Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for April 7, 2019

First Reading: Isaiah 43:16-21

As Palm Sunday and Holy Week draw near, Sunday’s readings direct our thoughts toward seeking our goals with God’s help.

Mary Magdalene Anointing Christ’s Feet in the House of Simon the Pharisee. Oil painting on canvas by Artus Wolffort (1581-1641). Auctioned at Dorotheum Vienna in April 2015. (Click image to enlarge.)

In our first reading, the Prophet Isaiah remembers the time when the people were in exile in Babylon, defeated and hopeless, unable to get up; “extinguished, quenched like a wick.” Nevertheless, the prophet advises, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.” In God there is hope for new ways. God will make a path in the wilderness and create rivers in the desert, protecting God’s chosen people and bringing them home.

Psalm: Psalm 126

Sunday’s Psalm mirrors the hope that we heard in the Isaiah passage, as seen from a future joyous day when all things old have been made new again. God has restored Israel’s fortunes, filling the people with laughter and shouts of joy. Those who left the holy city, weeping under burdens that seemed too great to bear, now return with shouts of joy, bringing in a bountiful harvest.

Second Reading: Philippians 3:4b-14

When Paul was a zealous Pharisee, he thought he had a lot to be proud of. He was strong in his Jewish faith as he angrily persecuted the Christians, regarding them as dangerous radicals. But then he discovered Jesus and everything changed, he tells the people of Philippi (a Gentile community of retired Roman soldiers in Greece, Christian converts themselves). Forget what lies behind, he urges them, echoing the advice we hear in Isaiah’s reading: press on, as he does, toward the goal of resurrection and life.

Gospel: John 12:1-8

We turn to John’s Gospel this week, dropping in just after Jesus has raised Lazarus from the dead. The high priests are worried about this troublesome rabbi whose miracles are exciting the crowds. They decide to have him killed if he shows his face in Jerusalem during Passover. Of course, that’s just where Jesus is headed. But first he stops in Bethany to visit his friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus. When Martha shows her love for Jesus by bathing his feet extravagantly with a costly perfumed oil, profit-minded Judas objects, but Jesus says, “Leave her alone … You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” This should not not be read as an argument against helping the poor. On the contrary, it reflects God’s explicit commandment in Torah that we must always open our hands to our poor and needy neighbors who are always among us.