What can we learn from the Scripture readings on the last day of the fourth week of Paschaltide?
Today’s Scripture Readings (Acts 13:44-52; John
14:7-14) can teach us that we must fully believe that all the words and works,
including the seven signs, of Jesus make him right and just as the Son of God
the Father, because of his hypostatic homoousios union with the Father (John
10:10, 38; 14:10-11; 17:21). And this is the absolutely necessary condition to
serve him as his apostles, like Paul and Barnabas, being filled with the Holy
Spirit and joy in doing works of Jesus to a greater extent (John 14:20).
In response to Jesus’s saying, “Where I am going, you know the way”(John 14:4), Thomas said to
Jesus, “Master, we do not know where you
are going; how can we know the way?”(John 14:5). And Jesus responded, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me”(John 14:6).
Jesus further said:
If
you know me, then, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know Him
and have seen Him (John 14:7).
Then Philip said to Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us (John
14:8)
Jesus had already shown the Father to his disciples
by physically being with them for about 3 years as he and the Father are one
(John 10:30). It means the Father is always in him while he is always in Him
(John 10:38). So, Jesus had to remind the disciples what he meant by the
oneness of the Father and him for Him living in him, him living in Him.
Thus said Jesus:
Whoever
has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9).
Following Jesus and his way, as he the Good Shepherd
leads on, is the way to the Father, who sent him. Seeing Jesus means seeing the
Father. And, the very reason for this Christological truth of Jesus was already
said in John 10:38 to explain the oneness the Father and him (John 10:30) but
had to be reiterated by Jesus in these words because of the disciples’
inability to believe this truth:
Do
you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
(John 14:10a)
And Jesus went on to explain how this Christological
truth of Jesus in connection with the Father had affected Jesus:
The
words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me
is doing His works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves
(John 14:10b-11).
Here, Jesus is really emphasizing his Trinitarian
homoousios, which means the same essence or substance, with the Father, as well
as, with the Holy Spirit. Through this homoousios, Jesus is in the hypostatic
union with the Father – being one with the Father (John 10:30), by having the
Father living in him, he in Him (John 10:38). And, he reiterated this
Christological truth of him with the Trinitarian implication in John 14:10-11
(and again in John 17:21 in expressing his desire upon his departure in his
prayer). And, this hypostatic union with
the Father is what makes Jesus who he is and gives meaning to his words and his
works.
And Jesus further addressed how his consubstantial
union with the Father, characterized with being in one another gives meaning,
not only to his ministry but also his relationship with the disciples with a
clear implication to his desire to send them as his apostles to continue his
work beyond his departure, even on a greater scale:
Amen,
amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and
will do greater ones than these because I am going to the Father. And whoever
you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it
(John 14:12-14).
As Jesus was so aware of the hour – the coming of
the fullness of time – to go through the three-fold glorification: his death on
the Cross, his resurrection from the dead, and his ascension to the Father in
heaven, Jesus wanted to make sure that his disciples were fit to carry on his
works, for which the Father sent him to them and for which they had followed
him during the past three years. This way, he can work on the place for them
(and us) in the house of the Father in heaven (John 12:2-4) and the Father is
glorified in him (John 14:13).
This implication, indeed, points to Pentecost, as
Jesus assured of his continuing companionship by introducing another Parakletos as the Holy Spirit, the
Spirit of the truth, to be sent upon them after his departure (John 14:16, 2;
16:7). Thus, his departure is his physical departure. Jesus remains with them
in spirit always (Matthew 28:20), so that they can carry on with work of Jesus
in all nations (Matthew 28:19).
But, for the disciples to be ready for Jesus’
departure for the Father in heaven, for the place for them (and us) in the
house of the Father, they (we) must really believe this Christological truth of
the hypostatic union between the Father and Jesus, the Son, and how it makes
sense with all the works and words of Jesus throughout his public ministry.
Had the disciples really paid attention and
registered the words of Jesus earlier in his public ministry, which they had
witnessed directly, neither Thomas nor Philip would not have asked such
questions on the night before his death.
Remember, when the persecution of Jesus began as a result of the Pharisees’ inability to recognize this Christological truth in him, upon performing the third sign, healing a paralytic man in Jerusalem? At first, Jesus was accused for working on sabbath. And he explained why it was not in violation with the sabbath law:
My
Father is at work until now, so I am t work (John 5:17).
Amen,
amen, I say to you, a son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees
his Father doing; for what He does, His son will do also. For the Father loves
His Son and shows him everything that He himself does, and He will show him
greater works than these, so that you may be amazed. For just as the Father
raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he
wishes. Nor does the Father judge anyone, but He has given all judgement to His
Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does
not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Amen, amen, I say to
you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life
and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life. Amen,
amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear
the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, so
also he gave to His Son the possession of life in himself. And He gave him
power to exercise judgement, because he is the Son of Man
(John 5:19-27).
I
cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgement is just,
because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me. If I
testify on my own behalf, my testimony cannot be verified, But there is another
who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony He gives on my behalf
is true (John 5:31-32).
The
works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify
on my behalf that the Father has sent me,. Moreover, the Father who sent me has
testified on my behalf (John 5:36-37).
Philip and other disciples were with Jesus when he
powerfully spoke to his accusers – those who failed to see the Christological
troth in him through the third sign that he just performed on the paralytic
man.
When Jesus said to Philip, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me,
Philip?” (John 14:9), it was like Jesus telling these words to the
Pharisees, who accused him of “blasphemy” for interpreting the above
Christological justification of his work on Sabbath as “equating him to the
Father”(John 5:18):
I
came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes
in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe, when you accept
praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only
God?
(John 5:43-44).
The hypostatic union – the consubstantial union –
between the Father and Jesus, the Son and its meaning in Jesus public ministry
in words and works are further addressed in his Living Bread of Life Discourse
(John 6:29-59), in his argument with his accusers in Jerusalem (John 7:16-19,
28-29,33-34; 8:14-18,19,21, 23-24, 25-26, 27-29; 34-38, 39-41, 42-47, 49-51,
54-56, 58; 9:3). Then, Jesus further implicated this truth in his Good Shepherd
Discourse and his argument with those whose who still refused to believe (John
10:1-18, 25-30, 34-38). Also, this gave meaning to the seventh sign that Jesus
performed in raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:4, 25-26, 40, 41-42). And
all of these further aggravated the persecution of Jesus by his accusers, as
their desire to have Jesus killed was reaching to the boiling point.
Nevertheless, Jesus continued to address this Christological truth so that even
some of his accusers, who were ignorant of the truth, may wake up and open
their eyes to believe (John 12:23-28, 30-32, 35-36, 44-50).
See, Philip, Thomas, and all other disciples had
been with Jesus, when he performed all seven signs and spoke these words before
the night before his death. Yet, the meaning of all of these did not registered
in their hearts.
What about you?
You faithfully attend Mass and listen to the Word as
delivered and explained by a priest in his homily and tasting the Living Bread
of Life as the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Do you understand what all of
these mean and how it stems from this hypostatic union of Jesus with the
Father?
If not, how can you be sent when the Holy Spirit
comes on Pentecost? If you were like Philip in today’s Gospel Reading and
Thomas in yesterday’s Gospel Reading, then, you would be not qualified to be
sent.
In fact, as the way the truth and life (John 14:6),
Jesus is leading us to be sent on our respective missions, before we come to
the Father. And before us, we see the apostles, like Paul. So, we continue to
read from the description of his first mission (Acts 13-4-14:28) for First
Readings.
In today’s First Reading (Acts 13:44-52), we see how
Jews reacted to Paul’s powerful sermon on Jesus with extensive Old Testament
background (Acts 13:13-41), most of which we have read and reflected in the
last two days (vv. 13-33), and Paul and Barnabas for their speech on Jesus to
the Gentiles (Acts 13:42-48).
In Paul’s sermon in the synagogue and in the words
of Paul and Barnabas, the Jews must have felt being put down in favor of the
Gentiles for they were reminded of their rejection of Jesus. Rather than
acknowledging their ignorance, which contributed to their rejection of Jesus
and convert and accept and believe in him, the Jews became jealous and became
hostile to Paul (Acts 13:45) and eventually both Paul and Barnabas as they
stirred up persecution against them and kicked them out of the region of
Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13:50). Nevertheless, the words of the Lord spread
through the whole region as the Gentiles were so delighted to hear about Jesus
through Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:48-49), and this certainly made them filled
with joy, which is one aspect of the multifaceted fruit of the Holy Spirit
(Galatians 5:22-23), thus, being full of the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:52).
To be like Paul and Barnabas, filled with joy and
the Holy Spirit on mission to speak powerfully on Jesus (Acts 13:52), we first
need to believe that all the words and works, including the signs, of Jesus,
make sense and have meaning to give life because of his hypostatic homoousis
with the Father, as learned from the above Gospel narrative reflection. With
this belief, we can do works of Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit and joy, as
Paul and Barnabas did.
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