Can you believe that Moses actually argued with the Creator of the universe in today’s first reading for mass? God was upset and angry and just about ready to destroy the whole lot of His people. It was because they turned from Him and worshiped the golden calf instead, even after all He had done to bring them out of slavery in Egypt.
Can you blame God for being upset? He sounds a little like an earthly father who lost his temper over his children’s misbehavior. He sounds almost human! (We are definitely made in the image and likeness of God.) Perhaps we should not be so hard on ourselves sometimes, after our own temper justifiably flares up though. God evidently has this same tendency.
However, Moses sure had a lot of nerve speaking up to God and telling Him to, “Let your blazing wrath die down; relent in punishing your people.” It sounds like Moses gave God a piece of his mind, in much the same way that one parent will often talk to the other parent, who needs to calm down too.
Moses did not hesitate to speak up for His people:
“Why O Lord, should your wrath blaze up against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent he brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains and exterminate them from the face of the earth’?”
Then Moses reminded God of His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Israel. God had promised to make their descendants as numerous as the stars, and He even give their descendants the promised land as a perpetual heritage. The amazing part about this entire discussion – is that God relented! The Creator of the whole universe actually listened to Moses, a mere human being.
The other thing that is amazing about this exchange is that Moses was comfortable enough in his relationship with God to reason with Him and challenge His thinking. This is exactly what Jesus did in today’s gospel as too. He spoke up to the Jews, tried to reason with them, and challenge what they thought about him and who he really was. Jesus even mentioned Moses in today’s gospel, that it wouldn’t be Jesus that accuses them for not believing in him, but Moses.
The Jewish people said they believed Moses’ writings and yet they did not believe what Moses wrote about Jesus. That’s a pretty common thing in our modern times as well. Many people claim to believe in God and believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, and that the bible is true, but then pick and choose what they do, or do not believe to be true in these same scriptures.
In the first reading for mass today, Moses argued with God, and in the gospel today, Jesus argued with the Jewish people about who he really was. Have you ever felt bad afterwards about an argument you had with someone you love? Maybe you argued to defend the good, or over the right thing to do? It might be a good thing to remember today’s scriptures for mass and not be too hard on yourself. Moses didn’t mind ruffling God’s feathers, in order to persuade Him to do the right thing. And, Jesus didn’t mind ruffling the Jewish people’s feathers either, because they refused to believe in him – that he was who he said he was.
Arguments are sometimes justified. Jesus and Moses both were involved in arguments, but for the right reasons. Motive is everything in the spiritual life. The motive behind what we do is what matters. That’s something we should keep in mind the next time we need to speak up for what is right, or against what is wrong. What motivates us to speak up? Or remain quiet? Is it for selfish reasons? Or for the good of another?
In these difficult times, when we are all coping with the corona virus pandemic, it’s even more difficult to “do the right thing” and practice social isolation. It’s hard being cooped up at home for days on end, especially when cabin fever sets in, and everyone is living in close quarters for a prolonged period of time.
It is also difficult to speak up to people who are hurting the common good, by disrespecting the health guidelines we all need to follow, to protect the lives of the most vulnerable people in our communities. This pandemic is bringing out the best in us, and the worst in us, but as Catholics we are called to protect human life, even if it isn’t always easy.
Daily Mass Readings: Exodus 32: 7-14 / Psalm 106: 19-20, 21-22, 23 / John 5: 31-47
