Scripture:
Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95
John 8:31-42
Reflection:
Coming to Believe
We meet the three young men who will not worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. Bound tightly by the strongest men in the army they are thrown into a white hot furnace. But the God of Israel sends his angel to deliver those who will not serve or worship any other god.
Despite the red face of the King and the raised eyebrows of those at court, there is no emotion. Simply, young men will be faithful to their God; they are in for all.
John’s gospel shows us people coming to believe in Jesus. There are the great Lenten gospels of those who profess their belief in Jesus as the Son of God – the woman at the well, the man healed at the pool of Siloam, Martha and Mary at the raising of their brother Lazarus. We meet others searching, like Nicodemus, and Jesus’ apostles and disciples who listen and follow Jesus teaching.
Jesus, who is sent by the Father and is one with the Father, will do the will of his Father. Unlike Isaac, the son of Abraham, whom God prevented from being sacrificed. Jesus, the Son of the Father, embraces suffering and death on the Cross. The Father’s love for us is shared by the one who does the Father’s will. Like the young men who enter the furnace even if God should choose not to save them, Jesus does the will of the Father, drinking from the chalice of suffering, trustingly laying down his life that all might be saved in this act of love.
The nails of the cross do not yield, Elijah does not come, but the bonds of death do not hold Jesus bound.
John’s gospel is the story of coming to life in Jesus. Those we meet in the Gospel who did not believe, those who do not believe now, all are invited to the mystery of God’s love at work among us. From the Cross, John’s Gospel says that the last breath of Jesus breathed over his Spirit upon those gathered beneath the Cross. That is all of us.
Pope Francis offered a prayer during the days of Easter celebration. He shows us the Risen Lord, his mother Mary, kneeling before the Father, present too is the Holy Spirit. Jesus shows his wounds to the Father and says, ‘Father, remember how much we love them’.
John’s Gospel is a love story. One of sacrificial love for all of us. It draws us to God’s love for us.
Fr. William Murphy, CP, is a member of Immaculate Conception Community in Jamaica, New York.