Word to the Wise
Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - 3rd Week of Easter - Wed
[Acts 8:1b-8 and John 6:35-40,901]Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.
The Johannine "tapestry" continues to unfold before us in the "Bread of Life" discourse. God sent manna in the desert to save the people from actual starvation. God sends Jesus from heaven as food for eternal life. The "seeing is believing" theme is present, along with "above and below," and eternal life in the now with resurrection on the last day!
One of the most comforting aspects of this passage is the one that says, And this is the will of the one who sent me,that I should not lose anything of what he gave me....This determination that we are truly wanted by God and destined for eternal life if only we will accept and believe in the one he has sent echoes teaching in the other gospels about the shepherd that goes after the one lost sheep, or the line about coming to call not the righteous but sinners!
It is a sad pastoral experience to meet people who believe in God but also believe that God is out to "get" them in some terrible way. The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd or as the Bread of Life is lost in the overwhelming sense of sin and guilt. The other extreme which denies the reality of sin is equally sad in its illusion. We need to remember that Jesus was "sent" to save us from those sins. It is our faith that should help us to recognize the great love which takes on our human state to enable us to accept our sinfulness and at the same time accept the life that the Bread of Life has to offer! How this may work out is still ahead of us in this discourse! AMEN