RBWords

     I have, on occasion, offered my view of the gospels as a form of preaching.  Each gospel has its own style.  Three of them [Mark, Matthew and Luke] seem to be working from some of the same traditions with some individual materials added [Matthew and Luke].  The Gospel of John appears to have been written with a different set of traditions for the most part and has a unique "style."  Today's gospel scripture offers us one of the elements of that "style."  When Jesus "works" one of his signs, the event serves as a kind of platform for a discourse or dialogue that follows.  The whole point of a "sign" in this gospel is to reveal something about Jesus.  The discourse in today's gospel scripture takes its theme from the question raised about healing the beggar at Bethesda (yesterday's gospel).  Jesus was accused of "working" on the Sabbath.  He uses the idea of "working" to explain his relationship to his Father.  The evangelist points out above that Jesus' claim to be God's Son was part of the motivation of his enemies for killing him. 

 

     The discourse may seem tangled and abstract to us but I recommend reading it as a kind of "circling of the subject" so that we are given many different glimpses of the relationship from different angles.  This relationship with the Father is what Jesus is offering to us!  Note carefully the statement that begins: "Amen, amen, I say to you."  This is a indicator in the Gospel of John that something very important is about to be said.  "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."  Note the verb, "HAS!"  The very life of God is offered to us through faith.  This is not only something beyond the grave!  It is a present participation in the very life of God.  Eastern Catholic tradition calls this "divinization."  We don't become God but we do share in the life that His Son has come to offer us.  This is the "work" that Christ does.  Are we willing to focus our faith in such a way as to accept what he is offering?  AMEN