And Jesus’ listeners hear it in that way.

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*Significantly the Greek text actually translates to “one thing”, i.e. neuter gender, and does not say “one person”. The Father and Son, with the Holy Spirit, are one in essence or nature (i.e. ‘consubstantial’, as we now say in the Nicene Creed), but distinct as Persons.

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Commentary on John 12:44-50

Today we come to the end of what is called the “Book of Signs” (chaps 1-12) of John’s Gospel.  Through these signs—seven of them—Jesus clearly indicates who he is and what his mission is.

Today’s passage is a recapitulation of all that has been said in the “Book of Signs.”  The text says that Jesus “cried aloud” and spoke.  This gives extra emphasis to what Jesus is proclaiming.  It is once again a call to believe in Jesus where ‘believing in’ means much more than mere acceptance of the truth of his words.  It implies that there is also a personal commitment to Jesus and to his mission.

And to believe in Jesus is also to believe, to surrender oneself entirely, to the One who sent him—the Father.  All through this Gospel Jesus emphasises the inseparability of the Father and the Son.

I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.

This phrase implies Jesus’ pre-existence as the Eternal Word as well as indicating that he came with a mission—to bring light into darkness.

To put one’s faith in Jesus is to put one’s faith in God the Father, from whom he comes. And whoever really has insight into Jesus knows that he is in touch with God himself.  As he has said before, Jesus is a light taking away the darkness with which we are surrounded.  He also spells out more clearly than before what happens if we reject him and prefer darkness to light:

I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world but to save the world.

Jesus has come to bring salvation, to bring wholeness to the world and not to condemn it. But, he says:

The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge…

The sun’s role is to give light, but when there are obstacles to that light we get shadows.  That is not the sun’s doing.  Jesus, too, is the Light of the world.  But, because of certain behaviour on our part, there are shadows and even darkness.

The ‘word’ of Jesus is a challenge. It offers us a way of living and of inter-relating with God, with others and with ourselves. If we choose another way we have only ourselves to blame when our lives go downhill. But Jesus is always there to lift us up.  We only need to stretch out our hand and he will take it into his own.

Jesus tells us that his Father’s commands—which he also observes—mean eternal life. Everything that Jesus did was the carrying out of his Father’s will.  We are called to follow the same path.  If only we could realise that to follow Jesus is not to fit ourselves into a straitjacket, but is a way to total freedom.

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Commentary on Acts 13:13-25

Paul and Barnabas continue their first missionary journey.  From Paphos on the north coast of Cyprus, they set off for Perga, the capital of the province of Pamphylia.  Pamphylia was a coastal province in Asia Minor, between provinces of Lydia and Cilicia on the south coast of modern Turkey.  It was 8 km (5 miles) inland, and 20 km (12 miles) east of the important seaport of Attalia.

At this point, John Mark (the cousin of Barnabas), who had originally been one of the party, returned to Jerusalem, from where they had originally brought him.  Later, this will lead to a dispute between Saul and Barnabas.  Why did John Mark turn back? Various suggestions have been made, though none of them are certain:

• homesickness for Jerusalem;
• an illness of Paul which forced Paul to change his plans and go to Galatia;
• a change in leadership from Barnabas to Paul;
• or simply an inability to get on with Paul.

Later, Paul will express his dissatisfaction with John Mark’s behaviour.

Paul and Barnabas (and note that from now on Paul’s name is listed first) do not seem to have stopped long in Perga, but continued on to Antioch in the province of Pisidia (not to be confused with the Antioch in Syria where they had begun their missionary journey).

Pisidia was a district about 200 km (120 miles) long and 80 km (50 miles) wide, north of Pamphylia.  Bandits were known to frequent the region.  Antioch, its capital, had been named after Antiochus, king of Syria, following the death of Alexander the Great.  It was about 185 km (110 miles) from Perga, and was at the crossroads of busy trading routes. The city had a large Jewish population.  It was a Roman colony, which meant that a contingent of retired military men also settled there.  They were given free land and made citizens of the city of Rome, with all the accompanying privileges.

As usual, on arriving in Antioch, the two missionaries went to the local synagogue on the Sabbath.  We saw yesterday Paul’s reasons for doing this.  At the same time, he was not neglecting his mission to the Gentiles, because Gentiles who believed in the God of the Jews were often among his audience.  It was obvious, too, that the synagogue provided a ready-made starting point with a building, regular meetings and people who were familiar with the Scriptures.

After the reading of the Scriptures, as was the custom, they were invited by the synagogue officials to speak to the assembly (remember too how Jesus was invited to preach in the synagogue). It was the responsibility of these officials to call on readers and preachers, to arrange the service and maintain order. As a rabbi and leading Pharisee, it was natural for Paul to be invited to give a homily. This gave Paul the opportunity to give an outline of Jewish salvation history, and to show that Jesus was the expected and promised saviour of Israel.

As he goes through the great events of the Old Testament, Paul shows how it was all part of God’s plans for his people.  This discourse is typical of Paul’s preaching to a Jewish assembly.  It falls into two parts, of which we have the first part in today’s reading (ending with v25).  It gives a summary of the history of salvation with an appendix recalling John the Baptist’s testimony.

Today’s reading ends halfway through Paul’s speech quoting John the Baptist who said:

…one is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the strap of the sandals on his feet.

We will have the rest of the discourse in tomorrow’s reading.

It might be very profitable for each one us to look back over our own lives and see how God’s providence has been at work at various key points.  Some of these experiences will bring back happy memories—others may be more painful. Nevertheless, God was present at those times and leading us on to something higher. How did we respond? And now that we are where we are in the present time, where is God leading us at this stage of our life?

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Commentary on John 13:16-20

Today we begin the second part of John’s Gospel, sometimes known as the “Book of Glory” (chaps 13-20), covering Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection.  Today’s passage immediately follows on Jesus’ washing of his disciples’ feet.

It is in that context that he says,

Very truly, I tell you, slaves are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.

With these words Jesus clearly urges his followers to serve each other in the same way that he, their Lord and Master, served them by the symbolic act of washing their feet.  This was an act only done by slaves in a household.

Jesus has given service to others a dignity which is totally independent of the status that society confers on people, dividing them into served and server.  Jesus’ whole raison d’être for being among us was to serve. He tells his disciples:

If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

It is a truth which many of us—clergy, religious and laity—do not always find it easy to practise consistently.

It would not be quite right to see Jesus washing his disciples’ feet as a humbling of himself.  Service in the Gospel is primarily love in action.  Love (Greek, agape) is the desire for the well-being of the other.  That love is actualised by service—acts of brothers and sisters to and for each other. Status or position does not enter into it.

At the same time, Jesus gives the first warning that there is one among them to whom these words will not apply.  It is to prepare them for the prediction about his betrayal by one of the group:

The one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.

To share bread together was a mark of close fellowship, and that is a primary meaning of the Eucharist, which is a “breaking of bread” among the members of a close community. To ‘lift up the heel’ may refer to a horse kicking, or to the shaking off of dust from one’s feet as a sign of rejection.

Far from being shocked and disturbed by what is going to happen, they should be aware that everything that Jesus willingly undergoes in coming days is clear proof of his divine origin:

I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur you may believe that I am he.

Here is another ‘I AM’ statement acknowledging that he is one with his Father.

What is going to happen to Jesus is the ultimate act of service to his brothers and sisters.  It is the greatest love that can be shown.  Now his disciples are being asked to hold on to Jesus’ identity as one with the Father even when they see him die in shame and disgrace on the cross. But in fact, their faith will be deeply shaken and will not be confirmed until after Pentecost.

Finally, anyone who accepts a disciple or messenger of Jesus, accepts both Jesus himself and the Father who sent him.  There is a clear line of unity emanating from the Father going through the Son and passing through the disciples to others.  There is just one mission—to bring about the Kingdom, the Reign of God in the world. This acceptance is done by our sharing fully in Jesus’ own attitude of selfless service, which for him extended even to the giving of his life.

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Commentary on Acts 13:26-33

Paul continues his discourse on salvation history and on how Jesus was handed over by the leaders of his people into the hands of the Romans and executed.  He addresses his words both to the Jews in his audience (“descendants of Abraham’s family”) and the gentile converts (“others who fear God”).

Paul makes it clear that the Jerusalem leaders and the people in the city failed to recognise the true identity of Jesus as the expected Messiah.  However, he does not in any way implicate his hearers.

In doing what they did, Jerusalem was only fulfilling the well-known words of the Old Testament prophets—prophets whose readings were heard every Sabbath in the synagogue, and hence with which his hearers would be familiar.  And, by handing over an innocent man unjustly into the hands of Pilate, they were simply accomplishing everything about Jesus that had been written in those same ancient readings.

But it was not the end:

…God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem and they are now his witnesses to the people.

According to Luke’s account, Jesus appeared to his disciples for 40 days. Paul and his companions now are proclaiming this good news of what God has done for his people through Jesus Christ.  He emphasises that it is all the expected fulfilment of everything that was prophesied.

Jesus is no upstart. He is the expected climax to the history of God’s people. Paul quotes from the Psalm:

You are my Son;
today I have begotten you. (Ps 2:7)

The words clearly are pointing to Jesus as God’s Son. By his resurrection, Christ was enthroned as Messiah, and from then on his human nature enjoyed all the privileges of the Son of God.  Paul’s words are an unambiguous invitation to the Jews of Antioch to become believers and disciples. Let us, too, renew our commitment to following with all our heart and soul in the steps of the dying and rising Jesus.

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Commentary on John 14:1-6

We begin today the long discourse, covering four chapters (14-17) of John, in which Jesus at the Last Supper says farewell and gives his final instructions to his disciples.  Although it is, on the face of it, spoken in anticipation of what is going to happen, the discourse clearly applies to the fears and anxieties of the post-resurrection community coping without the direct leadership of Jesus, and often harassed by both Jews and Gentiles alike.

The passage begins with Jesus telling his disciples to “not let your hearts be troubled”.  The immediate reason is the great threat that hangs over Jesus and his warnings to them of what is going to happen to him.  The disciples are disturbed by the predictions of betrayal, of Jesus leaving them and of the denial by Peter.

But Jesus’ words are also applicable to all those who, because of their following of Jesus, fall under threat of persecution or harassment. In face of these warnings, Jesus tells them to have faith in him and in his Father.  Faith here means a deep trust that Jesus will take care of them and give them the strength to face any difficulties:

In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places…if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.

Jesus is about to leave his disciples, but he will be back soon and take them to the place which has been specially prepared for them.  He will return very soon after his resurrection, although in a very different way, and he will come at the end of time to take them to himself forever.  And not to worry, there is plenty of room for everyone. In the end, we will be where he is and that is the only goal of our lives that matters.

And then he says,

And you know the way to the place where I am going.

They, and we, certainly ought to know the way, but we are glad that Thomas, characterised in the Gospel by his blunt speaking, asked his question which drew forth a famous answer. Says Thomas:

Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?

To which Jesus replied:

I am the way and the truth and the life.

Jesus does not only tell us where to go.  He is himself the Way (Greek, hodos).

And Jesus is not a way, but the Way.  This is not to be understood in a narrow sectarian sense.  The way of life that Jesus proposes is not just for a particular group of people—it is a way of life for every single person to follow.  The heart of that Way is an unconditional love which sees every other person as a brother or sister, and a love which gives itself unceasingly in service.

If we want to know where our lives, where any life, should be going, all we need to do is to identify ourselves totally with the attitudes, the values and the goals of life that Jesus lays down for us. And, as the Way, he is Truth and Life.  Jesus is Truth not just because the things he says are true.  His whole life, everything he says and does, all his relationships, have the ring of truth and integrity.

And, of course, he is Life.  When we unconditionally decide to walk his Way, we, here and now, begin to live in the fullest manner possible. Thank you, Thomas, for asking that question. All we need now is to make the answer the centre of our living.

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Commentary on Acts 13:44-52

We are still with Paul and Barnabas in Asia Minor, where they are proclaiming the message about Jesus as Lord in Pisidian Antioch.  They now have the whole city coming to hear them speak the word of God.  But they now have also incurred the jealousy of some Jews who hurled abuse at the the two men.  Perhaps they believed that the word of God was only for them and not for Gentiles—pearls were not to be thrown to swine.

Paul and Barnabas (Paul is now regularly mentioned first) took this as a sign to transfer their energies to preaching among the Gentiles, who responded enthusiastically.  While Paul’s fellow-Jews in Antioch had shown themselves unfit to hear the gospel:

It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the gentiles.

He had to speak to them first—and he will do this in other places as well—because the gospel came to and was intended for the Jews first.  And Paul, of course, was himself a Jew and had great compassion for his people.  This is expressed very well in his letter to the Romans (see Rom 9:1-5; 10:1-3).

We are told that the two Apostles spoke out these words “boldly”.  The courage and confidence of the Apostles has been already stressed by Luke on a number of occasions.  Luke repeatedly attributes these qualities to Paul, and Paul himself lays emphasis on them in a number of his letters. Fortitude is one of the four cardinal virtues which should be the characteristic of every Christian.

On the other hand, they turn to the Gentiles because the Lord had told them to be:

…a light for the gentiles,
so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

This is a rendering of the Septuagint (Greek) reading from Isaiah:

I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
(Is 49:6)

The words may be taken either as referring to Paul himself, Apostle and teacher of the Gentiles, or to the risen Christ. Christ is the light of the Gentiles—he himself had said “I AM the Light of the World”—but since only the Apostles’ witness can spread this light, Paul considers this prophecy as a command that he must carry out.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had told his disciples:

You are the light of the world. (Matt 5:14)

This phrase conveys the sense that they are being called to transmit the Light that is Christ.

The Gentiles responded enthusiastically. After receiving the Word from Paul and Barnabas:

…they were glad and praised the word of the Lord, and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers.

‘Eternal life’ refers to the life of the world to come.  These are the ones whose names are “written in heaven” (Luke 10:20) and in “the book of life”.  Actually, “destined for eternal life” was a common rabbinic expression.  For Christians, the first and necessary condition for this predestination to glory is faith in Christ.

As a result of the Gentiles’ enthusiasm for the message, “the word of the Lord spread throughout the region.”  In other words, well beyond the bounds of the city.

However, some of the Jews continued their harassments.  They incited prominent women who were believers (though not necessarily Jews) and leading men to stir up attacks on the two missionaries.  And they eventually managed to drive the two Apostles from the city.

Following the teaching of the Gospel, they shook the dust of the city from their feet (see Matt 10:14; Luke 9:5).  In doing this, they showed the severance of responsibility and the repudiation of those who had rejected their message and had brought suffering to the servants of the Lord.

They now continued on to the town of Iconium, lying to the east of Antioch on the southern borders of the province of Galatia.  Its modern name is Konya.  In Paul’s time it was an important crossroads and an agricultural centre for the central plain of Galatia.

Far from being discouraged by their experience in Antioch, we are told that:

…the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

It teaches us a lesson we continually need to learn.  The preaching of the gospel, in spite of its message of love and forgiveness and justice and its rejection of all forms of violence, can incur vicious and violent opposition.  We should neither be surprised nor discouraged at this.

On the contrary, like the Apostles, we should rejoice that, with Jesus, we suffer for proclaiming the message of life and love: 

Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
(Matt 5:10)

We think of the story of the three men thrown into the fiery furnace by an angry King Nebuchnadnezzar, joyfully singing the praises of God or, in much more recent times (and with more historical validity), of the civil rights marchers under Martin Luther King, Jr singing ‘We shall overcome’ as they were carried off to jail.

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Commentary on John 14:7-14

Once again we have to be thankful for a disciple’s question.  Jesus has just said that those who really know him also know his Father.  In fact, he says, they have already seen him.  But after all this talk about the Father, Philip, the naive one, is puzzled:

Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.

Perhaps, like some of the other Jews, he was expecting some dramatic sign, some striking manifestation of the Father.

Jesus replies patiently:

Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father…believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, but if you do not, then believe because of the works themselves.

Philip still lacked that faith that could see the Father clearly working in and through Jesus.

Of course, what Jesus says has to be understood properly. In a sense, when we see Jesus we do see the Father; but in another sense, we do not see the Father, at least not fully. When Jesus speaks, the Father speaks; when Jesus forgives, the Father forgives; when Jesus heals, the Father heals; when Jesus gives life, it is the Father who gives life.

Jesus is the Word of God; he is the utterance of God; he is God expressing himself and communicating himself to us.  In his person, Jesus is totally united with the Father.  But in Jesus’ humanity, which is where we meet him, the Father only comes through in the dimmest fashion.  As Paul wrote to the Christians of Corinth:

For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. (1 Cor 13:12)

The love that Jesus shows is the love of the Father, but reflected through his human nature; it is only the faintest image of the full reality of that love.  It is so important for us to understand this. That is why Jesus calls himself the Way—he is the Way, not the End.  The Father is the End and Goal of all living.

And so Jesus goes on to make a statement that at first seems strange:

Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.

How can we possibly do greater, far greater things than Jesus?  Yet, in a way, it is very true.

Because of his human nature, Jesus’ accomplishments were limited during his short time here on earth. He lived in one very small place and likely spoke only one language, although he might have picked up a smattering of Greek; he reached relatively few people and was intimate with only a small number.

There are many Christians today who, with the means of travel and communications available to them, can bring the message of Jesus to far greater numbers and often more efficiently.  The pope in a major address or at a Christmas Mass can reach a potential audience of billions through television, radio and via the Web. Jesus could do none of these things.

Jesus, now in his risen Body, the Church, can indeed “do greater works than these”, and this was made possible by his going back to the Father and passing on his work into our hands.  Given the instruments at our disposal, we have a great responsibility to do those “greater works”.

But to do that work we need, of course, to rely on the help and guidance of Jesus through his Spirit.  As he says in conclusion today:

If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

He has left us, but is still with us.

And to pray in his name is not just to use his name like a talisman or charm.  In invoking Jesus’ name, we also fully identify ourselves with his Way and his will.  It is not an invitation to make any kind of arbitrary request to suit our own personal whims.  Primarily, it is to ask his help in spreading his gospel.  That is a prayer which he will surely answer.

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Commentary on Micah 6:1-4,6-8

We have a rather unusual reading today, but one that is full of love and tenderness. The scene is that of a courtroom and of people on trial. The Lord lodges a legal complaint against Judah. Those on trial are God’s people and he is their judge. The witnesses are the surrounding mountains and hills.

There are three distinct parts:

1. The evidence against God’s people. The Lord summons the people to listen to his accusation and to prepare their defence against the charges that follow. The Lord speaks poignantly in reminding the people of his gracious acts in their behalf.
2. Their response in which they ask what compensation they need to pay for their sins.
3. God, through the mouth of his prophet, tells them what he expects.

Let’s explore each of these.

In the first part, the people are called on to stand up and face their judge and the mountains and hills are told to listen as witnesses to the judge’s accusations against his people in Judah. In both the Hebrew (Old) and Christian (New) Testaments, mountains are holy places where God likes to commune with his people, e.g. Mts. Sinai, Nebo, Zion, Carmel as well as the mountains of the Sermon on the Mount and the transfiguration of Jesus on Tabor. They are the impassive, unchanging witnesses through time of the great covenants God made with his people.

The evidence against the people is all the wrongs they have done and their total ingratitude for all that God has done for them. In the verses immediately following today’s reading, some of these wrongs are listed. They include:

• rich men full of violence;
• people speaking falsehoods;
• false weights and measures designed to cheat buyers;
• people imitating the semi-paganism of the Northern Kingdom with its corrupt worship and social injustice.

That the people should respond to his love in such a way, Yahweh cries out:

O my people, what have I done to you?

And he reminds them of how he rescued them from the slavery of Egypt under the leadership of Moses, Aaron and Miriam, and brought them to the Promised Land.

The words here form the basis for the lamentations (the Improperia) used in the Good Friday liturgy to call us to repentance for our sinful ingratitude to God’s love in our lives.

The Lord asks:

In what have I wearied you? Answer me!

The plea is softened by the address “O my people”, expressing sorrow rather than anger.

In the second part, the people respond by asking what they should do to make recompense. What gifts should they bring into God’s presence to appease him? They suggest both lawful and forbidden sacrifices. Does Yahweh God want holocausts of young calves? Does he want offerings of thousands of rams and “rivers of oil”? Does he want them to give up their first-born sons as penitential compensation for their sins and “transgressions”? Of course, Yahweh would never demand human sacrifice as some of the other religions did. It shows how religiously confused the people are.

And finally, in the third part, through his prophet, God rejects all of these. He does not want to be appeased; he does not need to be appeased. He is above all that. What he does want, and what gives him the greatest happiness, is to see a deep inner conversion on the part of his people, a radical changing of their ways. This will make him happy because therein lies his people’s own happiness too. He wants a religion of merely external ritual to be replaced with a religion of the spirit, as expressed in the prophets—justice (Amos), love (Hosea), and humility before God (Isaiah).

So the reading ends with one of the most lovely sentences in the whole of the Bible, one which perhaps we have heard quoted, but never knew where it came from:

What does the Lord require of you
but to do justice and to love kindness
and to walk humbly with your God?

Everything is contained there. It covers both the teaching of the Old and the New Testaments on how we should behave. If we can live like this, our lives will be perfect:

• to treat others with justice, and in deep respect to give to each one what is their right and their due,
• to be filled with love: both agape and philia, and
• to be deeply united in prayer with our God.