IMPATIENT LAND OWNER - 3rd Sunday of Lent (Cycle C)

Homily for the 3^rd Sunday of Lent (Cycle C)

Based on Lk 13:1-9 (Gospel), Ex 3:1-8; 13-15 (First Reading) and  1 Co 10:1-6, 10-12 (Second Reading)

From the Series: “Reflections and Teachings of the Desert”

IMPATIENT  LANDOWNER (A Warning)

‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’

The Gospel reading for this Third Sunday of Lent is taken from Lk 13:1-9. Verses 1 and 2 say: It was just about this time that some people arrived and told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with that of their sacrifices^a. At this he said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans who suffered like that that were greater sinners than any other Galileans? Footnote ^a says “There is no other evidence for this incidence or for that mentioned in v. 4. The meaning of both is clear: sin is not the immediate cause of this or that calamity (cf. Jn 9:3), but such disaster as these are providential invitation for repentance.”

Parallel text for verse 2 is Jn 9:3 that says: ‘Neither he nor his parents sinned,’ Jesus answered, he was born blind so that the works of God^a might be displayed in him. Footnote ^a says ‘Signs’, cf. 2:11+.

Verses 3, 4 and 5 say: They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.

Or those eighteen on whom the tower at Siloam fell and killed them? Do you suppose that they were more guilty than all the other people who lived in Jerusalem? They were not, I tell you. No, but unless you do not repent, you will all perish as they did.’

Parallel text for verse 4 are:

1.       Jn 7:23- Now if a man can be circumcised on the sabbath so that the Law of Moses is not broken, why are you angry with me for making a man whole and complete on a sabbath?^h Footnote ^h says “The argument is rabbinic in type: circumcision was reckoned the ‘healing’ of one member; if this ‘healing’ of one member was allowed on the Sabbath, how much more the healing of the whole man.”

2.       Jn 8:24 - I have told you already: You will die in your sins. Yes, if you do not believe that I am He,^g you will die in your sins.” Footnote ^g  says “‘I Am’ or ‘I am He’ is the divine name revealed to Moses, Ex. 3:14+; it means that the God of Israel is unique, the true God, Dt 32:39. When Jesus appropriates this name, he is claiming to be the one incomparable savior, the goal of Israel’s faith and hope. Cf. Jn 8:28,53; 13:19 and also 6:35; 18:5,8.”

Verses 6-9 of Lk 13 begins with the title Parable of the Barren Fig Tree.^b Footnote  ^b  says “The episode of the withered fig tree in Mt 21:18-22p shows Jesus in a hard light; LK prefers to substitute this parable of his patience.

Verses 6, 7, 8 and 9 says: He told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it but found none, he said to the man who looked after the vineyard, ‘Look here, for three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and finding none. Cut it down: why should it be taking up the ground?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it one more year and give me time to dig round it and manure it; it may bear fruit next year; if not,  then you can cut it down.’

Parallel texts for verse 6 are:

1.       Jr 8:13  - “I would like to go harvesting there, ^g says Yahweh. But there are no grapes on the vine, no figs on the fig tree: even the leaves are withered. This is because I have brought them ravagers to ravage them.”^h Footnote  ^g says “Following Greek, Hebr. “I shall consume them completely’”; and Footnote ^h  says “This line (corr.) and the preceding are absent from Greek.

2.       Mt 21:19-20 - Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it, and found nothing on it but leaves. And he said to it, “May no never fruit again’; and at that instant the fig tree withered^d (v. 19). The disciples were amazed when saw it., ‘What happened to the fig tree’ they said ‘that it withered there and then? (v. 20)’. Footnote  ^d  says ‘It was not the season for figs’, Mk says. Jesus wished to perform a symbolic action, cf. Jr 8:13+, in which the fig tree represents Israel punished for its fruitlessness.

The First Reading is taken from Ex 3:1-8; 13-15. This narrative is titled: The burning bush.^a  Footnote ^a says “This first account (3-4) of Moses’ call combines ‘Yahwistic’ with ‘Elohistic’ elements. There is a second account, ‘Priestly’, in 6:2-13 and 6:28-7:7.”

Parallel texts for this title are:

1.       Ex 6:2-13 - Another Account of the call of Moses^a. God spoke to Moses and said to him: I am Yahweh (v.2). To Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob I appeared as El Shaddai; I did not make myself known to them by my name Yahweh (v.3). Also, I made my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land they lived in as strangers (v. 4). And I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, enslaved by the Egyptians, and have remembered my covenant (v.5) Say this then, to the sons of Israel:” I am Yahweh. I will free you of the burdens which the Egyptians lay on you.  I will release you from their slavery to them, and with my arms outstretched^b and my strokes of power I will deliver you  (v.6) I will adopt you as my own people,^c and I will be your God. Then you shall know that it is I, Yahweh your God, who have freed you from the Egyptians burdens (v. 7) Then I will bring you to the land I swore that I would give to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and will give it to you as your own —I, Yahweh will do this! (v. 8). Moses told this to the sons of Israel, but they would not listen to him, so crushed was their spirit and so cruel their slavery (v. 9). Yahweh then said to Moses (v. 10): Go to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and tell him to let the sons of Israel to leave his land’ (v.11). But Moses answered to Yahweh’s face: ‘Look’, said he ‘since the sons of Israel have not listened to me, why should Pharaoh listen to me, a man of poor speech? ^d (v. 12) Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron and ordered them both to go to Pharaoh, king of Egypt Israelites and to bring the sons of  Israel out of the land of Egypt (v. 13). Footnote  ^a says  “6:2-7:7: ‘Priestly’ narrative, parallel with 3-4, cf. the call of Moses. According to this tradition the divine name (v. 2) was revealed in three stages: Elohim, El-Shaddai, Yahweh. The people refuse to listen to Moses (v. 9. Cf. 4:31). Aaron will interpret Moses to Pharaoh (7:1) and not, as in 4:10-16, to the people;  Footnote ^b says  “I.e. ‘ready to strike’. Expression frequent in Dt where it is coupled with a mighty hand’. Dt. 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; 26:8, etc.; Footnote ^c  says “The twin expression of Israel’s election, ‘my people’, ‘your God’, occur often in the Pentateuch and in certain of the prophets, e.g, Jeremiah, Ezekiel;  and Footnote^d  says “Lit., ‘uncircumcised of lip’”.

2.       Ex 6:29 -7:7 - On the day when Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt he said this to him, ‘I am Yahweh. Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I say to you (v. 29).’  But Moses said to Yahweh’s face, “I am a slow of speech, why should Pharaoh listen to me? (v. 30)” Yahweh  answered Moses, See, I make you as a god for Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother is to be your prophet. (v. 1). You yourself tell him all that I command you, and Aaron your brother will tell Pharaoh to let the sons of  Israel leave his land (v. 2) I myself will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn, and perform many a sign and wonder in the land of Egypt (v. 3). Pharaoh will not listen to you, and so I will lay my hand on Egypt and with strokes of power lead out my armies, my people, the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt (v.4). And all^a the Egyptians shall come to know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst (v.5).’Moses and Aaron obeyed; they did what Yahweh  commanded them (v. 6). Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three at the time of their audience with Pharaoh (v.7). Footnote  ^a says “‘all’ Sam. And Greek.”

Verses 1, 2, 3, and 4 say: Moses was looking after the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law priest of Midian. He led his flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb,^b the mountain of God. There the angel of Yahweh^c appeared to him in the shape of flame of fire, coming  from the middle of a bush. Moses looked; there was the bush blazing but it was not being burnt. ‘I must go and look at this strange sight,’ Moses said, “and see why the bush is not burnt.’ Now Yahweh saw him go forward to look, and God called him from the middle of the bush. ‘Moses, Moses!’ he said. “Here I am.” He answered. Footnote ^b says “The Elohistic tradition uses this alternative name for Sinai.”; and Footnote ^c says “God himself as manifesting himself to man. Cf. Gn 16:7+.”

Parallel texts for verse 1 are:

1.       Ac 7:30-35  - “Forty years later, in the wilderness near Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush that was on fire (v. 30). Moses was amazed by what he saw. As he went nearer to look at it the voice of the Lord was heard (v. 31), ‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac and  Jacob.’  Moses trembled and did not dare to look anymore (v. 32). But the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your shoes; the place where you are standing is holy ground (v. 33). I have seen the way my people are ill-treated in Egypt, I have heard their groans, and I have come down to liberate them. So come here, and let me send you into Egypt (v. 34).’ It was the same Moses that they had disowned when they said, ‘Who appointed you to be our leader and judge?’ who was now sent as to be both leader and redeemer through the angel who had appeared to him in the bush (v. 35).

2.       Ac 13:17 - The God of our nation Israel chose our ancestors, and made our people great when they were living as foreigners in Egypt; then by divine power he led them out…

Verse 5 says: ‘Come no nearer’ he^d said: Take off your shoes, for the place on which you stand is holy ground. Footnote ^d says “Yahweh.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Gn 18:16-17 - From there the men set out and arrived within sight of Sodom, with Abraham accompanying them to show them the way (v. 16). Now Yahweh had wondered, ‘Shall I conceal from Abraham what I am going to do (v. 17)…

2.       Ex 19:12 - You will mark out the limits of this mountain^h and say, “Take care not to go up the mountain or to touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain will be put to death. Footnote ^h says “‘You will mark out the limits of the mountain’ Sa. ‘Sanctity and remoteness go together: sanctity involves separation from all that has not the quality of holiness. Where God manifests his presence is forbidden ground, Gn 28:16-17; Ex 3:5 40:35; Lv 16:2; Nb 1:51; 18:22. For the same reason, the ark was not to be handled, 2 S 6:7. This idea of the sacred, though primitive, conveys a lesson of enduring worth: that the mystery of God’s greatness is impenetrable and his majesty a thing of awe.

3.       Lv 17:1 - The Law of Holiness^a Yahweh spoke to Moses; he said: (v. 1) Speak to Aaron and his sons, and  all the sons of Israel and say to them: This is the word of Yahweh his command (v. 2). Footnote ^a says “Holiness is one of the attributes of the God of Israel, cf. 11:44-45; 19:2, 20:7,26, 21:8; 22:32f. The original conception is one of separateness, of inaccessibility, and of awe-inspiring transcendence, Ex. 33:20+. This sanctity communicates itself to everything in God’s vicinity and to anything consecrated to him: places, Ex. 19:12+; seasons, Ex. 16:23,  Lv. 23:4, the ark, 2 S. 6:7; people, Ex. 19:6+, and the priests in particular, Lv. 21:6; things, Ex. 30:29; Nb. 18:9, etc. Because ‘holiness’ is thought of in relation to worship, it is concerned with the idea of ritual cleanliness; in Lv. 17-23 the ‘law of holiness’ also a ‘law of purity’. But the God of Israel makes moral demands and under this influence the primitive notion of ‘holiness’ undergoes a transformation” avoidance of what was ritually impure becomes abstention from sin: ritual purity develops into spiritual purity, cf. Isaiah’s inaugural vision, Is. 6:3+. See notes to Lv. 1:1 and 11:1.”

4.       Jos 5:15 - The captain of the army of Yahweh answered Joshua, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy.” And Joshua obeyed.

Verse 6 says: I am the God of your father,’ he said, ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ At this Moses covered his face, afraid to look at God.^e  Footnote ^e says “God’s majesty is such that no man can gaze on it and live.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Ex 33:20  - ‘You cannot see my face’ he said ‘for man cannot see me and live.’^I Footnote ⁱ says “God’s sanctity is so removed from man’s unworthiness, see Lv 17:1+, that man must perish if he looks on God, cf. Ex 19:21; Lv 16:2; Nb 4:20, or even hears his voice, Ex. 20:19; Dt. 5:24-26 and 18:16. For this reason Moses, Ex. 3:6, Elijah, 1 K 19:13, and even the seraphim, Is 6:2, cover their faces in his presence. The man who remain alive after seeing God is overwhelmed with astonishment and gratitude, Gn 32:31; Dt 5:24, and with awe, Jg 6:22-23; 13:22, Is. 6:5. It is a favor God rarely concedes, Ex 24:11; he grants ‘it to Moses his ‘friend’, Ex 33:11; Nb 12:7-8; Dt 34:10, and to Elijah, 1 K 19:11f, the two who looked on the New Testament theophany, the transfiguration of Christ, Mt. 17:3p. Hence, in Christian tradition Moses and Elijah (together with Apostle Paul, 2 Co 12:1f) are the three pre-eminent mystics. In the New Testament the ‘glory’ of God, cf. 33:18 and 24:16+, is manifested in Jesus, Jn 1:14+; 11:40, who alone has gazed on the Father, Jn 1:18, 6:46; 1 Jn 4:12. Man cannot look on God’s face except in heaven, Mt 5:8; 1 Jn 3:2, 1 Co 13:12.”

2.       1 K 19:13 - And when Elijah heard this, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then a voice came to him, which said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?

3.       Mt 22:32p  - ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is God, not of the dead, but of the living.’

4.       Mk 12:26 - Now about the dead rising again, have you never read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the Bush,^a how God spoke to him and said, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?  Footnote ^a says “i.e. in which the burning bush incident is narrated.”

Verses 7, 8, 13 and 14 say: And Yahweh said: I have seen the miserable state of my people in Egypt. I have heard their appeal to be free of their slave-drivers. Yes I am well aware of their sufferings. I mean to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians and bring them out of that land rich and broad, a land, a land were milk and honey flow,^f the home of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Hivites and the Jebusites… Then Moses said to God, “Am I to go, then, to the sons of Israel, and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you’. But if they ask me what his name is, what am I to tell them?” And God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am. This’ he added, ‘is what you must say to the sons of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ Footnote ^f  says “Description of the Promised Land frequent in the Pentateuch.

Parallel texts for verse 14 say:

1.       Ex 15:3 -Yahweh is a warrior, Yahweh is his name!

2.       Ex 33:21 - And Yahweh said, ‘Here is a place near beside me. You must stand on the rock…

3.       Is 42:8 - My name is Yahweh,^f  I will not yield my glory to another, nor my honor to idols. Footnote ^f says  “The name revealed to Moses, Ex 3:14+, of the one who alone exists. There is no other God, cf. Is. 40:25; 43:10-12; 44:6-8; 45:3,5-6,14-15,18,20-22; 46:5,7,9; 48:11; cf. 41:21-29. He is the creator of all things, 40:12f,21f,28; 42:5; 43:1; 44:24; 45:9-12; 48:13; 51:13; 54:5; eternal, 41:4; 44:6; 48:`12, ‘the God of the whole earth’, 54:5. He yields his glory to no other’, 42 :8 and 48:11. The exultant monotheism of the Book of Consolation thus resumes the earlier theme of the ‘jealousy’ of Yahweh, Dt 4:4+; cf. Ex 20:3, reinforcing it with an explicit assertion of the transcendence of God.

4.       Jn 8:24 - I have told you already: You will die in your sins. Yes, if you do not believe that I am He,^g you will die in your sins.” Footnote ^g says “‘I Am’ or ‘I am He’ is the divine name revealed to Moses, Ex. 3:14+; it means that the God of Israel is unique, the true God, Dt 32:39. When Jesus appropriates this name, he is claiming to be the one incomparable savior, the goal of Israel’s faith and hope. Cf. Jn 8:28,53; 13:19 and also 6:35; 18:5,8.”

5.       Jn17:6,26 - I have made your name^h  known to the men you took from the world to give me. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word (v. 6). I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them (v. 26). Footnote ^h says “It was Christ’s mission to reveal the ‘name’ i.e., the person of the Father, 17:3-6,26; 12:28+; 14:7-11; cf. 3:11; now love for men is characteristic of the Father, 1 Jn 4:8, 36 and he proves this love by delivering up his Son, 3:16-18; 1 Jn 4:9, 10,14, 16; cf. Rm 8:32. If they are to appreciate this love, cf. 1 Jn 2:32; Jn 20:31, and thus  ‘know’ the Father.”

6.       Heb 11:6 - Now it is impossible to please God without faith, since anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and rewards those who try to find him. ^c Footnote ^c says “The faith that is essential for salvation has two objects: belief in the existence of one personal God, Ws 13:1, who by his very nature cannot be seen, Jn 1:18; Rm 1:20; Col 1:15; 1 Tm 1:17; 6:16; Jn 20:29; 2 Co 5:7;, and belief that God will pay a just wage for all efforts spent in searching for him: cf. Mt 5:12p; 6:4,6,18; 10:41fp; 16:27; 10:1-16; 25:31-46; Lk 6:35; 14:14; Rm 2:6; 1 Co 3:8,14; 2 Co 5:10; Ep 6:8; 2 Tm 4:8,14; 1 P 1:17; 2 Jn 8; Rv 2:23; 1:18; 14:13; 20:12-13; 22:12.”

Verse 15 says: And God also said to Moses, You are to say to the sons of Israel: Yahweh,  the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’

Parallel texts are:

1.       Nb 12:2 - They said, “Has Yahweh spoken to Moses only? Has he not spoken tous too?” Yahweh heard this.

2.       Ps 135:13- Yahweh, your name endures forever! Yahweh, your memory is always fresh!

3.       Ac 3:13 - You are Israelites, and it is the God of Abraham. Isaac and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, who has glorified his servant^c Jesus, the same Jesus you handed over^d and then disowned^e in the presence of Pilate after Pilate had decided to release him. Footnote ^c says “The Christians see in Jesus the mysterious ‘servant’ of Is. 52:13-53:12 (quoted in part in Ac 8:32-33), cf. Is. 42:1+. See below, v. 26; 4:27,30. His ‘glorification’ by God is his resurrection, v. 15. Cf. Jn. 17:5+”; Footnote ^d says “Cf. Is. 53:12. Same allusion to the Servant Song in Rm 4:25; 8:32; Ga. 2:20; Ep 5:2,25; Ac 7:52; and Footnote ^e says “As they disowned Moses, 7:35, himself a figure of Christ.”

The Second Reading is from 1 Co 10:1-6, 10-12. The whole episode of this scripture is under the title: A warning, and the lessons of Israel’s history^a Footnote ^a  says “Before reverting to the problem of food sacrificed to idols. Paul quotes the OT to remind the Corinthians abut the dangers of idolatry so as to prevent them joining in the actual sacrificial meals, 10:14-22.”

Parallel text for this title is from Heb 4:2-3 that says: We have received the good news exactly as they did; but hearing the message  did them no good because they did not share in faith of those who listened^b (v. 2). We, however,^c who have faith, shall reach a place of rest, as in the text: “And  so, in anger, ‘I swore that no one would reach the place of rest I had for them.’ God’s work was undoubtedly all finished at the beginning of the world(v.  3). Footnote ^b says “e.g Joshua and Caleb, cf. Nb 13-14. Var. ‘because (the message) was not accompanied by faith in what they heard’”; and Footnote ^c says ‘however’; var. ‘therefore’, ‘a place of rest’, var. ‘the place of rest.’

Verses 1 and 2 say: I want to remind you, brothers, how our fathers were all guided by a cloud above them and how they all passed through the sea, They were all baptized into Moses^b in this cloud and in this sea. Footnote ^b says “As Christians are now baptized ‘into’ Christ (Rm 6:3; Ga 3:27), i.e. to be united with him”.

Parallel texts of verse 1 are:

1.       Ex 13:21 - Yahweh went before them, by day in the form of a pillar of cloud to show them the way, and at night by means of a pillar of fire to give them light, thus they could continue their march both day and night.

2.       Ex 14:22 - And the sons of Israel went on dry land right into the sea, walls of water to right and to left of them.

Verse 3 says: All ate the same spiritual food.

Parallel text is from Ex 16:4-35 that says: Then Yahweh  said to Moses: Now I rain down bread for you from heaven. Each day the people re to go out and gather the day’s portion; I propose to test them in this way to see whether they will follow my law or not (v.4) On the sixth day, when they prepare what they have brought in, this will be twice as much as the daily gathering’ (v. 5). Moses and Aaron said to the whole community of Israel, “In the evening you shall learn that it was Yahweh who brought you out of the land of Egypt (v. 6);and in the morning you will see the glory of Yahweh, for he has heard your complaints against him-but it is not against us you complain (v. 7)”’. Moses said, “In the evening Yahweh will give you meat to eat, in the morning bread to your heart’s content, for Yahweh has heard the complaints you made against him, your complaining is not against us –for what are we?- but against Yahweh” (v. 8).Moses said to Aaron, “To the whole community of Israel say this, Present yourselves before Yahweh, for he has heard your complaints (v.9).” As Aaron was speaking to the whole community of the sons of Israel, they turned towards the wilderness, and there the glory of Yahweh appearing in the form of a cloud (v. 10)! Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said (v. 11):I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel. Say this to them, Between the two evenings you shall eat meat, and in the morning you will have bread to your heart’s content. Then you will learn that I, Yahweh, am your God (v.12). And so it came about: quail flew up in the evening, and they covered the camp; in the morning there was a coating of dew all around the camp (v. 13). When the coating of dew lifted, there on the surface of the desert was a thing delicate, powdery, ^d as fine as hoarfrost on the ground (v.14).  When they saw this, the sons of Israel said to one another, ‘What is that?^e not knowing what is was. ‘That’ said Moses to them ‘is the bread Yahweh gives you to eat (v. 15). This is Yahweh’s command: Everyone must  gather enough for his needs, one omer a head, according to number of persons in your  families. Each of you will gather for those who share his tent (v. 16)’. The sons of Israel did this. They gathered  it, some more,  some less (v.17). When they measured in an omer what they had gathered, the man who had gathered more had not too much, the man who had gathered less had not have too little. Each found he had gathered what he needed (v. 18). Moses said to them, “No one must keep any of it for tomorrow (v.19)”But some would not listen to Moses, and kept part of it for the following day, and it bred maggots and smell foul; and Moses was angry with them (v.20). Morning by morning they gathered it, each according to his needs. And when the sun grew hot, it dissolved (v.21). Now on the sixth day they gathered twice the amount of food, two omers ahead. All the leaders of the community came to tell Moses (v. 22); and he said to them, “That is Yahweh’s command: Tomorrow is a day of complete rest, a Sabbath sacred to Yahweh. Bake what you want to bake, boil what you want to boil, but put aside all that is left for tomorrow (v.23).’ So as Moses ordered, they put it aside the following day, and its smell was not foul nor were there maggots in it (v.24). “Eat it today,’ Moses said, ‘for today is the sabbath in honor of Yahweh. You will not find none in the field today (v.25).For six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day - the Sabbath - there will be none (v. 26).’ On the seventh day some of the people went out of the camp to gather it, but they found none of it (v.27). Then Yahweh said to Moses: ‘How much longer will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? (v. 28). Listen! Yahweh has laid down the Sabbath for you; forthis he gives you two days food on the sixth day;each of you is to stay where he is; on the seventh day no one is to leave his home (v. 29). So on the seventh day the people abstained from all work (v. 30).^f The house of Israel named it ‘manna’. It was like coriander seed, it was white, and its taste was like that of wafers made with honey (v. 31).Moses said, “This is Yahweh’s command. Fill an omer with it, and let it be kept for your descendants,  to let them see the food I fed you with in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt (v.32)’. Moses then told Aaron, “Take a jar* and put in a full omer of manna and place it before Yahweh to  be kept for your descendants (v.33)”Accordingly, Aaron put a full omer of manna in the jar,^g as Yahweh had ordered Moses, and placed the manna before the Testimony,^h  to be kept there (v.34).The sons of Israel ate manna for forty years, up to the time they reached inhabited country; they ate the manna up to the time they reached the frontiers of the land of Canaan (v .35). Footnote ^d says “The meaning of the word uncertain”; Footnote ^e says “Hebr. man hu; popular etymology thus explains the word ‘manna’ ; Footnote ^f says “Or ‘kept the sabbath’; Footnote ^g says “‘Accordingly…jar’, inserted in accordance with v. 33; Footnote and ^h says “That is to say, the tablets of the Law placed in the ark. This is an anticipation, unless the manna episode belong to a later date”.

Verse 4 says: And all drank ^c the same spiritual drink, since they all drank from the spiritual rock that followed them as they went,^d and that rock was Christ. Footnote  ^c  says “Passing through the Red Sea in v.2 suggests  Christian baptism; here manna and water from the rock suggest the Eucharist, Christians took the description in Ex of the liberation from Egypt as a symbol of liberation from sin by Christ, who is symbolized by implied by Jesus when he linked his Eucharist to the Passover-supper, cf. Mt 26:17-29p; 1 Co 5:7. This accounts for the many Exodus references in the Easter liturgy’”; and Footnote ^d says “Allusion to the legend that the rock from which Moses made water flow accompanied the Israelites on their travels through the wilderness. Jewish writers had already tended to identify this rock with Yahweh himself, and had supported this identification with reference to Ex 17:6, and to the OT use of ‘Rock of Israel’ as a title for Yahweh, cf Ps 18:2+. Paul credits the pre-existent Christ with the attributes of Yahweh.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Ex 17:5-6 - Yahweh said to Moses: ‘Take with you some of the elders of Israel and move on the forefront of the people; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the river, and go (v. 5). I shall be standing before you there on the rock at Horeb.^c  You must strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink. This is what Moses did in the sight of the elders of Israel. Footnote ^c  says “‘at Horeb’ evidently a reader’s gloss. In the opinion of certain rabbis the rock followed the Israelites in their wanderings. Cf 1 Co 10:4. On the term ‘Rock’ indicating God, see Ps 18:2+.”

2.       Nb 20:7-11 - Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: (v. 7) ‘Take the branch and call the community together, you and your brother Aaron. Then in view of them, order this rock to give waters. You will water flow for them out of the rock, and provide drink for the community and their (v. 8) Moses took up the branch from before Yahweh, as he had directed him (v. 9). Then Moses and Aaron called the assembly together in front of the rock and addressed them, Listen now, you rebels! Shall we make water gush from this rock for you? (v. 10).’And Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the branch; water gushed in abundance, and the community drank and their cattle too (v. 11).

3.       Ps 114:8 - Who turns rock into pool flint into fountain.

Verse 5 says: In spite of this, most of them failed to please God and their corpses littered the desert.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Nb 14:16  - ‘Yahweh was not able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them; and so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.

2.       Jude 5 - I would like to remind you-though you have already learnt it once and for all^f - how the Lord^g rescued the nation from Egypt, but afterwards still destroyed the men who did not trust him. Footnote ^f says “The faith entrusted ‘once and for all’, v. 3, to the saints must never be changed”; and  Footnote ^g  says “God the Father, cf 2 P 2:4. Var . (Vulg.) ‘Jesus’, i.e. a reference to Christ in his divine pre-existence, cf 1 Co 10:4”.

Verse 6 says: These things all happened as warning ^e for us, not to have the wicked lusts for forbidden things that they had. Footnote ^e  says “Lit. ‘types’ (tupoi). The purpose in the events intended by God, was to prefigure in the history of Israel, the spiritual realities of the messianic age (which are known as ‘anti-types’, 1 P. 3:21, but cf. Heb. 9:24). These ‘typological’ (or less accurately, ‘allegorical’, Ga.4:24) meanings in the OT narrative though”.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Nb 11:4,34 - Kibroth-hattaavah.^b The people complain.  The rabble who had joined the people were overcome by greed, and the sons of Israel began to wail again “Who will give us meat to eat?, they said (v. 4) The name given to this place was Kibroth-hattaavah,^e because it was there that they buried the people who had indulged their greed (v. 34). Footnote ^b  says “The narrative of 11:4-34 is made of two traditions, one displaying a ritualist interest (‘Yahwistic’; the quails), the other an interest in the gift of prophecy (‘Elohistic’); gift of the spirit to the elders”; and Footnote^e says “Doubtless the name originally suggested the graves of the Taavath’ (name of the tribe) but an alternative etymology gives the author the opportunity of explaining the moral significance of the incident. This place, too, is near Kadesh, according to Dt 9:22.”

2.       Rm 4:23 - Scripture however does not refer only to him but to us as well when it says that his faith was thus ‘considered’.

3.       Heb 9:9,24 - It is a symbol of this present time.^d None of the gifts and sacrifices offered under these regulations can possibly bring any worshipper to perfection in his inner self (v. 9).It is not as though Christ had entered into a man-made sanctuary which was only modeled on the real one; but it was heaven itself, so that he could appear in the actual presence of  God on our behalf(v. 24) Footnote ^d  says “The spiritual meaning of this ceremonial arrangement is that under the old covenant the people had no access to God. Under the new covenant, Christ himself is the way to the Father, Jn 14:6; cf. Heb 10:19+. The abrogation of the old worship can thus be appropriately symbolized by the Temple curtain splitting wide open at the death of Jesus, Mt 27:51p.”

Verse 10 says: You must never complain: some of them did, and they were killed by the destroyer.

Parallel texts are:

1.       Nb 21:5-6 - They spoke against God and against Moses, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this wilderness? For there is neither food or water here; we are sick of this unsatisfying food! (v. 5) At this God sent fiery serpents^d among the people; their bite brought death to  many in Israel(v. 6). Footnote  ^d says “‘fiery’ translates seraph which is used in Is 30:6 for a winged serpent or dragon. ‘Seraphim’ in Is 6:2-6 come from the same root.”

2.       Ac 5:9 - Peter then said, “So you and your husband have agreed to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? What made you do it? You hear those footsteps? They have just been to bury your husband; they will carry you out, too.”

Verse 11 says: All these happened to them as a warning, and it was written down to be a lesson for us who are living at the end of the age.^g Footnote ^g says “Lit. ‘unto whom the end of the ages have reached’.”

Parallel texts are:

1.       Nb 17:6-15 - Aaron intercedes^b On the following day, the entire community of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have brought death to the people of Yahweh (v. 6). As the community was banding together against Moses and Aaron, these turned towards the Tent of Meeting, and there was the cloud covering it, and the glory of Yahweh appeared (v. 7) And Moses and Aaron went to the door of the tent of meeting (v. 8). Yahweh spoke to Moses and said: (v. 9), Stand clear of this community, I am going to destroy them here and now’. They threw themselves face down (v.10). Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take the censer, fill it with fire from the altar, put incense on it and hurry to the community to perform atonement over them. The wrath has come down from Yahweh and the plague has begun” (v. 11). Aaron did as Moses said and ran among the assembly, but the plague was already at work among them. He put in the incense and made atonement over the people (v. 12). Then he stood there between the living and the dead, and  the plague stopped (v.13). There were fourteen thousand seven hundred victims of that plague, not counting those who died because of Korah (v. 14). Then Aaron came back to Moses at the Tent of Meeting; the plague had been halted (v.15). Footnote ^b  says “A supplementary passage illustrating the efficacy of Aaron’s ritual expiation, cf. Lv 16.”; and  Footnote^c says “Greek and Syr. Read ‘to Moses and Aaron’.”

2.       Then, when Yahweh goes through Egypt by to strike it, and sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, he will pass over that door and not allow the destroyerⁱ  to enter your homes and strike. Footnote ⁱ  says “The destroying angel, 1 Co 10:10; Heb 11:28, is the messenger entrusted with the execution of God’s vengeance. CfGn 19:1; 2 S 24:16; 2 K 19:35. In these last two places he is called ‘angel of Yahweh’ but the texts, unlike those quoted in the note to Gn 16:7, distinguish him from God.”

Verse 12 says: The man who thinks he is safe must be careful that he does not fall.

Parallel texts are:

1.       1 Co 10:6 - These things all happened as warning ^e for us, not to have the wicked lusts for forbidden things that they had. Footnote ^e  says “Lit. ‘types’ (tupoi). The purpose in the events intended by God, was to prefigure in the history of Israel, the spiritual realities of the messianic age (which are known as ‘anti-types’, 1 P. 3:21, but cf. Heb. 9:24). These ‘typological’ (or less accurately, ‘allegorical’, Ga.4:24) meanings in the OT narrative though.”

2.       Rm 15:4 - And indeed everything that was written long ago  previously in the scriptures was meant to teach us something about hope from the examples  scriptures gives of how people who did not give up were helped by God.

3.       Ga 6:1 - Brothers, if one of you misbehaves the more spiritual of you who set him right should do so in a spirit of gentleness, not forgetting that you may be tempted yourselves.

Examples inviting to repentance and the parable about the barren fig tree.

1.       The narrative started by narrating the two incidents of vv. 2 and 4 which the people consulted Jesus about. The footnote says that these two incidents do not have any historical basis but are narrated in order to explain that sin are not the direct cause of these calamities but that these are examples that call people to repentance (Cf. Jn 9:3; 5:14+, Lk.). Hence, these calamities are opportunities so that God can work out his goodness and to call people to himself, to life: “Unless you repent, all of you will die” (vv. 3 and 5). In other words, these calamities happen in order to correct their present lifestyles in order to look for the straight and correct way of life, which is what Jesus Christ is inviting through his words, his teachings and his doctrines which are different from what the established religion (Judaism) at that time was teaching to the people. This religion of Israel was being compared to the barren fig tree being narrated in the second part of the gospel (vv. 6-9).

2.       In the second part, the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree, is being compared to Israel (Jr. 8:13, Rm. 11:16-24, Jn. 15:5-7). Jesus Christ told this parable after the two calamities that invited for repentance as a warning  to the people (Israelites) that this parable about the barren fig tree is directed to them.  God is the owner of the vineyard, and the caretaker of the vineyard is Jesus Christ.   The three years that is being said here are the three years ministry of Jesus Christ in Israel, which did not produce fruit for Israel, but Jesus Christ  still asked for a one-year extension from the Father so that he could  till and fertilize the soil.  The tilling, or breaking up the soil, recalls the crucifixion  and the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and the act for  recalls the preaching of the gospel done by the apostles of Jesus Christ after his death.

3.       It was said here that the caretaker asked for one more year from the owner of the vineyard to make the fig tree bear fruit, but after a year of tilling and fertilizing the soil it still do not bear fruit then it will be cut down. Because Christ compared this tree to Israel who did not bear fruit (meaning that the fruit that God was looking for from Israel was the true repentance from her sins, or the weeping for her sins), did God in fact cut down Israel or not? The answer can be found in Rm 11:25-32, according to Paul’s belief.  But, according to Jesus Christ, the answer to this question can be found in  Lk. 16:30-31 and Mt. 21:43. For you, what is the answer? (Fruit. Cf. Gal. 6:7-9, 5:19-22, Apo. 22:2, 2:7, Ezk. 47:12; Jr. 5:3b, Apo. 16:9. The attitude of the Jews here in Lk 13:1-9 is not to repent of their sins and to accept Jesus Christ. Because of their hardness of heart, God has rejected them.

4.  There is also another angle of interpretation to this parable. The owner of the vineyard may be quite unreasonable to look for fruit from a tree which was planted for just a period of three years. Everybody knows that it takes more than three years to make a tree bear fruit, so it was quite preposterous to look for fruits from a three which is just three years of age. Hence, we have titled this piece  the Impatient Land Owner to refer to the owner of the vineyard in the story who cannot wait for any longer time for his three year old tree to bear fruit, which he wanted to cut down because the three year old tree was not giving him fruit (when in fact it cannot because it was still Young and not yet in the age for fruiting).
5.  The virtue of patience, which is what is wanting from the góspel story of the impatient land-owner, is very much allied to the search for the attainment of Christian maturity, or Christian perfection, because the attainment of maturity and perfection is one and the same thing. The attainment of maturity is the attainment of perfection. Maturity cannot be attained in a very short period of time, but, just like the tree in today’s góspel narrative, it has be allowed to grow, to harden its trunk, to branch and bear much leaves, to bloom, and to fruit, which needs many years to pass. Hence, one needs to have a lot of patience to wait for this process of maturity to be attained.
6.   Likewise, Christian maturity, or perfection, needs many years to pass and a lot of patience for it to be attained by one who desires perfection. Christian maturity, or perfection, is the state of being perfect as a follower of the Christ, which is none other than attaining Christian maturity. Like a tree, this can allowed happen if Christian life is allowed to grow, to harden, to branch and bear much leaves, to bloom and to bear much fruit  that would be a great service to others. To attain this, it would take many, many years to pass, and patience is needed to wait for this process to complete.
7.  How to attain Christian maturity? One way is to enter the school of Christian faith and life where a follower of Christ is taught the virtues of the Christian faith and life according to teh teachings of Christ in the gospels.