Thursday, April 11, 2002
2nd Week of Easter
1st Reading: Acts 5:27-33
Gospel: Jn 3:31-36
Jesus
said to Nicodemus, "He who comes from above is above all; he who
comes from the earth belongs to the earth and his words, too, are earthly.
The One who comes from heaven speaks of the things he has seen and heard;
he bears witness to this but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever does
receive his testimony acknowledges the truthfulness of God.
The one sent by God speaks God's words and gives the Spirit without measure. For the Father loves the Son and has entrusted everything into his hands. Whoever believes in the Son lives with eternal life, but he who will not believe in the Son will never know life and always faces the justice of God."
Commentary
During our Lenten journey, we contemplated and celebrated the saving actions of Jesus. Now in the Easter Season, John presents the teaching of Jesus to deepen our awareness of the meaning of his actions. John urges us to listen to Jesus, sent and beloved by God, speaking God's words and giving the Spirit without measure. Faith in Christ puts life on a new level, with eternal horizons. The reading from Acts gives a graphic example of what the gospel presents in abstract terms: the believing Christians are contrasted with the High Priest and Council, angry and wanting to kill them. John's message to his people is a sobering one: choose: belief or unbelief. There's nothing in between. Christ can be dismissed and the life he has to offer can be left aside, like a blind person who lives in the dark and never knows the joy of light.