20210108 WHO CAN OVERCOME THE WORLD?
08 January, 2021, Friday After Epiphany
1John 5:5-13
Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6 This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. 7 And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth. 8 There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has borne witness to his Son. 10 He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne to his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son of God has not life.
13 I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
Psalms 147:12-15, 19-20
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your sons within you.
14 He makes peace in your borders;
he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends forth his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his ordinances.
Praise the Lord!
Luke 5:12-16
12 While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and besought him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 13 And he stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And he charged him to tell no one; but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.”o 15 But so much the more the report went abroad concerning him; and great multitudes gathered to hear and to be healed of their infirmities. 16 But he withdrew to the wilderness and prayed.
WHO CAN OVERCOME THE WORLD?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 JOHN 5:5-13; PSALM 147:12-15.19-20; LUKE 5:12-16 ]
“Who can overcome the world?” This is the question, St John is posing to us. Indeed, living in this world is rather challenging, regardless who we are, young or old, single or married, ordinary workers or professionals, rich or poor. Internationally, nations are at war with each other over military or economic supremacy, or simply in competition to be the best and the greatest. Values are changing, cultures are being reshaped. We face difficulties on every front. There are times when we just feel like withdrawing and living like a hermit, away from all the troubles of this world. How can we overcome the temptations and delusions of this world so that we can live a peaceful and happy life?
The answer is simply to believe that Jesus, truly man, is the Son of God. Faith in the incarnation is the key to finding strength and consolation in our life struggles. For in the incarnation, God assumes our humanity. Jesus who is truly God and man, not just man, understands our human struggles, especially the temptations that afflict us daily, the physical suffering that comes from illness, hunger and the violence of our enemies. Jesus knows what it means to be lonely, to be misunderstood, to be rejected and to be falsely accused of a crime one did not commit. Indeed, as the letter of Hebrews tells us, “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. 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 4:15f) In Jesus, we are confident of God’s mercy and forgiveness for our failings.
Indeed, the season of Epiphany serves to underscore that God is revealed in the person of Jesus. The Orthodox Catholics do not celebrate the birth of our Lord as much as the feast of Epiphany. To them, His birth is not as important as the recognition by the Magi that Jesus is the Savior of the world. This is why in the liturgy of the Church, the celebration of Epiphany flows over to the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord and then the Wedding Feast at Cana. In all these instances, Jesus is revealed as the Son of God and His divinity. At His baptism, the Father gave witness to Jesus saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” (Mt 3:17) And after the miracle of changing water into wine, the evangelist noted, “Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory.” (Jn 2:11)
In the gospel today, the compassionate face of God is seen in Jesus’ dealing with the leper. A man appeared, covered with leprosy, fell on his face and implored our Lord saying. “Sir, if you want to, you can cure me.” It is important to situate the context of leprosy in those days. It was a deadly disease but it was a slow death with parts of the body rotting away as it loses its sensory feeling. It was also seen as a punishment from God for the person’s sins. As a consequence, because of the infectious nature of the disease, lepers were separated from the community and lived outside the towns and villages. They were emotionally starved because of the rejection even of their loved ones.
Aware of the physical, emotional and spiritual suffering of the leper, Jesus, without hesitation and reservation, stretched out His hand, touched him and said, “Of course I want to! Be cured!” And the leprosy left him at once. We see the compassion of God in Jesus. He desires to heal the leper. More than just physical healing, Jesus healed the leper emotionally and spiritually. By touching the leper instead of just healing him from afar, Jesus demonstrated that this person was not unclean in the eyes of God, had been reconciled and forgiven and, most of all, by touching the leper, Jesus gave him assurance that he was loved, welcomed and reconciled. Jesus, as the Son of God, revealed the compassionate heart of God. This is a God who desires to heal us and welcome us back to the family of God.
The genuine compassion of God is also shown by the fact that the Lord “ordered him to tell no one”. Jesus did not perform the healing miracle to get publicity, unlike many of us, when we do good works we want the whole world to know how good we are. We are more interested in publicity rather than doing good. We make use of the poor to win the approval of others. For Jesus, He was only concerned about the leper. He did not want people to come to Him simply for miracles. He was not performing some spectacular antics to draw attention to Himself. Instead, whilst healing the leper, Jesus also wanted the leper to cooperate with science. Miraculous healing does not deny the role of science and medicine. God has given us creativity and intelligence to find natural means to heal ourselves. This explains why the Lord said to the leper, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering for your healing as Moses prescribed it, as evidence for them.” Jesus did not despise science. In fact, since science could not heal the leper, at least science can certify that the leper was healed by divine intervention.
Yet this miracle performed by our Lord was done in a human way; Jesus as the Son of Man with God working in and through Him. Jesus healed the leper as a man through the power of the Holy Spirit. Conscious of His true humanity, Jesus did not do anything without the help of His Father. Even though He performed many miracles and taught with authority, He always relied on His Father. “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.” It is in prayer and in intimacy with His Father that He derived His power and wisdom. Jesus said to Philip, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.” (Jn 14:10f) This is why to see Him is to see the Father. (cf Jn 14:9) Jesus is the epiphany of God.
The context of St John’s letter was precisely to underscore the humanity of Jesus and also His divinity. He wrote, “Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” The phrase, “Jesus is the Son of God” sums up the point that in the one person of Jesus, is His humanity and divinity. By water, St John was referring to the baptism of Jesus, by blood, he was referring to the death of our Lord. St John was combating the Gnostics who claimed that Jesus was only a man without the Spirit before His baptism, and just before He died, the Spirit left Him. St John wanted to reiterate that the Spirit was with Jesus even at His death.
And he was a witness to this incident of the humanity of our Lord when he wrote in the gospel, “One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) (Jn 19:34f) When water and blood flowed out of the pierced side of our Lord, it symbolized the release of the Spirit and our purification from sin by His blood on the cross. This was why St John spoke of the three witnesses required by Law in the Old Testament to vouch the truth of what was said. “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.”
Today, we continue to witness to the truth of what St John said. For our baptism not only symbolizes the forgiveness of sins but through the Spirit, the waters of baptism truly give us new life and the gifts of the Spirit. Through the same Spirit, bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. Finally, at confirmation, the Holy Spirit is given to us for the power of mission. A Christian, therefore, comes to be born in baptism and joined to the Church, the Body of Christ, through the Eucharist, and then empowered to be Christ’s witness to the world by the bestowing of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In conclusion, “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.”
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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