We, like Abraham, are tested by God

March 16, 2003 -- Second Sunday of Lent

	Fr. Richard Ver Bust

Last week we learned that it is God who acts for and with us. While our practices of Lent--prayer, almsgiving, and fasting--are important, we must also remember what God does for us. We tend to think that we must do great things for God but maybe all we need to do is allow God to work in us.

Lent
• Lent-related articles  • 2003 Lenten Wish List (3/7 issue)  • Lenten rules (2/28 issue)

But who is this God who acts in such a way? Paul gives us a clue in his Letter to the Romans. The god whom many pagan nations of the time worshiped showed little concern for people. Israel believed and taught that their God loved them. God had rescued them from the slavery of Egypt and had showed his love in saving Isaac from being sacrificed. Paul wrote that God's love was so great that, unlike Isaac, God had not spared Christ from death. Christ too showed that he so loved us that he gave up his life for us.

Our first reading is a very powerful story. When one is challenged to the depth of one's being, then one knows faith. It is one of the reasons why Abraham became the great model of faith for Judaism and for us. We fail to realize how significant the test really was. God had promised Abraham that his descendants someday would be as numerous as the sands of the seashore. This was to be his destiny and legacy. Now all this was being called into question. How could this be? Isaac was the person through whom Abraham's very existence would continue. Remember there was no idea of afterlife in terms of heaven and hell when the story was written. So Abraham expected to live on through his son.

Now Abraham, who must have loved his son dearly, believed God wanted him to offer that son as a sacrifice. Abraham's neighbors would not have thought this unusual because we know they offered children in sacrifice. Abraham passed the test. Unlike Abraham, the readers of this story knew what the actual outcome was as it was being told. They believed that God blessed Abraham and fulfilled the promise of salvation.

Our Gospel reading is Mark's version of the Transfiguration. The story teaches that Jesus continues the traditions that Israel had experienced. From Abraham, through the Exodus, the giving of the Law and the Exile are brought together in Jesus. Like Moses on Sinai, Jesus was transformed. Jesus spoke to Moses and Elijah, symbols of the Law and the Prophets, and brought their work to completion. A voice from heaven identifies Jesus as a Beloved Son and says that one should listen to him.

We probably don't realize that the statement of Peter to build tents has messianic implications. In Jesus' time, the feast of wilderness, which these tents refer to, had become a celebration of a coming Messiah. Peter's words mean he is asking to celebrate messianic times. Jesus though tells them that they could not do so until he had suffered and died. Only with the resurrection would the full realization of what the transfiguration meant become clear to the disciples. We are called by God to follow the path of Christ. This is never easy. We too, like Abraham, continue to be tested. We will find that God still is the God who loves.

(Fr. Ver Bust holds the title of professor emeritus in religious studies at St. Norbert College, De Pere.)