Illuminations on the Lectionary readings for March 12, 2023 (Lent 3A)

First Reading: Exodus 17:1-7

This week’s readings focus our thoughts on water and thirst … and a bit of gratitude. We may thirst for righteousness, mercy and justice, but when we are thirsty and need water, this simple human need takes precedence.

Sunday’s readings take us from the thirsty Israelites in the desert to Jesus stopping for water and rest in a Samaritan town. In our first reading from Exodus, the Israelites are no longer hungry – in previous verses, they have just received miraculous manna – but they still have no water. Their constant thirst makes them so angry that they wish they were back in slavery in Egypt, where at least their basic needs of life were met. Moses is angry and outdone with them, but God provides a miracle to quench their thirst.

Psalm: Psalm 95

Psalm 95, which we also know as the Venite in Morning Prayer, begins with a surprisingly joyous tone for the penitential time of Lent. But its sounds of praise for God change key abruptly in Verse 8, when the Psalmist reminds us of the story we heard in the Exodus reading: The thirsty, angry people turned their hearts away from God and put God to the test. The Psalmist imagines that these actions drove God to “loathe” these ungrateful people and leave them lost 40 years in the desert.

Second Reading: Romans 5:1-11

The infant church in Rome has known suffering. Some of its members were forced into exile, and the entire congregation was at risk for its faith. But their suffering gives them the opportunity to learn endurance and build their character, Paul reminds them, by means of their hope in the love that God pours into their hearts through the Spirit. Even though the people are sinners, we hear, they are justified through faith and saved through Jesus’s death on the cross.

Gospel: John 4:5-42

Jesus, like the people in the desert, was tired and thirsty after a long journey. Returning from Jerusalem to Galilee (a journey that we hear about only in John’s Gospel), he decided to pass through the country of the Samaritans even though they were not on good terms with their Jewish neighbors. Jesus struck up a conversation with a Samaritan woman, asking her for a drink. These actions surprised her, as Jewish men of the era weren’t likely to engage with Samaritans, much less Samaritan women. Then his conversation surprised her even more, as he promised her the unending “living water” of God’s spirit, foretold an end to the differences between their people, and declared himself the Messiah.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for March 19, 2017

First Reading: Exodus 17:1-7

We may thirst for righteousness, mercy and justice, but when we are thirsty and need water, this simple human need takes precedence. Sunday’s readings tell of of thirst, from the thirsty Israelites in the desert to Jesus stopping for water and rest in a Samaritan town. In this Exodus reading, the Israelites are no longer hungry – in previous verses, they have just received miraculous manna – but they still have no water, and their thirst makes them so angry that they wish they were back in slavery in Egypt, where at least these basic needs of life were met. Moses is angry and outdone with them, but God provides a miracle to quench their thirst.

Psalm 95

Our Psalm opens with the joyful hymn of praise that we also know as the Venite, a familiar reading in Morning Prayer. We sing and shout with joy to God, our creator, who made the land and sea; we are the people of God’s pasture and the sheep that God made to fill it. But then the tone of the prayer changes as we remember the cranky Israelites, whose ungrateful acts caused God to “loathe” them and, in angry response, to condemn them to 40 years wandering in the desert.

Second Reading: Romans 5:1-11

The infant church in Rome has known suffering. Some of its members were forced into exile, and the entire congregation was at risk for its faith. But Paul reminds them that their suffering gives them the opportunity to learn endurance and build their character through hope in the love that God pours into their hearts through the Spirit. Even though they are sinners, they are justified through faith and saved through Jesus’s death on the cross.

Gospel: John 4:5-42

We see a very human side of Jesus in John’s Gospel today. Jesus, worried that the Pharisees were angry because he was making and baptizing more disciples than his cousin John had done, decided to go back to Galilee, a journey that required him to pass through the country of the Samaritans, who were not on good terms with the Jews. Tired and thirsty, he stopped in a Samaritan village, where he broke protocol by not only asking a Samaritan woman for a drink but striking up a conversation with her. Much to the surprise of his disciples, he stayed in the village for two days and made believers of many of the Samaritans.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Sunday, March 23, 2014

First Reading: Exodus 17:1-7
This week’s readings focus our thoughts on water and food … and a bit of gratitude. We hunger and thirst for sustenance, and we hunger and thirst for righteousness and justice. When we face basic needs of hunger and thirst, though, it’s all too easy to forget to be grateful for past blessings. In the previous chapter of Exodus, God provided manna for the hungry people. Now they are angry because they have no water, complaining that they were better off in slavery in Egypt than dying in the desert. Moses is about out of patience with them, but God provides.

Psalm: Psalm 95
Today’s Psalm begins with a surprisingly joyous tone for the penitential weeks of Lent, but the joyful noise of praise for God changes key abruptly in Verse 8 when the Psalmist reminds us of the story we heard in today’s Exodus reading. The thirsty, angry people turned their hearts from God and put God to the test; the Psalmist imagines that these actions drove God to “loathe” these ungrateful people and leave them lost 40 years in the desert. We might prefer to envision a more loving and forgiving God, but the Psalmist’s opinion is clear.

Second Reading: Romans 5:1-11
Even though we are sinners, we are justified through faith and saved through Jesus’s death on the cross, Paul writes to the people of Rome. But, in language that hints at the modern notion, “no pain, no gain,” he suggests that just as Jesus suffered and died, we mustn’t expect an easy road as we hunger and thirst for God’s grace.

Gospel: John 4:5-42
Jesus, like the people in the desert, was tired and thirsty after a long journey. He struck up a conversation with a Samaritan woman, asking her for a drink. These actions surprised her, as Jewish men of the era weren’t likely to engage with women or Samaritans. Then his conversation surprised her even more, as he promised her the unending “living water” of God’s spirit, foretold an end to the differences between their people, and declared himself the Messiah.