But with their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses. - Numbers 21
Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live.”
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. - Numbers 21
When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM. - John 8
At this point in our Lenten journey, we might be like the people in the desert - complaining against God. We might also be saying, “Why did you lead us into this Lent, to starve us.” We might be still hoping for something hopeful to make this a fruitful Lent, and, not yet finding it, we might begin a bit of whining. Of course, God is the easiest target of our discontent.
In the desert, God remained faithful. He’d led them out of slavery in Egypt and had compassion on them in the desert journey. Serpents were biting them. What a great image to help us realize what can be happening to us - some kind of something is biting us and getting us down and leading us into whining. God directs Moses to give them a “vaccine,” a protection, from the biting they are experiencing. The bronze serpent represents God’s power over all serpents.
As the people in the gospel today whine to Jesus - basically because they aren’t seeing him for who he is - their Savior - Jesus offers them a remedy and a revelation of who he is. When he’s “lifted up” - in two senses: on the Cross, and in the Resurrection - then we will realize who he really is for us. He uses the name God gave Moses in the desert, “Tell the people I AM sent you.” Jesus is God with us, among us, and God’s salvation for us.
This is a wonderful opportunity on our Lenten journey - if we feel a complaining spirit compromising the graces of this journey - to turn to Jesus again and look at him for who he is for us. Realizing our need for a Savior, and beholding him as our Savior, can be the grace we need at this point in our journey. It can be the time to be freed from the biting crabbiness that can settle in and make its troubling presence felt in our heart. It can be a liberation from the darkness of judgments of others and the divisive spirit which is determined to take away our peace. It can fill us with more gratitude and simple joy to “re-discover” the “good news” of Jesus’ love for us and his presence with us on this journey, warming our hearts to turn from ourselves to others in need of our compassion and mercy and faithful presence.
The reality of our Lent desire these days is to recognize that Jesus is lifted up - in both senses - so that we might be lifted up - in both senses - for others and for the fullness of our salvation. There is time for much grace in the Fifth week of Lent.
Rev. Andy Alexander, SJ
Co-founder of Creighton’s Online Ministries, Retired 2025
I served at Creighton from 1996 to 2025. I served as Vice-president for Mission for three Presidents, directed the Collaborative Ministry Office and co-founded the Online Ministries website.
I loved seeing the number of faculty and staff who over the years really took up the mission as their own and made Creighton the Jesuit university it is today. I was also consoled to witness the website – a collaborative effort - touch the hearts of so many around the world.
I’m now living at St. Camillus – a Jesuit care facility in Milwaukee. Many of my days are spent dealing with my own health issues, as I carry out the mission we’ve been given, “to pray for the Church and the Society of Jesus.”
