March 11: Fourth Sunday of Lent

God sent his only Son

2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23; Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6; Eph 2:4-10; Jn 3:14-21

Sometimes the biblical saga of ages past has eerie connections with the present day Middle East, the arena in which most of the biblical drama took place. An event dominating the readings for this fourth Sunday of Lent is the Babylonian exile that took place after the defeat of Judea in 597 B.C.  

This terrible period, which witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple and the death of the king, saw large numbers of Jews deported to Babylon. The exile remained a searing memory for the Bible and leaves its imprint on many of the biblical books, such as the readings we have today from the Second Book of Chronicles and Psalm 137.  

Looking back, the author of Chronicles interprets the exile as punishment for the infidelity of the people: “In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests and the people added infidelity to infidelity.” The Psalmist’s famous words describe the deep sadness of those exiled: “By the streams of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.”  

When their captors ask them to sing songs from their native land, the Israelites are too sad to sing: “How could we sing a song of the Lord in a foreign land?” The Psalmist prays that he will never forget his homeland: “If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand be forgotten!”

But at the end of the reading from Chronicles there comes a ray of unexpected hope. Cyrus, the king of Persia, the empire that conquered Babylon, decrees that the captive people can return to their homeland and rebuild their temple and their city. This famous decree of Cyrus issued in 537 B.C. marked the end of the exile. 

The Bible considers Cyrus an unwitting instrument of God’s mercy. The irony is that ancient Babylon was located in present day Iraq and the Persian Empire of Cyrus was in present day Iran. Iraq, Iran and Israel — who could have guessed the course of history?

The purpose of these readings for the Bible — and their place in our Lenten liturgy — is not, however, to simply reflect on the ironies of history but to see God’s enduring fidelity to his people, even when they turn away from the Lord. The exile and the return anticipate the deep pattern of death and resurrection that we contemplate during this sacred season.

That is surely the message of our Gospel reading for today, taken from the third chapter of John’s Gospel. This is a selection from Jesus’ discourse with Nicodemus, the Jewish leader who visited Jesus at night to seek wisdom. Jesus’ response includes what may be one of the most often cited and beloved passages in all the New Testament — one sometimes seen on signs held up behind the goal posts at football games or written on the roofs of barns in the countryside. It is John 3:16: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”  

The impulse to highlight this text is a good one because these words of Jesus sum up the entire message of John’s Gospel. The mission of Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, is to reveal God’s unquenchable love for us. 

Pope Francis has often described Jesus as “the human face of the Father’s mercy.” That is another way of expressing this same profound Christian conviction. When all is said and done, despite our infidelities and the violence and evil that wracks our world today, this fundamental truth stands. God loves the world — loves us and will not condemn us. Striving to take that message of hope to heart and to translate it into our own way of living is the true purpose of Lent.