Daily Lectionary | Exodus 32 & Luke 1:26-38

Exodus 32

Summary

Israel grows impatient as Moses lingers on the mountain and they ask Aaron to make gods for them. Aaron constructs a golden calf with contributions of gold from the people, builds an altar, offers sacrifices. In the first and second commandment. Israel was to have no other gods before Yaweh and not make any image to worship him, but they flagrantly violate these commandments.

Wrath features prominently in this passage. The Lord is angry with the people and intends to “consume them” and start over with Moses (Ex. 32:10). But Moses pleads with the Lord to remember his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Lord relents, but then Moses shows his wrath when he comes off the mountain and casts down the two tablets and breaks them, a symbol of Israel breaking the covenant with the Lord. 

Moses calls for the people to pick sides. The sons of Levi come to Moses and he instructs them to take up swords and go through the camp and kill. The penalty for violating the second commandment results in the death penalty for those who chose the golden calf worship over the worship of the true God. The severity of this scene cannot be softened; idolatry is a life and death matter. 

Moses takes the golden calf, burns it into powder, scatters it in water, and makes the people drink it. In Numbers 5:11-31, the test for jealousy in the case of adultery involves a similar pattern. A suspected adulterous woman is brought before the priest, who then puts dust in a water and makes the woman drink it. If she has committed adultery, then her womb swells with a curse.

Israel is an adulterous woman in Exodus 32 and made to drink the bitter water of the jealousy test. 

Reflection

Consider all the ways Israel breaks the covenant in this passage. 

Luke 1:26-38

Summary 

Gabriel announces the coming birth of Jesus to Mary: “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” The virginal conception of Jesus comes about by the Holy Spirit visiting her and the power of God overshadowing her. Mary’s body is like a Temple: the Spirit of the Lord fills her womb just as the Spirit fills the Temple with the glory of God. 

Mary is a temple of the Holy Spirit. And just like the Holy Spirit hovered over the primeval waters and brought about creation, so the Spirit will hover over Mary’s womb, bringing about a New Creation. Her womb is the womb of a new world. 

Mary yields to the Lord: “let it be to me according to your word.” 

Reflection

Why is the virginal conception an essential belief for Christians?