SCRIPTURE READINGS TODAY, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2014 Scripture today: Isaiah 49:8-15; Psalm 144; John 5:17-30 Jesus said to them, “My Father is always working and I, too, am working.” For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; for not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God. Jesus gave them Shroud of Turinthis answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. Moreover, the Father judges no-one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him. I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out— those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just for I seek not my own will but the will of the one who sent me.” (John 5:17-30) REFLECTION ON RELIABLE WITNESS There are two obvious things about Jesus Christ that are intimately linked with one another, and which when linked, have very important implications. The first thing is that Jesus Christ is universally admired for his moral stature, and the second thing is that he made unparalleled claims as to his own person. Of course, the Christian accepts Jesus Christ as the moral exemplar for mankind without peer. The greatest Christian saints have regarded themselves as nothing before him, and have sought Fr. Ted Tylerwith all their hearts to benefit from a share in his spirit — which is the Spirit of God. But the world at large also accepts, to say the least, the high holiness of Jesus of Nazareth. Islam counts him to be a great prophet — not as great as Mahomet, but great nevertheless. They would view it as absurd to deem him less than this. The Buddhist speaks reverently of Christ — I recall that on one occasion the Dalai Lama spoke of Jesus as an instance of the Buddha in history. This was high praise for him, from the perspective of the Dalai Lama. He would never dream of denigrating Christ’s moral stature. Hinduism looks upon Christ with respect — many Hindus admire Jesus as a great teacher, saint and even a god, that is, as one of many gods. Gandhi admired Jesus Christ while criticizing Christians for not living his moral teaching. Gandhi seems to have been of the opinion that the Church distorted Christianity when it became the religion of the Emperor and the Empire. Of course, he did not allow that Jesus Christ was the only-begotten Son of God, nor that Christ is the only name by which men can be saved, and the only way to the Father. But he fully accepted Christ’s high virtue and the excellence of his moral teaching. There is even what is called Christian atheism — an ideology in which the God of Christianity is rejected but the moral teachings of Jesus are followed. Such persons think of Jesus as a wise and good man, and accept his moral teachings while rejecting the idea of his divinity. Christian atheists look to Jesus as an example of what a Christian should be, but of course they do not see him as God. All these variants allow for his moral greatness. Much could be said about all this, but there is a simple question to be asked. If Jesus Christ was a great Saint in mankind’s history, what is to be made of his extraordinary claims, if they are deemed to be untrue? That they are extraordinary is as plain as the day, and our Gospel passage today illustrates this. He refused to conform to the Pharisaical notions of the Sabbath rest, saying that “My Father is always working, and so do I.” The implication was clear to the leaders of the Jews: Christ was calling God his own natural father. He therefore shared the life and nature of God himself. He was divine. Our Lord goes on to declare that whatever the Father does, the Son — himself, that is — does too. The Father shows him, the Son, all that he does. Just as the Father gives life to the dead, so the Son gives life to whomsoever he pleases. God is man’s judge, but all judgment has been entrusted to him, the Son. The Scriptures taught that life comes to the one who hears the word of God and obeys it. Christ claims here that “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:17-30). He, Jesus, has life in himself and he has full authority to judge mankind. All these are divine claims, and the Jewish authorities had the perception to be very alive to them. The Gospel of St John is replete with them. Gandhi did not accept them, nor does Islam, nor does Hinduism, nor does the modern Western secularist, let alone the atheist. So, was Jesus Christ deluded, a little mad, or was he a deceiver? Those leaders of the Jews who implacably opposed our Lord (and not all the leaders did — Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were disciples) considered him a deceiver. They certainly did not think him deluded or mad — his intellectual apparatus was so superior to anything on their side that they finally were reduced to silence before him. We read that a point was reached when they did not ask him any more questions. Our Lord was left the winner of all debates. It does not look as if any case could possibly be made for Christ being deluded or mad. Of course, one could assert that the Church and the New Testament completely distorted the historical Jesus. But this is a gratuitous claim, without any evidence. If then his exalted claims are untrue, he was a deceiver. If it were the case, his moral status is in ruins — and this is something nobody thinks. What I am saying is that the sanctity of our Lord’s character is itself a very important ground for assent to his claims. His claims are unique and exclusive. Can anyone of you convict me of sin? he asked his enemies. He who sees me sees the Father, he told his disciples. No one comes to the Father but through me. I am the Light of the world — apart from me, you are in the darkness. Why should we believe such extraordinary assertions? We should believe them mainly because the one who uttered them is so perfect and hence so credible. The one who comes to know Jesus Christ sees that it is incredible that he would deceive, and absurd to claim that he was demented. The all-holy Christ is absolutely worthy of the world’s belief. (E.J.Tyler)
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 15:30:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015