Continuing with the theme of memory, we find the Israelites complaining to Moses about being brought out of Egypt to the desert that has nothing but “wretched food.” It seems the memory of the past, even if it meant slavery, seemed more appealing to them than this new life. Sometimes it can be this way for us. We can easily idealize the past because of the comfort that familiarity brings. The vast wilderness of newness and the unknown can so often be daunting.
In today’s gospel, Jesus dialogues with the Pharisees, who cannot grasp who Jesus is because of their inability to get out of the territory of what they think they know about God. Despite their unbelief, Jesus does not cease to engage them, leaving them with words which would stay in their memory, making sense in the future: “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM.”
The present tense “I AM” associated with Christ being lifted on the Cross is rich with significance. The Cross is the ultimate expression of the lengths of God’s love for us. Though it happened at one moment in our time, the love that flows from it is eternal, it is now. Blessed are we if we can see it. Blessed are we if we remember it.