Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Reflecting on today’s gospel reading (John 8: 51-59), I realize that we have the post-resurrection perspective on it. Jesus is accused of being possessed or insane and his life is at risk because what he is saying not only doesn’t make sense, it’s considered blasphemous too. I think about whether or not I would have believed this man, Jesus, if I had heard him saying what he was saying then. Of course, we understand that Jesus was referring to a spiritual death, not a physical death when he said “Whoever keeps my word will never see death.” But it also means eternal life and the eventual resurrection of the body. This past Sunday we heard the gospel reading about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, and next week we will be celebrating Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. And his is a bodily resurrection, not just a spiritual resurrection.
So, I don’t know if I would have believed what Jesus was saying, especially if I saw it as threatening my religious beliefs that I was firmly rooted in, which leads me to wonder now: are there truths that I am closed to because I am too rigid in my beliefs, so that there is no room for the Holy Spirit to speak something new? If our views/perspective on things haven’t changed at all in the past five, ten, twenty or even forty years, maybe we haven’t allowed ourselves to grow and mature in our faith. There have been times in my relationships that I’ve been so convinced that I’m right that I just can’t see the truth. Is it true of my relationship with God as well?
Today’s first reading brings us all the way back to the book of Genesis (17: 3-9), back to the beginning of the covenant between God and Abraham and his descendants. Later, with the coming of Jesus, we have the new covenant. In each case, the covenant is initiated by God who wants to lead people to a better way of life. But the people (we) must respond to God’s offer of covenant. We have a part to play in responding to God’s offer to enter into a more intimate relationship with us. Through Jesus, God draws even closer to us by becoming flesh among us and breaking the chains of sin and death. What is our response?
Sometimes the Word appears in ways we aren’t anticipating. Could the truth be right before our eyes, but we don’t see it? Are there areas of my life where I am so convinced that I am right that I am deaf to God’s word, God’s voice? Jesus’ relationship with God, whom he called Father, was so close that Jesus was able to accept the truth as it was revealed to him and live it out even in the face of insults, threats, and eventually death. We have to stay close in our relationship with God in order to see, hear, and accept the truth.
As we approach Holy Week, let us stay close to the Word, pray that we can be open to the truth, and know the strength that comes from living that truth in Jesus. What does God want to reveal to us? May we look and listen with our hearts.
-Eileen Miller