{"id":901657,"date":"2024-02-07T18:29:07","date_gmt":"2024-02-07T23:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/?post_type=bible_study&#038;p=301657"},"modified":"2026-06-23T18:28:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T22:28:42","slug":"bible-study-lent-4-b-march-10-2024","status":"publish","type":"bible_study","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/bible_study\/bible-study-lent-4-b-march-10-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Study: Lent 4 (B) \u2013 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/lectionary\/lent-4b\/\">RCL: Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/L4-2024-Bible-Study-Graphic-1024x536.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-301662\" style=\"width:512px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Numbers 21:4-9<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Book of Numbers recounts the 40-year-long journey of the ancient Israelites through the wilderness, toward the Promised Land. The way is fraught, and many challenges beset the people as they wander through the desert. Just before the events of today\u2019s text, the Israelites mourned the loss of Moses\u2019 brother, Aaron, and then participated in a successful (but presumably brutal) battle against the Canaanites at Hormah. The community we encounter in this story knows well the ravages of suffering, violence, and death. Therefore, the impatience of the Israelites should be understood sympathetically. When they cry out to God, \u201cWhy have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?\u201d the Israelites are not being melodramatic or fickle. These people are exhausted, traumatized, bereft, and afflicted. It is a very hard thing to follow God in the wilderness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Challengingly, God responds to the complaints of the people with even more affliction, sending deadly snakes into their midst. The people repent and beg for help. Per God\u2019s instruction, Moses fashions a bronze representation of one of the snakes and sets it on a pole. Whenever someone is bitten by a snake, they look at the bronze icon\u2014and live. Paradoxically, God saves the people from their affliction by inviting them to gaze on the very image of their affliction. The suggestion seems to be that a problem cannot be solved unless it is contemplated and accepted for what it is. Perhaps God is offering a hard but life-giving lesson to God\u2019s beloved people as they suffer in the wilderness: <em>There is no way around. The only way out is through.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>How might modern hearers of this story relate to the beleaguered plight of the Israelites? In what kind of wilderness are we wandering? On what bronze serpent do we need to gaze?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c[The LORD\u2019s] mercy endures for ever!\u201d the Psalmist cries out. It is worth spending some time reflecting on what is meant by the noun \u201cmercy.\u201d The Hebrew word is <em>chesed, <\/em>which indeed does mean \u201cmercy,\u201d but the word can also rightly be translated as \u201cgoodness,\u201d \u201clove,\u201d or \u201cloving-kindness.\u201d This is a fulsome concept. <em>Chesed <\/em>is more than pity, more than leniency. God\u2019s \u201cmercy\u201d runs far deeper than an indulgent tolerance for the sinful. Rather, the endless <em>chesed <\/em>of God is an orientation of love that grounds God\u2019s action to and for God\u2019s people.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSome were fools and took to rebellious ways; they were afflicted because of their sins,\u201d verse 17 reads. These same rebels cry out to God in their distress, and out of God\u2019s endless <em>chesed, <\/em>God responds to their pleas with healing, \u201csav[ing] them from the grave.\u201d Those who were afflicted are given new life; those who had rebelled are reaffirmed as \u201cchildren\u201d of the Lord. The last word must be a joyful one, for it is <em>chesed, <\/em>and not affliction, that endures forever.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lectionary invites us to consider Scriptural texts in relationship to each other. It is worth considering how the theology of this psalm might inform our reading of today\u2019s intense story from Numbers. Perhaps the complaining Israelites are an example of \u201cfools\u201d who take to \u201crebellious ways\u201d\u2014to such fools, the ever-loving, ever-merciful God responds with healing grace. In this light, the bronze serpent could be understood as an instantiation of God\u2019s <em>chesed<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What is the relationship between God\u2019s affliction and God\u2019s mercy? Do the two contradict each other? If God\u2019s mercy \u201cendures for ever,\u201d what are we to make of those moments when God seems to choose punishment over mercy? Does this psalm resolve this tension?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ephesians 2:1-10<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Themes of God\u2019s healing love\/mercy continue in today\u2019s reading from Paul\u2019s Letter to the Ephesians. The passage describes our transition from being trapped in sin to being resurrected through Christ Jesus. Implicit in this salvific transition is a shift in parentage<em>. <\/em>The letter reports that, when we were still trapped in the \u201cpassions of our flesh,\u201d under the power of the Enemy, we were \u201cchildren of wrath.\u201d But by the grace of God, we have come to be seated \u201cin the heavenly places <em>in <\/em>Christ Jesus\u201d; our salvation thus consists of entering into the life of the One who is God\u2019s Son and experiencing solidarity with his death and resurrection. In short, through Jesus, we go from being \u201cchildren of wrath\u201d to being children of God.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul (or the Pauline disciples who wrote Ephesians) is eager to remind his readers that this adoption into the Christ reality is not something we achieve ourselves: \u201cThis is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.\u201d God is the sole agent of salvation. God is the subject of almost all the active verbs in this passage. We, being saved, are relegated to a relatively passive role. We do good works only insofar as we are enabled to by God\u2014\u201cfor we are what he has made us\u201d; even the faith through which we are saved has its origin in God\u2019s prevenient gift. The simultaneous challenge and allure of this passage is that it seems to leave little room for human power or agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What particular \u201ctrespasses\u201d and \u201cpassions of our flesh\u201d afflict us in the world today? How do you see God saving us from them?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How can we reconcile this passage\u2019s emphasis on Divine agency with our own commitments to accountability and responsibility?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>John 3:14-21<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">John 3:16 is of course one of the most well-loved verses in the New Testament, and though it is often quoted on its own, it takes on deeper meaning when examined in its original context. This passage is part of Jesus\u2019 discourse with the Pharisee Nicodemus, who visits Jesus by night in order to learn from him. The aforementioned famous verse comes directly after Jesus references today\u2019s story from Numbers, comparing his body to the bronze serpent raised on a pole. The \u201clift[ing] up\u201d of Christ refers not to his resurrection, but to the cross; in the theological schema of John\u2019s Gospel, the cross is the locus of Christ\u2019s glorification and triumph. Jesus seems to be making the following theological connection: when the ancient Israelites were afflicted and killed in the wilderness, they found healing by gazing upon a serpent on a pole. <em>In the same way,<\/em> Jesus is saying,<em> those who are afflicted and facing death must gaze upon Christ\u2019s cross if they wish to find healing and life<\/em>. The phrase \u201cwhoever believes in him\u201d should be understood in the light of this gazing. If you want to believe in Christ, and thus experience his life, then (paradoxically) you should attend to the cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This discourse also seems to poke fun at the character Nicodemus. \u201cThose who do what is true come to the light,\u201d Jesus says\u2014but Nicodemus has come to Jesus in the darkness. Does he act falsely, then? Perhaps. And yet there is hope for Nicodemus, because even though he has acted in the darkness, he has encountered the light\u2014for as John 1:4 and 1:9 proclaim, in Jesus is the light that enlightens all people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What does it mean to \u201cbelieve\u201d in Jesus? How does this passage illuminate the nature of Christian \u201cbelief?\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How might readers relate to Nicodemus? Do we seek Christ in the \u201cdarkness\u201d or in the \u201clight?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Aidan Luke Stoddart <\/em><\/strong><em>is a seminarian at <strong>Berkeley Divinity School at Yale<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-abf773c7-0265-4281-8b62-1cd916201d29\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Lent-4-Bible-Study.docx\">Word \u2013 Lent 4 (B) Bible Study<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Lent-4-Bible-Study.docx\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-abf773c7-0265-4281-8b62-1cd916201d29\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-2f29ef19-0130-4c8a-8eb5-d2ed039f5f72\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Lent-4-Bible-Study.pdf\">PDF \u2013 Lent 4 (B) Bible Study<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Lent-4-Bible-Study.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-2f29ef19-0130-4c8a-8eb5-d2ed039f5f72\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RCL: Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21 Numbers 21:4-9 The Book of Numbers recounts the 40-year-long journey of the ancient Israelites through the wilderness, toward the Promised Land. The way is fraught, and many challenges beset the people as they wander through the desert. Just before the events of today\u2019s text, the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201221,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23,51,52,3],"tags":[307],"class_list":["post-901657","bible_study","type-bible_study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-studies","category-lent","category-sermons-that-work","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-lent-4b"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":23,"label":"Bible Studies"},{"value":51,"label":"Lent"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":307,"label":"Lent 4B"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/901657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bible_study"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/901657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":951907,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/901657\/revisions\/951907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}