In [today's readings] we encounter Moses pleading on behalf of those we might name "defectors" and Jesus reminding some of the Jewish folk that it is the Father and Old Testament prophets who give witness to him. They, the Jewish crowd, refuse to accept Jesus primarily because he speaks of the Father in ways that challenge their lives. Had he come as a salesman for his own ideologies and beliefs, like many others, he would have been accepted by them.During the closing weeks of Lent, the Old Testament readings will offer stories in which it is clear to us that the events or words of the prophets are early alerts to the Messiah that was to come, that would be fulfilled in the life of Jesus.
All the stories or warnings are models of the same reality: our salvation is being given to us by the Father. So.... don't write off the early alerts given to us in the Old Testament. There are over 300 Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament, perhaps the most amazing being Daniel 9:24-27, which actually predicted the time of the Messiah to that of the time of Jesus! And, as one biblical scholar has said, read the OT with ease and you can easily find yourself entertained!
