What is Aaron's real problem? Aaron has been left to judge between the
people on behalf of God but he has a fear of man rather than a fear of God in
spite of what he has recently seen and heard.
The people tell him what to do, "Up, make us gods who shall go
before us." They just got the Ten
Commandments, they all heard it, that is the claim that sets Israel apart, the
entire nation heard the voice of God and gave the commandments, and yet they
are breaking the first two right now, other gods and images. Once those are broken, there is no restraint
on the rest, they have rejected God, the God of whom they were so frightened
they deputized Moses to go hear the rest of the Law. Now they say, "As for this Moses, the
man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become
of him.” Who brought them up out of the
land of Egypt? The commandments begin
with the words, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land
of Egypt…" Aaron needed to remind
them of the truth, he failed at the most basic level imaginable for a
leader. He failed to represent God
before the people even while Moses was pleading and representing the people
before the God who now seemed prepared to kill them. Moses, in spite of the difficulties these
people had caused him, pleaded their case.
Just as Jesus does for us.
In the episode of the golden calf in the first reading we
see a people who are called out to be a holy nation, a royal priesthood, an
alternative community in the midst of the world, returning to the worship the
world chooses. They haven't even been
creative in their choice of gods, calves were common symbols for surrounding
nations. Jesus, in the sermon on the
mount, is saying that our values aren't to be the same as the world's
values. We are to see the world as it
truly is, a world gone wrong. This causes
us to mourn over what might have been, what should be? It causes us to crave righteousness, the
right way of being, consonant with its creators will. It causes us then to live differently,
extending mercy, not seeking revenge, peace not war, purity not defilement in
our hearts, and a willingness to be persecuted because we are different. The result?
A holy people, a royal priesthood.
The result for Him to a commitment to live this out, crucifixion.
It wasn't common for husbands to love their wives or for
parents to not provoke their children in Paul's time. Husbands need not love their wives, they were
servants in the house in many ways, marriage wasn't necessarily a love
issue. Parents were overlords of their
children. Christianity reformed the family
relationships of pagans. It didn't stop
there, however, it reformed and reframed all relationships, made brothers and
sisters of men and women who were formerly defined by social status,
nationalities and religions. It restored
the idea of the brotherhood of man, we
are all created in the image of God.
That should mean we have great dignity and respect for one another and
for the one in whose image we are created.
The cross flattens social distinctions and should cause us to bow in
shame as those who formerly worshipped idols.
It should make us a holy people, a royal priesthood. Does it?
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