Word to the Wise
Wednesday, April 30, 2025 - 2nd Week of Easter - Wed
[Acts 5:17-26 and John 3:16-21]"God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him." [John]
APRIL 30 [St. Pius V, o.p.]
These words have appeared in citation form, JOHN 3:16, at many athletic events in the form of banners in bleachers. They represent a kind of "leit-motif" or theme of the entire Gospel According to John. The evangelist, over and over, preaches that Jesus is the one whom God has sent. Today's words appear early in the gospel in the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus. Other themes will appear in this encounter as we shall see. But the theme of "encounter" is a very strong one. It begins with Andrew, Philip, Peter, Nathaniel and other disciples [John 1:35-51]. The list of vivid encounters, accompanied by "signs" continually places Jesus before us as the One whom God has sent. He is God's love personified and was not sent to condemn but to offer eternal life. Nicodemus, the crippled beggar, the Samaritan woman, the royal official, and the man born blind are a great cast of characters in a much larger drama.
But what about our own life's story or "drama?" How have we "encountered" Jesus as the one whom God has sent? Pope Benedict XVI, in the encyclical he co-authored with Pope Francis [Lumen fidei], wrote that a Christian vocation is the result of an encounter with a love greater than any other. Although there is much about "testimony" and adversarial language in this gospel, they are part of the experience of encounter in which we are brought to take a long look at what we truly believe. As the Gospel According to John unfolds in the days ahead, the words of Jesus will represent a continual encounter and challenge. Is it one of love or is it one of condemnation? AMEN