September 7, 2008

Proper 18, Year A

Exodus 12:1-14, Psalm 149, Romans 13:8-14, Matthew 18:15-20

THE PASCHAL LAMB

Reflecting on our lesson from the Hebrew scriptures today, the story of the institution of the Jewish Passover, it is easy to see why John, in his gospel, places Jesus’ crucifixion at the time the paschal lambs were slaughtered in the temple. It’s easy to see how the early church would read Jesus’ saving death and resurrection into this passage, e.g., a lamb “without blemish” for sacrifice, lamb’s blood marking the houses so that “when I see the blood, I will pass over you,” the beginning of a new time: “the beginning of months…the first month of the year.” Something new was going on for the followers of Jesus. It felt to them as radical a change as when the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. God was at work in the world in a mighty way, revealing Godself in a totally new way, and yet as the same as in their salvation history. It seems likely that was the message that Matthew was trying to get across to his audience in his telling of the holy family’s flight into Egypt (Mt.2:13-23). There he reminded them of the prophet Hosea’s reference (11:1) to freeing the Israelites with his quote, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

Reading the epistle in the light of the Old Testament lesson, what gets my attention are the two “clothing” phrases: “put on the armor of light” and “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” First, those phrases say to me that Christ Jesus is the armor of light, the protection from the powers of darkness in the world that God provides for us. It is up to each of us, of course, whether or not we choose to clothe ourselves with God’s saving grace. Secondly, I see the Passover story reflected in the act of “putting on.” Putting the lamb’s blood on the doorpost and lintel was a sign of God’s salvation for the Israelites. In like manner, when we consume the body and blood of Christ Jesus in eucharistic praise and thanksgiving, we are putting on, covering ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ as a sign of our trust in God’s redeeming grace. We recognize, with John the Baptist, that “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” (Jn.1:29)

Pat Horn, Author

Audrey Horn Bruno, Photographer