Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
In today’s Gospel, Jesus makes a striking and mysterious statement: “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM.” To those listening, this was not simply a phrase. It echoed the divine name revealed to Moses at the burning bush—the name of God himself. Jesus is revealing something extraordinary: the God who spoke to Moses is now standing before them.
This helps us understand the strange story we hear in the first reading. In the desert, the people are dying from the bite of serpents. But God instructs Moses to lift up a bronze serpent on a pole. Whoever looks upon it in faith lives.
Jesus tells us that this event points forward to him. He too will be lifted up—on the cross. And when he is lifted up, the true identity of Jesus will be revealed. The one hanging on the cross is not simply a suffering man. He is the I AM, the living God who brings life where death seems to reign.
This matters for us because the God revealed in Jesus is not distant from our struggles, our sins, or our suffering. The living God has entered directly into them.
Like the Israelites in the desert, we are sometimes wounded by sin, discouraged, or weary in faith. But the remedy remains the same: to look toward the one who is lifted up.
When we turn our eyes toward Christ—especially toward the cross—we discover that the God who calls himself I AM is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. And whoever believes in him will not remain in death, but will begin to share already in his life.
Reflection by Fr. Etienne Huard, OSB
Posted in Articles for Lent, Daily Reflections