20190111
FAITH
IN JESUS AS THE SON OF GOD
11 JANUARY,
2019, Friday after the Epiphany
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
White.
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First reading
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1 John 5:5-13 ©
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There are three witnesses: the Spirit
and the water and the blood
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Who can overcome the world?
Only the man who believes that Jesus is
the Son of God:
Jesus Christ who came by water and blood,
not with water only,
but with water and blood;
with the Spirit as another witness –
since the Spirit is the truth –
so that there are three witnesses,
the Spirit, the water and the blood,
and all three of them agree.
We accept the testimony of human
witnesses,
but God’s testimony is much greater,
and this is God’s testimony,
given as evidence for his Son.
Everybody who believes in the Son of God
has this testimony inside him;
and anyone who will not believe God
is making God out to be a liar,
because he has not trusted
the testimony God has given about his Son.
This is the testimony:
God has given us eternal life
and this life is in his Son;
anyone who has the Son has life,
anyone who does not have the Son does not
have life.
I have written all this to you
so that you who believe in the name of the
Son of God
may be sure that you have eternal life.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 147:12-15,19-20 ©
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O praise the Lord,
Jerusalem!
or
Alleluia!
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Zion, praise your God!
He has strengthened the bars of your gates
he has blessed the children
within you.
O praise the Lord,
Jerusalem!
or
Alleluia!
He established peace on your borders,
he feeds you with finest
wheat.
He sends out his word to the earth
and swiftly runs his command.
O praise the Lord,
Jerusalem!
or
Alleluia!
He makes his word known to Jacob,
to Israel his laws and
decrees.
He has not dealt thus with other nations;
he has not taught them his
decrees.
O praise the Lord,
Jerusalem!
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.1Tim3:16
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Glory to you, O Christ,
proclaimed to the pagans;
glory to you, O Christ,
believed in by the world.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 5:12-16 ©
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'If you want to, you can cure me'
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Jesus was in one of the towns when a man
appeared, covered with leprosy. Seeing Jesus he fell on his face and implored
him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘if you want to, you can cure me.’ Jesus stretched out his
hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’ And the leprosy
left him at once. He ordered him to tell no one, ‘But go and show yourself to
the priest and make the offering for your healing as Moses prescribed it, as
evidence for them.’
His
reputation continued to grow, and large crowds would gather to hear him and to
have their sickness cured, but he would always go off to some place where he
could be alone and pray.
FAITH IN JESUS
AS THE SON OF GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 JOHN 5:5-13; PSALM 147:12-15.19-20; LUKE 5:12-16 ]
Christmas is more than
just a sentimental feast celebrating the birth of the baby Jesus. In truth, we are celebrating not just the
birth of a baby destined to be a great leader but we are celebrating the
Incarnation, God assuming human flesh. The doctrine of the Incarnation is
an incredible act of faith because to believe that God assumed our flesh is
beyond any human conception. How could God, the ground of existence, be
present in a baby? This question regarding the incarnation is not a new
question. It is as old as Christianity.
Right at the beginning
of the Church, St John was combatting the heresy of Gnosticism. Gnostics believed that matter was evil and
only the spirit was good. So God, being all goodness, cannot assume our
flesh, since the latter is evil. So it was posited that the Christ
descended on Jesus at His baptism and then at the cross, the Christ left Jesus
the Man. In this way, the divine would not have to suffer as it was
believed that God, being divine, cannot suffer. In philosophical terms,
we say that He was immutable and pure act, since His essence is identified with
His existence. He is the unchanging One. Unlike all finite things,
we are composed of potency and act because we are becoming.
It was against such a
reductionist understanding of the Incarnation of our Lord that St John sought
to defend. The
teaching of the Church is clear. Jesus the man is at the same time, the
Son of God. Jesus is truly God and truly man from the moment He was
conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. For this reason, St
John declared, “Who can overcome the world? Only the man who believes
that Jesus is the Son of God: Jesus Christ who became by water and blood, not
with water only, but with water and blood, with the Spirit as another witness –
since the Spirit is the truth – so that there are three witnesses, the Spirit,
the water and the blood, and all three of them agree.” These three
witnesses refer to the baptism, the death of our Lord and the Holy Spirit that
raised Jesus back to life in the resurrection.
Christian Faith believes
that Jesus is the Son of God, revealed at His baptism when the Holy Spirit
descended upon Him and
the voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am
well pleased.” (Mt 3:17) Of course
He was already the Son of God at His conception in the womb of His mother
Mary. In offering Himself to be baptized, Jesus wanted to show His
solidarity with us sinners, even though as the Son of God He did not require to
be forgiven of His sins. This is what the New Testament consistently
affirms. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in
him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21)
Secondly, Christian
Faith also affirms the death of Jesus our Lord. Unlike the Gnostics, Christians
declare with faith that Christ did die on the cross. It is true that God,
being divine, cannot die. But in Christ who is truly God and truly man,
in the one person of Christ, distinct, inseparable, undivided and unmixed, Jesus
died on the cross. It is important that Christians affirm the death of
Jesus on the cross, otherwise, our salvation would be placed in doubt. If
Jesus the Christ did not die on the cross, then it means that we are not
saved. But precisely, because Jesus said “yes” to the divine will in a
human way, we too also can do likewise. We too can also give a human
“yes” to the divine will as Jesus did. Only by doing His will, can we
find fullness of life.
Indeed, by believing
that Jesus came both by water and blood, we are saying that Jesus the Son of
God was truly man in every way even when He remained as God. This phrase, “water and blood” is
an allusion to what John saw at the crucifixion when “one of the soldiers
pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.” (Jn 19:34) By this act, it showed that
Jesus was truly a man and He really died. In affirming the full humanity
of Jesus who was at the same time the Son of God, the Church is saying,
therefore, that there is nothing that God does not know about us or unable to
feel with us. Having shared in our humanity, our temptations, our
struggles, our pains, hunger, sicknesses, betrayals, rejections, oppositions,
being misunderstood, ridiculed and slandered, there is nothing that we can say
that God has not gone through.
Scripture underscores
Jesus’ real humanity in many instances. In the gospel, we read of Jesus’ compassion for
us and His vulnerability as a human being. “Jesus was in one of the towns
when a man appeared, covered with leprosy. Seeing Jesus he fell on his face and
implored him. ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘if you want to, you can cure me.’ Jesus
stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’
And the leprosy left him at once.” When Jesus saw the man who was covered
all over with sores and blisters on his entire body, He was so moved and
horrified at the misery and suffering of the man. Hence, we can
appreciate why Jesus was so ready to take away his disease.
But more than just
feeling one with the man’s pitiable condition, Jesus felt the need to touch him
personally so that He could heal him not just physically but emotionally. A leper who is infected with a skin
disease is infectious. No one would want to come near a leper, much less
have the courage the touch him or her. This was the case of St Francis of
Assisi. Once he was on a horse and he saw a beggar who was a leper.
When the leper saw St Francis, he stretched his bowl to beg for money. St
Francis was so horrified at seeing him that he dared not stop. But upon
reflection, he quickly came back not just to give some money to the leper but
even kissed him! Indeed, lepers are not just physically infectious
but they are worse than the untouchables of society. Everyone needs love,
acceptance and touch to become more human and humane. A child that has
never been hugged or loved or embraced will never be able to express his or her
emotions adequately. He would stiffen up and fight shy of human touch.
Indeed, only because
Jesus is truly human, can we truly say that God cares for us, understands us
and loves us with both a divine and human love. This explains why the letter to the
Hebrews says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we
are, yet without sin.” (Heb 4:15) Similarly, St Peter could say
later, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free
from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been
healed.” (1 Pt 2:24) Hence,
the author of Hebrews concludes, “Let us, therefore, approach the throne of
grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in
time of need.” (Heb 4:16)
However, faith in Jesus
as the Son of God depends on the witness of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that made the
incarnation possible. The angel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon
you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to
be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.” (Lk 1:35) It was at Jesus’ baptism, that
“he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.” (Mt 3:16) His mission was accomplished in
the power of the Holy Spirit. “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned
from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.” (Lk 4:1) Citing from the prophet Isaiah,
He said at the beginning of His mission, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.”
(Lk 4:18) Most of all, at His
resurrection, the Spirit raised Him to new life. St Paul wrote, “If the
Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised
Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his
Spirit that dwells in you.” The Holy Spirit, therefore, is the third
witness to Jesus.
In the light of what we
have said, it means that Christian life is complete only if we share in the
life of Christ completely.
“God has given us eternal life and this life is in his Son; anyone who has the
Son has life, anyone who does not have the Son does not have life.” To
share in His life therefore means to join Him in baptism through the washing
away of our sins and dying to self by uniting ourselves with His passion and
death; and finally rising with Him in a new life by receiving His Holy Spirit
at confirmation so that we are empowered to witness to Him in our
life. However, this is not the end but an ongoing process. We
need to return to Jesus always to find strength, focus and inspiration.
This is what the gospel asks us to emulate. “His reputation continued to grow,
and large crowds would gather to hear him and to have their sickness cured, but
he would always go off to some place where he could be alone and pray.”
We need to hear Him often before we can ask for His healing and direction, and
we need to do this through personal prayer in intimacy with Him, especially
before the Blessed Sacrament.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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