Word to the Wise
Saturday, May 11, 2013 - 6th Week of Easter - Sat
[Acts 18:23-28 and John 16:23b-28,370]For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.
At the center of the Gospel of John is the question of belief in Jesus. All the contrasts of light and darkness, above and below, shepherd and thief, fruitful and non-fruitful branches of the vine - these are all directed at belief or non-belief. One may go back to the "Prologue" for a summary of the whole gospel and find these contrasts.
The gospel for today still finds us at the Last Supper where Jesus is instructing the disciples about his mission and theirs after he is gone! He states that the disciples have reached the goal of his mission: they love him and believe that he has come from God. This applies not only to those at the Last Supper but to any disciple living at the time the gospel was composed and to all of us living now. Jesus still must undergo his death and resurrection, which will test their love for him, but other than Judas, they will ultimately stand firm once they receive the promised Holy Spirit. [They will remain weak till then as shown in Peter's denial and their flight from the Garden of Gethsemani!] He tells them all of this so that they will "remember" when it happens. This will include his "return" to the Father.
Our preaching of the gospel is a remembrance of Jesus and a recognition of his presence in our midst through the Holy Spirit. Our goal is to love him and believe that he came from God. I think that if we read the Gospel of John with that in mind, it shines forth in all its glory! AMEN