Love Triumphs over Frustration
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent
EX 32:7-14
Psalm 106
John 5:31-46
As I reflect on the readings today, both from Exodus and the Gospel of John, it sounds like God was having a terrible day. In the first reading, God is threatening to destroy the Israelites because they have created a molten calf and are worshiping it. In the Gospel, Jesus is frustrated because His disciples just don’t seem to get it. Jesus is calling them out on their lack of understanding and their lack of belief. It is possible to feel his frustration in his words. He knows the time is short, and still, they don’t seem to understand who he is, what his mission means, and what they are being called to be. They are being missioned to change the world, and they just don’t get it.
The humanness of God’s reaction in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament is heartening for me. We all know what it is like to try our best, and still, people do not understand our meaning, or they misread our intentions. We all know about frustration. I imagine the disappointment of God with the Israelites and the frustration of Jesus with the apostles was far more than what I have known.
What is most essential for us today is to be reminded that God did not give in to His frustration with the Israelites. And Jesus did not give in to his frustration with the Apostles. Instead, they continued to call the people to know the love of God and to be faithful. Neither does God give in to his frustration with us when he tries to communicate His great love for us, and we don’t get it.
There is also a teaching in these passages for us when we become frustrated with those we love. God did not give up on the Israelites, and Jesus did not give up on the disciples, neither can we give up on the love we are called to have for one another. As Saint Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians, “Three things endure only these, faith, hope, and love. The greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor 13)
Today by phone, email, text, or, if possible, in person make an effort to tell those you love that you love them. No frustration is more significant than our love for one another.
