From Mount Hor they set out on the Red Sea road, to by-pass the land of Edom. But with their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!"
In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people,
and the LORD said to Moses, "Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover."
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 recovered.
Psalms 102(101),2-3.16-18.19-21.
LORD, hear my prayer; let my cry come to you.
Do not hide your face from me now that I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly.
The nations shall revere your name, LORD, all the kings of the earth, your glory,
Once the LORD has rebuilt Zion and appeared in glory,
Heeding the plea of the lowly, not scorning their prayer.
Let this be written for the next generation, for a people not yet born, that they may praise the LORD:
"The LORD looked down from the holy heights, viewed the earth from heaven,
To attend to the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die."
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 8,21-30.
He said to them again, "I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come."
So the Jews said, "He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?"
He said to them, "You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world.
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins."
So they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world."
They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
So Jesus said (to them), "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him."
Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.
THE FATHER'S MOUTHPIECE
"I say only what the Father has taught Me." –John 8:28
Jesus only said what the Father taught Him (Jn 8:28). Jesus spent a lot of time being taught by His Father. He arose early to listen to His Father (Mk 1:35), stayed up very late to be with Him (Lk 6:12), and spent forty days in the desert to hear His Father's plans for His public ministry (Mt 4:1ff). Jesus only told us what He heard from His Father (Jn 8:26). In fact, Jesus mentioned that the Father "has commanded Me what to say and how to speak" (Jn 12:49).
As disciples of Jesus Christ, we imitate Him in all that He does. Because Jesus spent much time listening to the Father, so do we. The Father will teach us what to say (Jn 8:28). Rooted in Jesus, we will hear every word God speaks (Jn 8:47). The Father assures us, as He assured Moses: "It is I Who will assist you in speaking and will teach you what you are to say" (Ex 4:12). The Father promises: "I place My words in your mouth" (Jer 1:9).
God often speaks in a quiet voice (1 Kgs 19:12ff). We live in a world where too many voices drown out the voice of God. Turn off or throw out the TV. Turn off the radio. Get up early, stay up late, and do whatever it takes to listen attentively to the Father. Live "on every utterance that comes from the mouth of God" (Mt 4:4). Listen to the Father. Speak His words.
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