The Readings for Sunday, 14 March 2021 The Fourth Sunday in Lent (Laetare Sunday)

Exodus 2:1-10 Birth and Youth of (Heb 11:23) 2 Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. 3 When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. 4 His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him. 5 The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10 When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses,a “because,” she said, “I drew him outb of the water.” 1

2:1–10 The birth of the hero. There is a natural propensity to know something about the birth and youth of the hero (compare the theologically oriented infancy narratives of in Matt 1– 2 and Luke 1–2). Humans seek to find extraordinary signs that stamp the person as superhuman right from the moment of birth. For example, Hercules strangles a snake in his cradle. Here J accedes to the needs of his own audience. The ancient Near East provides certain analogues. Sargon, the great Semitic king who reigned in the twenty-fourth century B.C.E., is described in a legend as follows. His mother placed him in a basket of rushes which she sealed with bitumen. She then cast him into the river upon which he floated until drawn out. There is also an adoption account in which a child is found and then given to a nurse who is paid to keep him for three years. Afterwards the child is adopted and trained as a scribe. It is not unlikely that J’s account is also inspired by this adoption story. The final editor has wisely chosen to connect this passage with E’s account of the suppression and thus set the stage for Moses’ legend. This arrangement results in having the villain, Pharaoh, caught in his own trap. It is not simply anyone who rescues the baby boy — it is the Pharaoh’s own daughter! Moses is an Egyptian name meaning “is born.” In keeping with Israelite sensitivities, the name of the Egyptian god is omitted. (Compare Thutmose, that is “the god Thut is born.”) This form of Egyptian name was given to children born on the god’s anniversary. There is further evidence of

a Heb Mosheh b Heb mashah 1 The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Ex 2:1–10.

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Moses’ Egyptian background in the Egyptian names borne by members of his family (see 6:16 for Merari and 6:25 for Phinehas). It is also noteworthy that Reuel’s daughters in 2:19 refer to the hero as “an Egyptian.” However, apart from these notices there is no further information about Moses’ background. To be sure, the interest of the Israelite audience lay elsewhere.2 Psalm 34:11-20 (NRSV) 11 Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12 Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. 16 The face of the LORD is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. 18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD rescues them from them all. 20 He keeps all their bones; not one of them will be broken. 3

Psalm 34. This thanksgiving is in acrostic form, each line beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In this psalm one letter is missing and two are in reverse order. The psalmist, fresh from the experience of being saved by the Lord from danger (vv. 5, 7), calls on all the “lowly” (vv. 3b–4) to praise the Lord, who saves the poor who trust. The “lowly” are the defenseless, who have only the Lord to turn to. If the defenseless person prays, the Lord will hear and that person will become powerful (vv. 7–11). In the second part of the poem, the psalmist, taught true wisdom by his suffering, now teaches the assembly (vv. 12–23). Anyone who is wise will, by right conduct, join the company of the righteous and thus enjoy God’s favor.4 Colossians 3:12-17 12 As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lordf has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your

2 Dianne Bergant and Robert J. Karris, The Collegeville Bible Commentary: Based on the New American Bible with Revised (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1989), 82–83. 3 The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Ps 34:11–20. 4 Bergant and Karris, 761. f Other ancient authorities read just as Christ

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Page 2 hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christg dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.h 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 5

3:12–17 Positive admonitions. God’s chosen ones are those who are in Christ, holy and beloved, even as he is, and this requires putting on the clothes of virtue. The author cites a catalog of virtues which should be the dress of Christian life. In addition to this, the author names specific admonitions to patience and forgiveness, singling out love as the highest virtue, uniting and perfecting the rest (1 Cor 13:13; 1 Pet 4:8). Peace is the calling of Christians as members of Christ’s body, the church. As such, its understanding cannot be limited only to a private spiritual state; it has communal implications, too. Finally, the community is urged to be givers of thanks (3:15b), a theme mentioned again with greater precision in 3:17b. What is mentioned between these verses, however, are ways in which thanksgiving is to be done: letting Christ’s word dwell in them richly, teaching with all wisdom according to apostolic understanding, admonishing one another, worshiping and singing to God from the heart in gratitude, doing everything in word and deed in the name of the Lord Jesus. Seen in this light, thanksgiving to God the Father through Christ becomes a whole way of life. Christian life is eucharist, that is, it is thanksgiving.6 Luke 2:33-35 33 And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeoni blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed 35 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” 7

2:21–40 Jesus comes to the temple. Jesus’ parents obeyed imperial law at the time of his birth; now they are portrayed as observant Jews, fulfilling the prescriptions of the religious law concerning circumcision and the presentation of the first-born to the Lord. The scene at the temple is slightly confused because Luke has entwined two separate ceremonies. The required the presentation and redemption of the first-born son because the first-born sons “belong” to the Lord who saved them when the Egyptian first-born were destroyed at the Passover (Exod 13:15). Leviticus described the ceremony for the ritual purification of the mother forty days after giving birth (Lev 12:1–8). On this occasion she was to offer a lamb and a pigeon or a turtledove, but a poor couple was permitted to bring only two pigeons or doves. The emphasis is less on the purification of Mary than on the presentation of Jesus in the temple, where he will receive a more official recognition as the promised Savior of Israel. The temple symbolizes for Luke the continuity between Judaism and Christianity. The first announcement of the definitive act of salvation takes place in the temple (1:11), Jesus teaches in the temple (19:47), and the disciples continue to worship in the temple well into the new age (24:53; Acts 3:1).

g Other ancient authorities read of God, or of the Lord h Other ancient authorities read to the Lord 5 The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Col 3:12–17. 6 Bergant and Karris, 1185. i Gk Symeon 7 The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Lk 2:33–35.

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Simeon and Anna are faithful, humble Israelites waiting in the temple for the revelation of God’s salvation. Just and pious (see 1:6), they are open to the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. Simeon recognizes Jesus as the Anointed of the Lord and in his Nunc Dimittis (2:29–32) further prophesies that Jesus will be a “light for revelation to the Gentiles.” In blessing the parents, he warns that this child will be a sign opposed and that Mary will be pierced with a sword. With these two utterances of Simeon, we are given a foreshadowing of the universal salvation that will be proclaimed in Jesus and of the necessity of suffering in the mission of this Messiah. The shadow of the cross falls across the Holy Family. The later followers of Jesus are not to be surprised that suffering is encountered in their pursuit of a gospel life.8

8 Bergant and Karris, 942.

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