Second Sunday of Easter
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- The
big breakthrough I had while meditating on today’s gospel is that we are
probably not meant to go around retaining sins. Jesus came to save sinners, to seek out
and save that which was lost, he was sent for the lost sheep of the House
of Israel, he goes after the one while leaving the ninety-nine, his Father
is precisely the one who welcomes back the prodigal son, he sheds his
blood for us and for all so that sins might be forgiven etc.
- So
what, then, is Jesus saying that first Sunday night after the Resurrection
according to St John? Maybe something like, “O.K., guys, from
now on it’s over to you, for better or for worse”, and this as one
of the consequences already of the Resurrection (unlike as in Luke or Acts
where it comes after the Ascension and the Coming of the Holy Spirit, both
of which in John’s gospel seem already to happen on Easter Sunday). “As the Father has sent me, so do I send
you.” What his Father sent him to do, Jesus now
sends us to do.
- So
it’s over to us, for better or for worse, eh? Though this has to be
qualified a bit:
- It
is not as if the Word and Wisdom of God, through whom God creates the
world, somehow ceases to function except via the disciples after Jesus
ascends into heaven. That would be
rather silly.
- It
is not as if we are left orphans, as Jesus put it: the Spirit that is in Jesus, Jesus now
passes on to us, together with the mission, the Spirit and the mission go
together: “As the Father has sent me, so do I send you: Receive the Holy
Spirit.” It is only with the gift
of the Holy Spirit that mission makes sense, the
Holy Spirit and mission go together.
- Before
any mission there is the gift of peace, which seems to be the most
fundamental gift of the resurrection: Jesus says it three times. Peace of
mind and heart and soul and spirit, what all the ancient schools of
philosophy and religion were about, deep, inner peace, not just peace
between people. It is a peace we
then get to pass on. But it is the
fundamental gift to us from the resurrection, prior to any mission.
- What
makes us the light of the world, the salt of the earth etc., is that it
is Christ shining through us, it is not as if we are Christ in the world
by ourselves and acting in our own rights. To quote from 2nd
Corinthians 4; 6-7: “For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of
darkness’, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthenware
vessels, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power
belongs to God and does not come from us.” When we sing, Shine, Jesus, shine, we
mean in us and among us and through us, but it is Jesus who shines
through us.
- Indeed, the truth of the Resurrection
and Ascension is, eventually, that Jesus himself is still around, in
spite of going into God, or because of going into God, more
powerful than ever, or powerful in more places wherever and whenever the
disciples are, working in and among and through the disciples gathered
and scattered, the continuation of the Incarnation in our world, so much
the stronger and no longer confined to one place and time, with the world
in all places and all times to the ends of the earth, the Risen Lord
is still among us.
- The
Resurrection is thus a transforming event, and it transforms us not just
individually one by one, and not just spiritually, but in our whole way of
operating with each other and even in respect of earthy goods. The love of God manifests itself
automatically in love for the brethren, as the first epistle of John makes
clear, and this takes all kinds of communal shapes including that
extraordinary manifestation in the very early Jerusalem
community according to Acts of the Apostles. Of course they are making a fundamental
error, in alienating their wealth creating capital instead of pooling it,
an error forgivable however among people who believe the Second Coming is
just around the corner, who can hardly wait until Jesus comes back again
to finish the job and bring everything to a close. Later expressions of this radical
communal option, as in monasteries and religious orders, no longer make
this mistake.
- This
all becomes particularly interesting in the light of Pope Benedict’s first
encyclical. He notes that Christian
communities from the beginning have always had three inseparable
ministries: ministry of the Word, ministry of the sacraments and ministry
of charity; and that ministry of charity has always had an internal as
well as an external dimension, as in today’s first reading, doing their
best to make sure that ‘none of their members were ever in want.’ Benedict’s comment on our reading is as
follows: “As the Church grew, this radical form of material communion
could not in fact be preserved. But
its essential core remained: within the community of believers there can
never be room for a poverty that denies anyone what is needed for a
dignified life.” (Paragraph 20).
Strong words, eh?
- And
then there is doubting Thomas. What
strikes me most about this is that, in spite of the subtle rebuke, Jesus
goes out of his way to cater for Thomas’ problems. I, among others, find this very consoling, having
been something of a doubting Thomas at various times in my journeying. And Thomas’ response, when it comes, is
probably worth the wait, however we interpret it. In fact I think it is what defines us as
Christians: a Christian is precisely someone for whom or in respect of
whom God breaks through in the face of Christ or in the course of our
contact or involvement with Christ.
- Who,
then, are they who have not seen and yet believe, who get to be blessed by
Jesus? Well, that’s us of course,
the people reading the gospel, rather than Jesus’ original disciples. “These are recorded so that you may
believe…: these are recorded so that we may believe…” And we get a little blessing to go with
it, in advance. Even if this
includes some latter day doubting Thomases. Not that we are meant to walk away
believing just on the basis of first century testimony or even the
testimony of the previous generation of Christians. As is usual in John’s Gospel and
epistles, like with the people from that Samaritan village, or the
disciples initially on the recommendation of John the Baptist, we may
start with testimony but then we go on to try it out for ourselves. We are meant in consequence to go on to experience
the power of the same risen Christ in our lives and in our communities and
in our world, in us and among us and through us, and in that lies eternal life indeed.
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