Word to the Wise
Thursday, May 4, 2023 - 4th Week of Easter - Thurs
[Acts 13:13-25 and John 13:16-20]From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I AM. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me." [John]
One of the continuing themes in the Gospel According to John is Jesus' use of I AM statements. They appear seven times. They echo the voice from the burning bush [Exodus 3:14] when God tells Moses the name by which God is to be known to the Israelites. The expression would seem otherwise grammatically odd in the sentence from today's passage or in the words from John 8:58: "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM." We are familiar with the other "I AM" statements like "I am the bread of life; the good shepherd; the way, the truth and the life; the resurrection and the life, etc." All of these point to the identity of Jesus as the one whom God has sent. "Whoever receives me receives the one who sent me."
Scripture scholars tell us that the tone and content of the Gospel According to John was shaped to a considerable degree by conflicts between those Jews who accepted Jesus and those who did not. Those who did were being expelled from their synagogues. [cf. John 9:22]. Jesus is portrayed as being greater than Abraham and Moses, something that was difficult for many pious Jews to accept. How could a carpenter from Nazareth make that claim. [cf. John 1:46]. It seemed like blasphemy. [cf. John 10:33].
In this liturgical season of Easter, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus come together in an intense way to focus our attention on Jesus as the one whom God has sent. Perhaps we do not think that idea is blasphemous, but what DO we think it means? And do we accept his teaching? How do we "receive" him? AMEN