The Fourth Sunday in Lent

Laetare

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, Your mercies are new every morning; and though we deserve only punishment, You receive us as Your children and provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant that we may heartily acknowledge Your merciful goodness, give thanks for all Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

An Overview

The Fourth Sunday in Lent stands apart from the other Sundays of the penitential season. Its Latin name "Laetare" is best translated as "Rejoice" which seems out of place in a season that sees us no longer singing the song of the angels "Glory be to God on High," nor voicing the word "Hallelujah" in our worship. In some places, the Violet paraments and vestments are replaced with rose colored ones, a shade somewhere between purple and pink that shows a "lightening" of the Lenten discipline.

Why this change?

The development of the lectionary is largely organic, so it's difficult to answer this question, but this is best seen as a temporary stop before we begin the arduous trek to Good Friday.

So rejoice this Sunday, feast on the Body and drink the Blood, knowing that they will give you strength for the journey to come.

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Artwork: Pyx Fragments with the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, Byzantine, 6th century. A pyx is the box that contains the bread that will be used for Holy Communion.

The Old Testament

Exodus 16:2-21

During their time in the wilderness, Israel often grumbled against Moses.
- We can understand this grumbling spiritually (allegorically) as pointing to New Testament Christians who often "grumble" that God brought us out of slavery through Baptism.
God responds by feeding the crowds with bread from heaven and attaches rules to how it is to be eaten.
- Christ responds to our grumbling by giving us a new way to eat bread and drink wine after our baptism and attaches rules to how it is to be celebrated.
The Bread rains down on the sixth day.
- Christ died on the Cross on the sixth day.

Translation Notes

Though the word never occurs in this passage, "manna" is a Hebrew word meaning "What is it?"

The Epistle

Galatians 4:21-32

v 21 Paul makes it clear that if Christians want to be "under the law" they have to read the Bible in order to understand what they are signing up for.
vv 22-24 Paul refers to the story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar and tells us that we are to read this passage "allegorically." (see the link to Pastor Wolfmueller's video below).
vv 23-25 In Paul's allegorical imagination, Hagar = the old covenant of the Law. Thus the "children of Hagar" are those who are insist on the moral power of the Law to produce salvation.
vv 26-27 Paul uses Isaiah 54 to demonstrate that the barren one (Sarah) is a greater source of heirs than the "one who has a thousand." To say it another way, those who adhere to the Gospel will find that they are more fruitful in their faith than those who only look to the moral law.
vv 28-29 Thus, those who follow the Gospel are true followers of Christ since they, like Isaac, are the product of a promise and miraculous birth (baptism), not merely ethnic and biological heirs of Abraham.
vv 30-31 If we read the story of Hagar and Sarah allegorically, then we can understand that Ishmael/Old Covenant must be discarded/sent away in order that the greater New Covenant/Isaac may become the main character of the story.

Translation Notes

none

The Holy Gospel

John 6:1-15

v 1 Jesus performs this miracle on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, near modern-day Tabgha
v 2 the crowd is following Jesus, not because of their desire to hear Him, but because He had proven Himself capable of healing the sick - they wanted an earthly god who could give them earthly goods
vv 3-4 we should note two things 1) mountains are commonly used in scripture to signify heaven and earth colliding and 2) the Passover is at hand when the lamb is slaughtered and a meal in remembrance of the Exodus is held.
vv 5-8 Jesus asks the question to test Philip and demonstrates that there is some heavenly intervention needed to feed the great crowd. Philip's response underscores the enormity of the task and the perceived impossibility of meeting the crowd's needs. So too, Andrew's mention of the barley loaves and fish shows that no earthly food can provide sustenance.
vv 9-10 There is a liturgical flare to this. There is order amidst the chaos in which the crowds stop "crowding" and sit down on grass. Jesus takes the bread, gives thanks, and distributes it to all.
vv 11-12 a clear reminder that there was more food than was necessary. This is a miracle, not (as some argue) a lesson about how to share.
vv 13-15 The crowd concludes that Jesus must be the Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15-19). The crowd likely believes that Jesus (like Moses) was going to be a political leader who spoke against oppression and led His people to a new promised land. Jesus retreats to solitude so that the crowds will not "make him a king by force." The concluding verses of John 6 include Jesus giving a theological explanation of the miraculous feeding, the manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16) and the need to "eat His flesh and drink His blood."

Translation Notes

v 9 "fish" Greek: hopsaria. John makes it clear that these are prepared fish, dried and salted and ready to eat. Outside of John 6, the only time this word occurs in the New Testament is when Jesus prepares fish for the disciples after He rose from the dead (John 21:9-13).
v 11 "had given thanks" Greek: eucharistesas. The same root word as "eucharist" a common name for the Lord's Supper.

Poetry Used in the Liturgy of Laetare

Isaiah 66 The introit gives us the name for this Sunday: Rejoice. Though we only sing a small portion of this chapter, its greater context includes verse 7 "Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she delivered a son." This anticipation is perfect for the dwindling weeks of Lent in which we turn our attention to our Lord's Cross and His "birth" from Jerusalem for the sins of the world.

Psalm 122- "I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord!" Indeed, as we begin our worship with a word of "rejoicing" we also confess that we are glad to be in the presence of God.

Psalm 132- In this Psalm, we are told of David's promise to find a dwelling place for God. The Temple would be built after David's death, but God's ultimate dwelling on earth would be from the line of David when Christ Jesus came to earth.

Psalm 125- This is another song that confesses that the Lord is both protector and peace-giver to the righteous, and a terror to those who do evil.

Jesus, Priceless Treasure by Johann Franck

O Lord, We Praise Thee by Martin Luther

Artwork: Chasuble with the Gathering of the Manna after a print by Hieronymus Wierix. Netherlandish, 1570. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Laetare

An Overview

The Old Testament

The Epistle

The Holy Gospel

Poetry Used in the Liturgy of Laetare

Further Reading & Listening