Word to the Wise
Wednesday, March 9, 2016 - 4th Week of Lent - Wed
[Isa 49:8-15 and John 5:17-30]WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2016 WEDNESDAY IN THE FOURTH WEEK OF LENT [Isaiah 49:8-15 and John 5:17-30] "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life." [John] The crippled beggar in yesterday's gospel scripture was criticized for picking up his mat and walking on the Sabbath. This was considered work. Jesus healed him on the Sabbath and that was considered work. This serves as the "platform" for the discourse that follows. One of the characteristic features of the Gospel of John is that Jesus' "signs" introduce Jesus' teaching. Another feature appears in today's discourse as well. When Jesus is about to say something very important, he introduces it with,"Amen, amen, I say to you..." The quotation above which comes from the discourse in today's gospel is an example of one of those important teachings. Jesus tells us that whoever hears his word and believes in the one who sent him HAS eternal life. Eternal life begins with faith in Jesus. This can be startling even to us 2,000 years later who think of eternal life as something that begins with our earthly death. But the connection between faith and life is firm and clear in the Gospel of John. This is how we do the works of God - we believe in the one whom he has sent. [John 6:28-29]. Faith can be something we take for granted. In the Gospel of John, we can experience the early preaching of the Church in which the line between believer and non-believer was creating a situation in which Christians were being expelled from the synagogues because of their faith in Christ. How can we accept such realities as the Eucharist or eternal life? It comes down to this simple but challenging question: "Do we believe that Jesus is the one whom God has sent?" AMEN
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