Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for March 21, 2021

First Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34

The Lectionary readings during Lent follow a consistent pattern: The Sunday Gospels take us on a quick journey through the life of Jesus, from his baptism in the Jordan to his last week in Jerusalem.

Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem (1630), oil painting on oak wood by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669). Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. (Click image to enlarge.)

The Hebrew Bible readings showcase God’s continuing covenants with the people. In Sunday’s first reading, the Prophet Jeremiah, recognizing that the people suffered exile because they broke the covenant their ancestors made at Mount Sinai, announces a new covenant. This will not be written on mere stone but directly on our hearts. Having God’s love indelibly marked on our hearts offers us a way to remember, even when we’re struggling, that we are commanded to love God and our neighbor.

Psalm: Psalm 51:1-13

This familiar Psalm is attributed by legend to King David himself. It imagines David wracked in repentant guilt over sending his general Uriah to certain death in battle so he can have Uriah’s beautiful wife, Bathsheba, for himself. In poetic words that mirror the promises of the covenants, we hear of David’s shame and grief. He makes no excuses, but begs for God’s mercy and forgiveness. “Create in me a clean heart, O God,” David begs: a clean slate on which God can write a new covenant of love.

Alternate Psalm: Psalm 119:9-16

Psalm 119, the longest of all the Psalms, carries a message of covenant throughout its many verses: Those who follow God’s laws and teaching, modeling their lives on Torah so as to walk in God’s ways, will reap rewards. Within that framework, though, each of its 22 eight-verse stanzas offers its individual approach. Its verses addressed to God, “With my lips will I recite all the judgments of your mouth,” echo Jeremiah’s first conversation with God when he was called to be a prophet: “Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy,” to which God responded, “you shall speak whatever I command you. … Now I have put my words in your mouth.”

Second Reading: Hebrews 5:5-10

The letter to the Hebrews is not a letter to a specific congregation but a broad appeal to formerly Jewish Christians who had returned to their original faith late in the first century to avoid persecution aimed at Christians by Rome. Its unknown author makes the case that Jesus, as Christ, stands in the great tradition of Jewish high priests that extends all the way back to Melchizedek, the king and great high priest, who blessed Abram just before God made the first covenant with Abram and Sarai. Since Jesus has become the source of eternal salvation who intercedes on our behalf forever, the writer tells the people, there is no longer need for priestly sacrifice.

Gospel: John 12:20-33

In the verses just before these (which we will hear next week on Palm/Passion Sunday), Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem, riding a young donkey through joyous, palm-waving crowds. This week hear about a group of Greeks who ask Philip to arrange a meeting with Jesus. When Philip and Andrew take the request to him, Jesus responds with a surprising reply: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Just as Jesus must die to bear the fruit of salvation through his resurrection, Jesus says, we are the seeds of faith, called to grow in discipleship like kernels of wheat that must fall on the ground and die in order to grow.