RBWords

     The Gospel According to John has a very basic challenge: Is Jesus the one whom God has sent?  In Jesus' own time that would have been THE question in his regard since the Jewish community believed in the God of the Old Testament and there were various strands of expectation in regard to a messiah. The question asked by John the Baptist expressed it: "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we wait for another?" [Matthew 11:3]  In our time, that question would beg a prior fundamental one:  Do you believe in a God who would send Jesus as a messiah?

     Atheism of the kind we experience in our secular world would have been virtually unknown in the world of Jesus.  The Greco-Roman and Middle Eastern cultures swarmed with religious beliefs of all kinds.  St. Paul encountered this when he visited Athens and saw all the various temples including one with an "altar to an unknown god!" [Acts 17:16, 22-23]  More common than outright atheism is a kind of agnosticism or indifference which avoids the whole question of religious faith.  There's an old joke about the prayer of an agnostic: "Dear God [if there is a God], save my soul [if I have a soul]!

     In today's gospel passage, Jesus reminds us that he was sent by someone to whom he is united in a profound way.  Our later trinitarian theological understanding would not have been a part of this at the time of the gospel's composition.  But that understanding is implied here because Jesus says very simply, "There's more to me than what you see!"  Our very rich Catholic theological tapestry is founded on that!  How many of us go beyond the appearances?  AMEN