Word to the Wise
Wednesday, March 14, 2018 - 4th Week of Lent - Wed
[Isa 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. Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live." [John]
The Gospel According to John is a fascinating and frustrating document to study and understand. At times it is like examining a fascinating painting up close and standing back. Up close, we can see the techniques which tell us how the artist was able to compose the larger image, but unless we really know the techniques, most of us will be satisfied to stand back and view the overall image. But some knowledge of these techniques is necessary. Today's gospel scripture is a sample of Johannine "technique" or "dramatic devices."
Jesus has just healed the crippled beggar. This action triggers opposition because Jesus "worked" on the sabbath. Jesus responds with a discourse on what is meant by his Father's "work" and his own "work" as the one whom the Father has sent. So, here we have a characteristic tool of the evangelist John: the dramatic device of encounter/action, followed by a discourse that seems to reflect on it.
Included in today's "discourse" is an important "theme;" those who believe in Jesus ALREADY possess eternal life. It is not only something beyond the event of physical death. Death is used in two different senses here because Jesus refers to the dead hearing his voice and rising to life right after saying those who believe in him already have passed from death to life. Confusing? Scripture scholars think the evangelist is including two different strands of thought that existed in the community he was writing for.
Fundamental to all of this, of course, is belief in Jesus as the one whom God has sent. Everything in the Gospel According to John seems oriented to that one point. (Just go back and read the Prologue.) Keeping that in mind will enable us to read everything else in this gospel with a reasonable understanding of the work of art! AMEN