Notes on the First Readings for the Fourth Week of Lent s1

NOTES ON THE FIRST READINGS FOR THE FOURTH WEEK OF ORDINARY TIME (Cycle 1)

(if a festal day falls on any of these days, the readings of the feast are used instead)

We conclude the Letter to the Hebrews. The author has been urging the community to remain faithful, and has given the example of the faith of Abraham.

Monday: Hebrews 11: 32-40. The author goes on to list many other Old Testament heroes of faith and what they were prepared to suffer for that faith. It is not possible to make an exact parallel between the list of names and the list of sufferings, but that is not the point. Many of the sufferings referred to seem to relate more obviously to the persecutions endured in the revolt of the Maccabees against pagan domination in the 2 nd. century BC. The most important point is that the promises of God, which these heroes of old sought to obtain, could not actually be fulfilled until the completion of the work of Christ, culminating in his Ascension.

Tuesday: Hebrews 12: 1-4. Over and above all these examples of faith from the Old Testament, there is the example of Jesus himself, who withstood humiliation and even death for our sakes. The believers whom the author is addressing had not actually had any of their number put to death.

Wednesday: Hebrews 12: 4-7, 11-15. Sufferings and trials are seen as a necessary form of discipline, and even as a form of training sent by God. (In the broader issue of God and the problem of evil, this view clearly raises a number of difficulties, but the author is not dealing with that question. Rather, he is making the point that, as with Jesus, evil does not finally triumph; all is willed to a good end by God). To support his argument he quotes from Proverbs 3: 11-12. He again urges the community to remain resolute, quoting Isaiah 35: 3 (“strengthen the feeble hands, steady the trembling knees”). He then puts in a plea for community peace and holy living, with no trace of the “root of bitterness” which damages the community (this is a semi-quotation from Deuteronomy 29: 18, where it refers to the worship of false gods).

Thursday: Hebrews 12: 18-19, 21-24. The Old Covenant was made with Moses at Mount Sinai during the Exodus from Egypt, when Moses ascended the mountain and the people remained below, amid scenes of thunder and fire (Exodus 19: 16 etc.). In the New Covenant, the assembly of the faithful gather in heaven. Those still alive, whom the author is addressing, are described as being already there; they are definitively ‘on the way’ to their goal through Jesus’ victory. The heroes of faith of the Old Testament already await them, their place in heaven having been gained for them by the victorious Christ. While the blood of Abel, murdered by Cain, cried out for vengeance (Genesis 4: 10), the blood of Jesus gives to all the faithful an entrance into the true Holy of Holies, which is not in the Jerusalem Temple, but in heaven (Hebrews 10: 19).

Friday: Hebrews 13: 1-8. The author finally turns to behaviour in the community. He urges mutual love, hospitality to strangers (Abraham entertained the angels of God in this way, Genesis 18), care for prisoners and the “ill-treated” (persecuted?). Married life is to be taken very seriously. Following this pattern, believers have nothing to fear (quoting Psalm 55: 11). The community is reminded of its former leaders, who have died, and whom God will have received to himself. The promises of the Father, realised in Jesus, are still active and open to the present generation.

Saturday: Hebrews 13: 15-17, 20-21. The community is finally urged to remain steadfast in worship, in charity and in mutual support. They should respect their leaders, who have taken on a great responsibility. The author concludes with a prayer: may they be filled with the grace of the Father, who gave Resurrection to the Son.